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54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
The 54th Massachusetts at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, July 18, 1863
Active	March 13, 1863 to August 4, 1865
Allegiance	United States (Union)
Branch	Union Army
Type	Infantry
Size	1,100
Nickname	54th Massachusetts Regiment
Engagements	American Civil War Battle of Grimball's Landing Second Battle of Fort Wagner Battle of Olustee Battle of Honey Hill Battle of Boykin's Mill
Commanders
Colonel	Robert Gould Shaw
Colonel	Edward Needles Hallowell

The 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was one of the first official black units in the United States during the Civil War. The 1st South Carolina Volunteers (Union) recruited from freed slaves, was the first Union Army regiment organized with African American soldiers in the Civil War, though many had fought in the American Revolution and the War of 1812 on both sides.

History[link]

Statue of Massachusetts Gov. John A. Andrew, who authorized the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

The regiment was authorized in March 1863 by the Governor of Massachusetts, John A. Andrew. Commanded by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, it was commissioned after the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton decided white officers would be in charge of all "colored" units. Colonel Shaw was hand picked by Governor John Andrew. Governor Andrew also selected Norwood Penrose "Pen" Hallowell as the unit's second in command, a rank of Lieutenant Colonel.^[1] Like many officers of regiments of African-American troops, both Shaw and Hallowell were promoted several grades, both being captains at the time. The rest of the officers were evaluated by Shaw and Hallowell. Many of these officers were of abolitionist families and several were chosen by Governor Andrew himself. Lt. Col. Norwood Hallowell was joined by his younger brother Edward Needles Hallowell who was eventually appointed major in the regiment and would later command it after Shaw's death. 24 of the 29 officers were veterans, but only six had been previously commissioned.

The soldiers were recruited by white abolitionists (including Shaw's parents). These recruiters included Lieutenant J. Appleton,^[2] also the first man commissioned in the regiment, whose recruiting efforts included posting a notice in the Boston Journal^[3] and holding a recruiting rally held in Joy Street Church and in which speakers Edward L. Pierce and Wendell Phillips encouraged free blacks to enlist for the regiment. This recruitment group was later known as "The Black Committee".

The 54th trained at Camp Meigs in Readville near Boston. While there they received considerable moral support from abolitionists in Massachusetts including Ralph Waldo Emerson. Material support included warm clothing items, battle flags and $500 contributed for the equipping and training of a regimental band.^[1] As it became evident that many more recruits were coming forward than were needed the medical exam for the 54th was described as "rigid and thorough" by the Massachusetts Surgeon-General. This resulted in what he described as the most "robust, strong and healthy set of men" ever mustered into service in the United States. Despite this, as was common in the Civil War, a few men died of disease prior to the 54th's departure from Camp Meigs.

By most accounts the 54th left Boston with very high morale. This was despite the fact that Jefferson Davis' proclamation of December 23, 1862 effectively put both African-American enlisted men and white officers under a death sentence if captured. The proclamation was affirmed by the Confederate Congress in January 1863 and turned both enlisted soldiers and their white officers over to the states from which the enlisted soldiers had been slaves. As most Southern states had enacted draconian measures for "servile insurrection" after Nat Turner's Rebellion the likely sentence was a capital one.^[4]

Although the 54th left Boston hoping to fight for the Union on May 28, 1863, it started off performing only manual labor. The regiment gained notoriety in a raid on the town of Darien, Georgia, after being ordered to loot and burn the town by Col. James Montgomery. However, the 54th's participation in this raid was minimal and reluctant and Colonel Shaw initially objected to what he called a "satanic action".

The regiment's first battlefield action took place in a skirmish with Confederate troops on James Island, South Carolina, on July 16. The regiment stopped a Confederate assault, losing 42 men in the process.

Depiction of the attack on Fort Wagner in the painting The Old Flag Never Touched the Ground

The regiment gained recognition on July 18, 1863, when it spearheaded an assault on Fort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina. At this battle, Colonel Shaw was killed, along with 29 of his men. 24 more later died of wounds, 15 were captured, 52 were missing in action and never accounted for, and 149 were wounded.^[5] The total regimental casualties of 272 would be the highest total for the 54th in a single engagement during the war. Although Union forces were not able to take and hold the fort (despite taking a portion of the walls in the initial assault), the 54th was widely acclaimed for its valor during the battle, and the event helped encourage the further enlistment and mobilization of African-American troops, a key development that President Abraham Lincoln once noted as helping to secure the final victory. Decades later, Sergeant William Harvey Carney was awarded the Medal of Honor for grabbing the U.S. flag as the flag bearer fell, carrying the flag to the enemy ramparts and back, and saying "Boys, the old flag never touched the ground!" While other African-Americans had since been granted the award by the time it was presented to Carney, Carney's is the earliest action for which the Medal of Honor was awarded to an African-American.

The Battle of Olustee

Ironically, during the week leading up to the 54th's heroic sacrifice near Charleston, simmering racial strife climaxed in the New York Draft Riots. African-Americans on the city's waterfront and Lower East Side were beaten, tortured, and lynched by white mobs angered over conscription for the Union war effort. These mobs directed their animosity toward blacks because they felt the Civil War was caused by them. However, the bravery of the 54th would help to assuage anger of this kind.

Under the command of now-Colonel Edward Hallowell, the 54th fought a rear-guard action covering the Union retreat at the Battle of Olustee. As part of an all-black brigade under Col. Alfred S. Hartwell, they unsuccessfully attacked entrenched Confederate militia at the November 1864 Battle of Honey Hill. In mid-April 1865, they fought at the Battle of Boykin's Mill, a small affair in South Carolina that proved to be one of the last engagements of the war.

Pay controversy[link]

The enlisted men of the 54th were recruited on the promise of pay and allowances equal to their white counterparts. This was supposed to amount to subsistence and $13 a month. Instead African-American soldiers were paid $10 a month with $3 withheld for clothing, equaling $7 in the end of the month. (White troops had nothing withheld from their monthly pay for clothing.) Colonel Shaw and many others immediately began protesting the measure. Although the state of Massachusetts offered to make up the difference in pay, on principle, a regiment-wide boycott of the pay tables on paydays became the norm.

After Shaw's death at Fort Wagner, Colonel E. N. Hallowell took up the fight to get back full pay for the troops. His second in command, Lt. Col. Hooper, took command of the regiment on June 18, 1864 after Hallowell was granted permission to proceed North to press the claims of the regiment for equal pay in person. After nearly a month Colonel Hallowell returned on July 16. Finally the U.S. Congress took action and on September 28, 1864, the men of the 54th were paid from enlistment, most after 18 months of service.

The Congressional bill authorized equal and full pay to those enlisted troops who were free men as of April 1864. Of course not all the troops qualified. Colonel Hallowell, a Quaker, rationalized that because he did not believe in slavery he could therefore have all the troops swear that they were free men. Before being given their back pay the entire regiment was administered what became known as "the Quaker oath."^{[citation needed]} Colonel Hallowell skillfully crafted the oath to say: “You do solemnly swear that on or before the 19th day of April 1864, no man had the right to demand unrequited labor of you so help you lord.”^{[citation needed]} Hallowell wrote a typo in his hand-written transcript of the oath and actually said "1861" while administering the oath.

Refusing their reduced pay became a point of honor for the men of the 54th. In fact, at the Battle of Olustee, when ordered forward to protect the retreat of the Union forces, the men moved forward shouting, "Massachusetts and Seven Dollars a Month!" Unknown to them, Congress had just voted to pay colored troops the same as white troops.

Legacy[link]

Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment by Augustus Saint-Gaudens

The regiment was disbanded after the Civil War, but retains a strong legacy. A monument, constructed 1884–1898 by Augustus Saint-Gaudens on the Boston Common, is part of the Boston Black Heritage Trail. A famous composition by Charles Ives, "Col. Shaw and his Colored Regiment", the opening movement of Three Places in New England, is based both on the monument and the regiment.

Colonel Shaw and his men also feature prominently in Robert Lowell's Civil War Centennial poem "For the Union Dead" (1964); Lowell invokes the realism of the Saint-Gaudens monument:

Two months after marching through Boston,

half the regiment was dead;

at the dedication,

William James could almost hear the bronze Negroes breathe.

Later he unflinchingly looks at Shaw's and his men's death:

Shaw's father wanted no monument

except the ditch,

where his son's body was thrown

and lost with his black solders.

Detail from Saint-Gauden's original tinted plaster model

A Union officer had asked the Confederates at Battery Wagner for the return of Shaw's body but was informed by the Confederate commander, Brigadier General Johnson Hagood, "We buried him with his black solders."^[6] Shaw's father wrote in response that he was proud that Robert, a fierce fighter for equality, had been buried in that manner.^[7] "We hold that a soldier's most appropriate burial-place is on the field where he has fallen".^{[citation needed]} As a recognition and honor, at the end of the Civil War, the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, and the 33rd Colored Regiment were mustered out at the Battery Wagner site of the mass burial of the 54th Massachusetts.

More recently, the story of the unit was depicted in the 1989 Academy Award winning film Glory starring Matthew Broderick as Shaw, Denzel Washington as Private Tripp, Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, Jihmi Kennedy and Andre Braugher. The film re-established the now-popular image of the combat role African-Americans played in the Civil War, and the unit, often represented in historical battle reenactments, now has the nickname The Glory Regiment.

Years after the film was made, it came to light that the word Glory was used by one of the men of the regiment. First Sergeant Robert John Simmons, of B Company, was a twenty-six year old Bermudian clerk, probably from St. George's, believed to have joined the 54th on 12 March 1863 (Many black and white Bermudians fought for the Union, mostly in the U.S. Navy.^[8])

Simmons was introduced to Frances George Shaw, father of Col. Shaw, by William Wells Brown, who described him as "a young man of more than ordinary abilities who had learned the science of war in the British Army". In his book, The Negro in the American Rebellion, Brown said that "Frances George Shaw remarked at the time that Simmons would make a 'valuable soldier'. Colonel Shaw also had a high opinion of him." Sgt. Simmons was mentioned in an 1863 article of the Weekly Columbus Enquirer, which described him as "a brave man and of good education. He was wounded and captured. Taken to Charleston, his bearing impressed even his captors. After suffering amputation of the arm, he died there." The newspaper also described him as saying that he fought "for glory": One of the negroes is a remarkably sprightly fellow from Bermuda where he was educated as a soldier. His position is that of an Orderly Sergeant, but he has lost an arm, and probably one leg will go.

A third of the 'glory' for which he says he came to fight, being thus amputated, he will in the future be a wiser man. The others are a mongrel set of trash and very fair representatives of the common type of free Northern negro." Simmons, who would be specially mentioned by Shaw's successor, Col. Hallowell, and who had been awarded a private medal, died in August 1863, following the attack on Fort Wagner.^[9][10]

2008 reactivation[link]

The unit was reactivated on November 21, 2008 to serve as the Massachusetts National Guard ceremonial unit to render military honors at funerals and state functions.^[11] The new unit is now known as the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment.

Footnotes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Cox, Clinton (2007). Undying Glory: The Story of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment. Backinprint.com. ISBN 0-595-45116-0. 
• Duncan, Russell; Shaw, Robert (1999). Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Athens: University of Georgia Press. ISBN 0-8203-2174-5. 

External links[link]

• "Louisiana and Massachusetts - Abraham Lincoln and Freedom". The Lincoln Institute. 2008. http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/inside.asp?ID=54&subjectID=3. Retrieved 2008-07-18. 
• "Exhibit: 54th Mass Casualty List". National Archives and Records Administration. 1996. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals/54thmass.html. Retrieved 2008-07-18. 
• Written in Glory, Letters from the Soldiers and Officers of the 54th Massachusetts
• 54th Massachusetts at the Battle of Olustee
• Photograph of Sgt. Major Lewis Douglass
• Photograph of Charles Douglass

Russell William Wallace Jr.
Rusty Wallace at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007.
Born	(1956-08-14) August 14, 1956 (age 55) Arnold, Missouri, U.S.
Achievements	1983 ASA champion 1989 The Winston winner 1989 Winston Cup Series champion 1991 IROC champion
Awards	1979 USAC Stock Car Rookie of the Year 1984 Rookie of the Year 1998 Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
706 race(s) run over 25 year(s)
Best finish	1st – 1989
First race	1980 Atlanta 500 (Atlanta)
Last race	2005 Ford 400 (Homestead)
First win	1986 Valleydale 500 (Bristol)[1]
Last win	2004 Advance Auto Parts 500 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles 55 349 36
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
42 race(s) run over 9 year(s)
Best finish	32nd – 1987
First race	1985 Goody's 300 (Daytona)
Last race	2005 O'Reilly Challenge (Texas)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 18 2
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
1 race(s) run over year(s)
Best finish	9th – 1996 (Craftsman)
First race	1996 DeVilbiss Superfinish 200 (Nazareth)
Last race	1996 DeVilbiss Superfinish 200 (Nazareth)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
Statistics current as of February 6, 2012.

Wallace at Michigan in 1994 with his MGD paint scheme

Russell William "Rusty" Wallace, Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is a retired NASCAR race car driver and a former NASCAR Winston Cup Champion, currently a broadcaster on ESPN and a co-host of NASCAR Angels.

Early racing career[link]

Prior to joining the NASCAR circuit, Wallace made a name for himself racing around the Midwest in the late 1970s by winning a pair of local track championships. Wallace, a Missouri native, won more than 200 short track races. In 1979 he won United States Auto Club's (USAC) Stock Car Rookie of the Year honors, finishing third in points behind A.J. Foyt and Bay Darnell.^[2] He finished second USAC Stock Cars in 1981 behind Joe Ruttman.^[2]

In 1983 he won the American Speed Association (ASA) championship while competing against some of NASCAR's future stars like Mark Martin, 1992 NASCAR Champion Alan Kulwicki and Dick Trickle.

NASCAR career[link]

#88 Rookie of the Year racecar (1984)

Wallace in the #2 (background) in 1985

Wallace finished second in his first NASCAR race at Atlanta 500 in 1980, having started 7th, driving for Roger Penske in the #16. He made nine further NASCAR appearances over the next three years, although he did not score any further top 10 finishes until he went full-time in 1984. Wallace joined the Winston Cup circuit full-time in 1984, winning NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors and finishing 14th in the final points standings. He raced in the #88 Gatorade Pontiac for Cliff Stewart with the best finish of 4th in 30 races, along with two 5th places and four further top 10's. Wallace stayed with Cliff Stewart for 1985, but this time in the #2 Alugard Pontiac. In 29 races, Wallace had 2 top 5's 8 top 10's.

Blue Max Racing[link]

For 1986 he switched teams to the #27 Alugard Pontiac for Raymond Beadle's Blue Max Racing team. Rusty's first win came on April 6, 1986, at Bristol Motor Speedway.^[1] He also won at Martinsville on September 21. He finished the year with 2 wins, 4 top 5's and 16 top 10's in 29 races. Wallace finished 6th in the points, his first top 10 in the standings. For 1987 Wallace gained sponsorship from Kodiak, establishing the #27 Kodiak Pontiac livery his early career is most remembered for. He took victories at Watkins Glen and Riverside, as well first series pole at Michigan in June. These results were backed up with 9 top 5's and 16 top 10's in 29 races. He finished 5th in points.

Wallace developed his career further in 1988, scoring six victories including four of the final five races of the year. His wins came at Michigan, Charlotte, North Wilkesboro, Rockingham, the final race ever at Riverside, and the season finale at Atlanta. With these 6 wins as well as 19 top 5's four further top 10's, he finished second to Bill Elliott by 24 points.

1989 car at Phoenix with Kodiak paint scheme

In 1989, Wallace won the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship,with crew chief Barry Dodson, by finishing 15th at the Atlanta Journal 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, to beating out close friend and fierce rival Dale Earnhardt who won the race, by twelve points. Wallace also won The Winston in controversial fashion, by spinning out Darrell Waltrip on the last lap.

In 1990, Raymond Beadle switched sponsors, to Miller Genuine Draft. The four-year sponsorship deal was specifically tied to Wallace, meaning it went where the 1989 champ went.^[3] The 1989 championship year was reportedly marked with acrimony between Wallace and Beadle. However, Wallace was stuck with the team for 1990 due to his contract.^[3] Rusty had 18 wins for Beadle.

Penske Racing[link]

In 1991 Wallace took the Miller sponsorship with him to Penske Racing,^[4] and he continued in the #2 Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac. He also won the 1991 IROC championship. While 1992 only carried him one win, the win at the Miller 400 was satisfying; it was the first win for Rusty in a car which arguably was Rusty's best known chassis for his career, one affectionately known as "Midnight" after the win. "Midnight" would be raced for six seasons, carrying various race wins, before being retired in 1997.

1993 was arguably his most successful season despite two major accidents at Daytona and Talladega in which his car went airborne and flipped several times. He had already won the second race of the season Feb 28th 1993 at North Carolina Motor Speedway but also a sad one as his friend and reigning NASCAR Champion Alan Kulwicki was killed flying into Bristol Speedway in April 1993, because of this Rusty won the race at Bristol and in respect to Alan Kulwicki he did a "Polish victory lap"—turning his car around and driving around the track the wrong way, as made famous by Kulwicki. Every race Rusty won that year he did a "Kulwicki victory lap". He won all 3 races in April (Bristol 4/4/93, North Wilkesboro 4/18/93 and Martinsville 4/25/93). Also he won the first ever race at the New Hampshire Speedway starting 33rd on July 11. In 1993, he won 10 of the 30 races,^[5] but finished second in the final points standings, 80 points behind Earnhardt. He ended the season strong, finishing in the Top-3 in all but two of the final ten races of the season.

Penske switched to Fords in 1994.^[5] In 1996, sponsorship changed from Miller Genuine Draft to Miller beer sponsorship.

1997 paint scheme

In 1997, Miller changed the teams sponsorship to Miller Lite, replacing the black and gold with a blue and white scheme. In 1998, Wallace won the Bud Shootout at Daytona, A non-points race for the previous years pole winners and past winners of the race. It was the first win for Ford's new Taurus, and Wallace's only victory at NASCAR's premier track (as well as his only victory in any restrictor plate race) in a Cup car.

In 2003, Penske Racing switched to Dodge, and appropriately, in 2004, Wallace won his 55th, and final, race on a short track: the 2004 spring Martinsville Speedway race. It was also the last win for the track under the ownership of the H. Clay Earles Trust; the death of Mary Weatherford (matriarch of the trust) forced the Trust to sell the track a month later.

2005 Nextel Cup car at Goodwood

On August 30, 2004 Wallace announced that the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season would be his last as a full-time driver. Although at the time the possibility remained that he may have continued to run a limited schedule after the 2005 season—as semi-retirees Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte also have done, Wallace's current broadcasting contract forbids him from doing so. Kurt Busch would replace Wallace in the number 2 Miller Lite Dodge in 2006-2010. In 2011, Brad Keselowski will drive the number 2.

In 2006, Wallace returned to his General Motors roots when he raced a Crawford-Pontiac sportscar, painted black and carrying the familiar stylised #2. The car was sponsored by Callaway Golf, in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, teamed with Danica Patrick and Allan McNish, In 2008, his NASCAR Nationwide Series cars switched from Dodge to Chevrolet.

To date, Wallace has had 55 NASCAR Cup wins, which is tied for 8th on NASCAR's all-time wins list. They include victories at Charlotte as well as the series' last three road courses (Riverside, Infineon and Watkins Glen), but none at Daytona, Darlington, Indianapolis or Talladega. He has the most short track wins in NASCAR history with 34, and therefore he is considered among the best short track drivers in NASCAR history. He retired after the 2005 season with a 14.4 career average finish.

NASCAR Cup Statistics[link]

Broadcast career[link]

On January 25, 2006, it was announced that Rusty would cover auto racing events for ESPN and ABC. Despite Rusty's lack of open-wheel racing experience, his assignments began with the IndyCar Series and included the Indianapolis 500 (in a perhaps forgivable lapse, he described a thrilling battle on the last lap as "The most exciting Daytona 500 ever!"). He joined the NASCAR broadcasting team for both networks when they started coverage of the sport in 2007.^[6] He signed a six year deal with ESPN in 2006. He returned to commentate for the 2007 Indy 500. He co-hosts NASCAR Angels with Shannon Wiseman.

Car owner[link]

Up until this year, Wallace owned and operated Rusty Wallace Racing, which fielded the #62 Pilot Flying J Toyota Camry driven by Michael Annett and the #66 5 Hour Energy Toyota Camry driven by his son Steven Wallace. This operation has been temporarily suspended due to the loss of sponsorship. However, Steve Wallace has confirmed on his Twitter account that the team will return for the Nationwide Series race at Richmond in May 2012 in a former Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang, powered by a Roush-Yates engine. It will be numbered 66, but it is unclear what the sponsor will be, or if the team will run more races during the season.

Family[link]

His two blood brothers, Kenny and Mike, race on the NASCAR circuit. He and his wife Patti have three children — Greg, Katie, and Steven. Steven races in the Nationwide Series and he will make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at the 2011 Daytona 500 making him the fourth member of his family to compete in the Daytona 500 and in NASCAR, behind the Bodines (Geoff, Brett, and Todd), Pettys (Lee, Richard, and Kyle), Earnhardts (Dale, Kerry and Dale Jr.), and the Allisons (Bobby, Donnie, and Davey). Wallace's father, Russell Wallace Sr., died on October 30, 2011 at age 77.

Iowa Speedway[link]

In late 2005, Wallace broke ground on his "Signature Design Speedway" in Newton, Iowa. The Iowa Speedway had its first race on September 15, 2007 and hosted many races in 2007 including an IRL race. The track is noted for its structural similarity to Richmond International Raceway, where Wallace has won six times. The Iowa Speedway hosted its first NASCAR Nationwide Series race in 2009.

Major crashes[link]

Wallace is known for several major wrecks throughout his racing career. The first one happened in 1983, when Wallace was attempting the Daytona 500 through the Gatorade Twin 125's. He was tapped by Rick Wilson, got airborne, and went on a spectacular series of flips that hospitalized Wallace. His next flip came at Bristol Motor Speedway. Its beginning was unclear, but Wallace climbed the wall and did a superspeedway barrell roll. ESPN commentator Dr. Jerry Punch was the first responder, and possibly saved his life. In 1993, Rusty had two massive flips, the first of which was at Daytona during the Daytona 500, where he was tapped by the crashing cars of Michael Waltrip and Derrike Cope, and barrel rolled down the backstraight several feet in the air. Just 2 months later at the Winston 500 at Talladega, racing to the checkered flag, Wallace was clipped by Dale Earnhardt, and flew into the air before violently flipping past the start-finish line, resulting in a broken wrist. Earnhardt was visibly shaken by the incident and did make sure Wallace was okay by checking on him after the race had concluded.^{[citation needed]}

Endorsements[link]

• 2003 – Callaway Golf – Callaway Golf Signs NASCAR Driver Rusty Wallace to Multiyear Endorsement and Licensing Agreement.^[7]

• 2009 – U.S. Fidelis – USfidelis TV Campaign Debuts, Featuring NASCAR's Steve and Rusty Wallace.^[8] The March 2010 bankruptcy of US Fidelis lists Rusty Wallace Racing as a creditor owed $535,439.^[9]

• 2009 – Lista International Corporation – Legendary NASCAR Driver Rusty Wallace Endorses Lista Products in New Online Video ^[10]

Other media[link]

Wallace made a cameo appearance in the movie Days of Thunder. He and his brothers all appeared in the Electronic Arts video game "NASCAR Rumble". Mike was featured as a Craftsman Truck Series driver, driving the #2 ASE Dodge (no specific car makes for the Trucks; the real truck was a Dodge at the time), Kenny was featured in the game driving the #55 Square D Chevrolet (although the game's commercial showed him driving the #81 Square D Ford) & Rusty was featured in the game driving his #2 Ford, with the exception that the Miller Lite stickers are replaced by Penske Racing stickers similar to current Penske Championship Racing driver Brad Keselowski, whose sponsor is censored by NASCAR's ban on wireless telephone advertising.

All publishers of NASCAR titles are prohibited from carrying alcohol or tobacco advertising on their cars. He was teammates with his brother Mike, once in his career when Mike Wallace subbed for Jeremy Mayfield at Penske Racing. The #62 South Point Chevrolet Impala SS driven by Brendan Gaughan in 2009 on the NASCAR Nationwide Series intentionally carries a black and gold paint scheme reminiscent of Wallace's legendary "Miller Genuine Draft " car.

References[link]

• The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide 1998–99, by Bill Fleischman and Al Pearce (1999)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rusty Wallace

• Official website
• Rusty Wallace at Racing Reference
• Rusty Wallace at NASCAR.com
• Rusty Wallace at ESPN
• June 2005 interview with Rusty Wallace
• Rusty Wallace Fans Club

Chris Tomlin
Chris Tomlin
Background information
Birth name	Christopher Dwayne Tomlin
Born	(1972-05-04) May 4, 1972 (age 40)
Origin	Grand Saline, Texas U.S.
Genres	Contemporary worship music, CCM
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, instrumentalist worship leader
Instruments	Guitar, piano
Years active	1998–present
Labels	sixstepsrecords/Sparrow Records
Website	Official website

Christopher Dwayne "Chris" Tomlin (born May 4, 1972) is an American Christian Contemporary Music artist, worship leader, and songwriter from Grand Saline, Texas, United States. He was a staff member at Austin Stone Community Church and is signed to EMI's sixstepsrecords. Tomlin leads worship at many Passion events. Some of his most well-known songs are "How Great Is Our God", "Jesus Messiah", "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)", and the recent song "Our God" which he co-wrote with Matt Redman, Jesse Reeves and Jonas Myrin. He is currently a worship leader at Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia with Louie Giglio and Christy Nockels.

He was awarded Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2006, 2007, 2008 GMA Dove Awards, and Grammy Award Winner for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album in 2012. He was named Artist of the Year in 2007. Tomlin released his seventh studio album, And If Our God Is for Us..., on November 16, 2010. He is one of the members of CompassionArt, a charity founded by Martin Smith (and Smith's wife, Anna) of the band Delirious?.

His newest album is How Great Is Our God: The Essential Collection. released on November 15, 2011.

Early life[link]

Tomlin was born in Grand Saline, Texas in 1972 to Connie and Donna Tomlin. He has two younger brothers, Ryan and Cory.^[1] Chris Tomlin first learned how to play the guitar by playing along side Willie Nelson records.^[2]

Tomlin wrote his first worship song at age fourteen. He entered college planning to study physical therapy, but says he felt God's calling to something else.^{[citation needed]}

In the mid-1990s Tomlin was a worship leader at the Dawson McAllister Youth Conferences, as well as at various church camps in Texas.

After attending Tyler Junior College and Texas A&M University, Tomlin continued to play and write songs, and in 1997, youth speaker Louie Giglio asked if he would be interested in working with the Passion Conferences. Tomlin has been in that movement ever since.

Musical career[link]

Chris performing at a concert in Johnson City, Tennessee

His first nationally released solo project, titled The Noise We Make, was released in 2001, featuring the songs "Forever," "Be Glorified", and "Kindness", each of which made the top 200 in the CCLI 2005 top 500 worship songs.^[3] He released the live EP 545 in 2002, and the studio album Not to Us (2002).

Although he is a solo artist, Tomlin uses a consistent band lineup. He writes many of his songs with the band members. The band includes of Daniel Carson (electric guitar, backup vocals), Jesse Reeves (bass guitar, backup vocals), Travis Nunn (drums), and Matt Gilder (piano, keys). He plays guitar and piano.

According to Christian Copyright Licensing International's list of the top 25 worship songs in the US in August 2007, Tomlin held 5 spots with songs he has either written or co-written: "How Great Is Our God" (No. 1), "Forever" (No. 5), "Holy Is the Lord" (No. 7), "We Fall Down" (No. 12), and "Indescribable" (No. 22). In 2008, Tomlin held 6 spots on 20 The Countdown Magazine's top 20 praise and worship songs: "We Fall Down" (No. 14), "Forever" (No. 10), "Holy is the Lord" (No. 8), "Indescribable" (No. 6), "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" (No. 3), and "How Great is our God" (No. 1).^[4]

Tomlin has toured with contemporary Christian music artists, such as Delirious? during his first tour, and as a supporting act of Steven Curtis Chapman during his All Things New Tour. Tomlin has headlined several tours, such as the Chris Tomlin Indescribable Tour, which featured worship artist Matt Redman, and speaker Louie Giglio,^[5] and headlining the See the Morning Tour. From April to October 2007, Tomlin toured with Louie Giglio and Matt Redman on his "How Great Is Our God" tour.^[3] In 2008, Tomlin toured with Passion Conferences on its world tour. In early 2009, he was in the Hello Love tour with Israel Houghton and New Breed. In summer of 2010, he was in the "Hello Tonight" tour with TobyMac.

Tomlin has been featured at conferences and music festivals. Among these, he played at Grand Saline's annual Salt Festival.^[6] Hillsong's 2007 conference, and the 2008 Compassionart International Songwriting retreat, which was dedicated to writing songs whose revenue would support charities serving the poorest of the world's poor. Other prominent songwriters included were Matt Redman, Martin Smith, Stuart Garrard, and Steven Curtis Chapman. In 2009, Tomlin played at the Harvest Crusade at Anaheim Angels Stadium.

On June 14, 2007, Tomlin's version of the song "Indescribable" was used as the official wake-up call for Mission Specialist Patrick Forrester on Space Shuttle mission STS-117.

In May 2008, Tomlin announced a move from The Austin Stone Community Church, to start a new church with Louie Giglio in Atlanta, Georgia.^[7][8]

In 2009, Tomlin released a Christmas album, Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship.^[9] It includes three original Christmas songs and features duets with Matt Redman, Christy Nockels, and Audrey Assad. The album peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 list and at No. 1 for Holiday albums.

Personal life[link]

Tomlin married Lauren Bricken,^[10] on November 9, 2010.^[11][12][13]

In May 2011, Tomlin announced that he and Lauren are expecting their first child.^[14][15] He announced on Twitter that the couple's daughter, Ashlyn Alexandra Tomlin, was born in September 2011.^{[citation needed]}

Discography[link]

• Inside Your Love (1995)
• Authentic (1998)
• Too Much Free Time (1998) with Ross King
• The Noise We Make (2001)
• Not to Us (2002)
• Arriving (2004)
• See the Morning (2006)
• Hello Love (2008)
• Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship (2009)
• And If Our God Is for Us... (2010)
• How Great Is Our God: The Essential Collection (2011)

Passion event albums

• Better Is One Day (1999)
• The Road To One Day (2000)
• One Day: Live (2000)
• Our Love is Loud (2002)
• Sacred Revolution: Songs From OneDay 03 (2003)
• Hymns: Ancient and Modern (2004)
• How Great Is Our God (2005)
• Everything Glorious (2006)
• The Best of Passion (So Far) (2006)
• Live From Passion 07 Pts. 1 & 3 (2007)
• God of This City (2008)
• Awakening (2010)
• Here for You (2011)
• White Flag (2012)

Non-album songs

• "Whisper My Name" [Forefront] - Eterne: Never Be the Same (2000)
• "Salvation" - Pour Over Me - Worship Together Live 2001 (2001)
• "Give Us Clean Hands" - Pour Over Me - Worship Together Live 2001 (2001)
• "Satisfied" [Forefront] - Secrets Of The Vine: Music... A Worship Experience (2002)
• "Lord, I'm Gonna Love You" [Sparrow] - Your Love Broke Through (2002)
• "Expressions of Your Love" (duet w/ Rebecca St. James) [Sparrow] - It Takes Two: 15 Collaborations & Duets (2003)
• "Where the Streets Have No Name" [Sparrow/EMI CMG] - In the Name of Love: Artists United for Africa (2004)
• "You're The One" [Disney/EMI CMG] - Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)
• "Angels We Have Heard On High" [Word] - WOW Christmas: Green (2005)
• "Mighty to Save" [Integrity] - Bonus disc included with Fruitcake and Ice Cream DVD (2008)
• "Your Heart [David] - Music Inspired by The Story (2011)

Charts[link]

Albums - Billboard (North America)

Singles - Billboard (North America)

¹ Currently active on the charts

Music videos[link]

• "Expressions of Your Love" (With Rebecca St. James) (2004)
• "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)" (2007)
• "I Lift My Hands" (2011)

Awards[link]

Grammy Awards[link]

GMA Dove Awards[link]

Throughout his career, Chris Tomlin has been nominated to 32 Dove Awards (6 of them, collaborative efforts) and won 17 of them.

• *Denotes a collaborative effort or a song contribution to a "Various artists" album.
• ¹ The song was performed by Tomlin, but written and produced by Laura Story.
• ² The song was performed by LaRue Howard, but written by Tomlin.

[edit] Billboard Music Awards

Others[link]

Tomlin was nominated for two 2009 Visionary Award: Male Entertainer of the Year and Song of the Year for "Jesus Messiah".^[17]

Bibliography[link]

• Chris Tomlin, The Way I Was Made: Words and Music for an Unusual Life, Multnomah, 2004. ISBN 978-1-59052-327-8

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Austin Stone Community Church
• Article in Time Magazine
• One Million Can

Tori Amos
Tori Amos at the 2008 Comic-Con
Background information
Birth name	Myra Ellen Amos
Born	(1963-08-22) August 22, 1963 (age 48) Newton, North Carolina, United States
Genres	Piano rock, art pop, alternative rock, electronica
Occupations	Musician, vocalist, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Piano, harpsichord, clavichord, Hammond organ, harmonium, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Kurzweil, clavinet, vocals
Years active	1986–present
Labels	Atlantic Epic Universal Republic Deutsche Grammophon
Associated acts	Y Kant Tori Read
Website	toriamos.com everythingtori.com
Notable instruments
Bösendorfer piano[1]

Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. Amos originally served as the lead singer of 1980s synthpop group Y Kant Tori Read, and as a solo artist was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s. She was also noteworthy early in her solo career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument. Some of her charting singles include "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "God", "Cornflake Girl", "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Professional Widow", "Spark", "1000 Oceans", and "A Sorta Fairytale", her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date.^[2]

As of 2005, Amos had sold 12 million albums worldwide.^[3] She has been nominated for 8 Grammy Awards. Amos was also named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 1996.^[4]

Early life[link]

Amos was born in Newton, North Carolina. When she was two, her family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where she began to play the piano. By age five, she had begun composing instrumental pieces on piano and, while living in Rockville, Maryland, she won a full scholarship to the Preparatory Division of the Peabody Conservatory of Music.^[5] Her scholarship was discontinued at age 11 and she was asked to leave. Amos has asserted that she lost the scholarship because of her interest in rock and popular music, coupled with her dislike for reading from sheet music.^[5] In 1972, The Amos family moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, where her father, Reverend Edison Amos, became pastor of the Good Shepherd United Methodist church. At the age of 13 she began playing at gay bars and piano bars, chaperoned by her father.^[5][6]

Amos first came to local notice by winning a county teen talent contest in 1977, singing a song called "More Than Just a Friend". As a senior at Richard Montgomery High School, she co-wrote "Baltimore" with her brother Mike Amos for a competition involving the Baltimore Orioles. The song won the contest and became her first single, released as a 7" single pressed locally for family and friends during 1980 with another Amos-penned composition as a B-side, "Walking With You". Prior to this period she performed under her middle name, Ellen, but permanently adopted Tori after a friend's boyfriend told her it suited her.^[7] At age 21, Amos moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career after several years performing on the piano bar circuit of the D.C. area.^[8]

Atlantic years (1986–2001)[link]

Y Kant Tori Read[link]

In 1986, Amos formed a music group, Y Kant Tori Read, the name of which was a reference to her days at the Peabody Conservatory, where she was able to play songs on her piano by ear, but was never successful at sight reading.^[9] In addition to Amos, the group was composed of Steve Caton (who would later play guitars on all her subsequent albums until 1999), drummer Matt Sorum, bass player Brad Cobb and, for a short time, keyboardist Jim Tauber. Following several phases of writing and recording, during which Amos has since asserted that the band lost their musical edge and direction due to interference from record executives, in July 1988, the Y Kant Tori Read's self-titled debut album was released. Although its producer, Joe Chiccarelli, has stated that Amos was very happy with the album at the time,^[10] it is now out of print and Amos has expressed no interest in reissuing it.^[11] Following the album's commercial failure and the group's subsequent disbanding, Amos began working with other artists (including Stan Ridgway, Sandra Bernhard, and Al Stewart) as a backup vocalist. She also recorded a song called "Distant Storm" for the film China O'Brien; in the credits, the song is attributed to a band called Tess Makes Good.^[12] It was the only song recorded by the band, and its only commercial release was in the film.

Solo career[link]

Despite the disappointing reaction to Y Kant Tori Read, Amos still had to comply with her six-record contract with Atlantic Records, who in 1989 wanted a new record by March 1990. The initial recordings were declined by the label, which Amos felt was because the album had not been properly presented.^[13] The album was reworked and expanded under the guidance of Doug Morris and the musical talents of Steve Caton, Eric Rosse, Will MacGregor, Carlo Nuccio, and Dan Nebenzal, resulting in Little Earthquakes, an album recounting her religious upbringing, sexual awakening, struggle to establish her identity, and sexual assault. This album became her commercial and artistic breakthrough.

Amos traveled to New Mexico with personal and professional partner Eric Rosse in 1993 to write and largely record her second solo record, Under the Pink. The album was received with mostly favorable reviews and sold enough copies to chart at #12 on the Billboard 200, a significantly higher position than the preceding album's position at #54 on the same chart.^[14]

Amos performing on her Dew Drop Inn tour in 1996

Her third solo album, Boys for Pele, was released in January 1996. The album was recorded in an Irish church, in Delgany, County Wicklow, with Amos taking advantage of the church recording setting to create an album ripe with baroque influences, lending it a darker sound and style. She added harpsichord, harmonium, and clavichord to her keyboard repertoire, and also included such anomalies as a gospel choir, bagpipes, church bells, and drum programming. The album garnered mixed reviews upon its release, with some critics praising its intensity and uniqueness while others bemoaned its comparative impenetrability. Despite the album's erratic lyrical content and instrumentation, the latter of which kept it away from mainstream audiences, Boys for Pele is Amos's most successful simultaneous transatlantic release, reaching #2 on both the Billboard 200 and the UK Top 40 upon its release at the height of her fame.^[15][16]

Fueled by the desire to have her own recording studio to distance herself from record company executives,^[17] Amos had the barn of her home in Cornwall converted into a state-of-the-art recording studio, Martian Engineering Studios.

From the Choirgirl Hotel and To Venus and Back, released in May 1998 and September 1999, respectively, differ greatly from previous albums as Amos's trademark acoustic piano-based sound is largely replaced with arrangements that include elements of electronica, dance music, vocal washes and sonic landscapes. The underlying themes of both albums deal with womanhood, and Amos's own miscarriages and marriage. Reviews for From the Choirgirl Hotel were mostly favorable and praised Amos's continued artistic originality. While not her highest chart debut, debut sales for From the Choirgirl Hotel are Amos's best to date, selling 153,000 copies in its first week.^[18] To Venus and Back, a two-disc release of original studio material and live material recorded from the previous world tour, received mostly positive reviews and included the first major-label single available for sale as a digital download.^[19]

Motherhood inspired Amos to produce a cover album, recording songs written by men about women and reversing the gender roles to show a woman's perspective.^[20] That idea grew into Strange Little Girls, released in September 2001, one year after giving birth to her daughter. The album is Amos's first concept album, with artwork featuring Amos photographed in character of the women portrayed in each song. Amos would later reveal that a stimulus for the album was to end her contract with Atlantic without giving them new original songs; Amos felt that since 1998, the label had not been properly promoting her and had trapped her in a contract by refusing to sell her to another label.^[21]

Epic Records years (2002–07)[link]

With her Atlantic contract fulfilled after a 15-year stint, Amos signed to Epic in late 2001. In October 2002, Amos released Scarlet's Walk, another concept album. Described as a "sonic novel", the album explores Amos's alter ego, Scarlet, intertwined with her cross-country concert tour following 9/11. Through the songs, Amos explores such topics as the history of America, American people, Native American history, pornography, masochism, homophobia and misogyny. The album had a strong debut,^[22][23] demonstrating that Amos' fan base remained intact through the label change. However, Scarlet's Walk is Amos' last album to date to reach certified gold status.^[24]

Amos in concert in June, 2005

Not long after Amos was ensconced with her new label, she received unsettling news when Polly Anthony resigned as president of Epic Records in 2003. Anthony had been one of the primary reasons Amos signed with the label and as a result of her resignation, Amos formed the Bridge Entertainment Group. Further trouble for Amos occurred the following year when her label, Epic/Sony Music Entertainment, merged with BMG Entertainment as a result of the industry's decline.^[25] Amos would later hint in interviews that during the creation of her next album, those in charge at the label following the aforementioned merger were interested "only in making money", the effects of which on the album have not been disclosed.^{[citation needed]}

Amos released two more albums with the label, The Beekeeper (2005) and American Doll Posse (2007). Both albums received mixed reviews, some of which stated that the albums suffered from being too long.^[26][27] The Beekeeper was conceptually influenced by the ancient art of beekeeping, which she considered a source of female inspiration and empowerment. Through extensive study, Amos also wove in the stories of the Gnostic gospels and the removal of women from a position of power within the Christian church to create an album based largely on religion and politics. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200,^[28] placing her in an elite group of women who have secured five or more US Top 10 album debuts.^[29] American Doll Posse, another concept album, was fashioned around a group of girls (the "posse") who are used as a theme of alter-egos of Amos's. Musically and stylistically, the album saw Amos return to a more confrontational nature.^[30] Like its predecessor, American Doll Posse debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200.^[14]

During her tenure with Epic Records, Amos also released a retrospective collection titled Tales of a Librarian (2003) through her former label, Atlantic Records; a two-disc DVD set Fade to Red (2006) containing most of Amos's solo music videos, released through the Warner Bros. reissue imprint Rhino; a five disc box set titled A Piano: The Collection (2006), celebrating Amos's 15 year solo career through remastered album tracks, remixes, alternate mixes, demos, and a string of unreleased songs from album recording sessions, also released through Rhino; and numerous official bootlegs from two world tours, The Original Bootlegs (2005) and Legs & Boots (2007) through Epic Records.

Universal Music years (2008–present)[link]

Universal Republic (2008–2011)[link]

In May 2008, Amos announced that, due to creative and financial disagreements with Epic Records, she had negotiated an end to her contract with the record label, and would be operating independently of major record labels on future work.^[31][32] In September of the same year, Amos released a live album and DVD, Live at Montreux 1991/1992, through Eagle Rock Entertainment, of two performances she gave at the Montreux Jazz Festival very early on in her career while promoting her debut solo album, Little Earthquakes. By December, after a chance encounter with chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, Doug Morris, Amos signed a "joint venture" deal with Universal Republic Records.^{[33][34][35][36]}

Abnormally Attracted to Sin, Amos's tenth solo studio-album and her first album released through Universal Republic, was released in May 2009 to mostly positive reviews. The album debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200,^[37] making it the Amos' seventh album to do so.^[38] Abnormally Attracted to Sin, admitted Amos, was a "personal album", not a conceptual one.^[39] Continuing her distribution deal with Universal Republic, Amos released Midwinter Graces, her first seasonal album, in November of the same year. The album features reworked versions of traditional carols, as well as original songs written by Amos.^[40]

During her contract with the label, Amos recorded vocals for two songs for David Byrne's collaboration album with Fatboy Slim, entitled Here Lies Love,^[41] which was released in April 2010. In July of the same year, the DVD Tori Amos- Live from the Artists Den was released exclusively through Barnes & Noble.

After a brief tour from June to September 2010, Amos released the highly exclusive live album From Russia With Love in December the same year, recorded live in Moscow on 3 September 2010. The limited edition set included a signature edition Lomography Diana F+ camera, along with 2 lenses, a roll of film and 1 of 5 photographs taken of Tori during her time in Moscow. The set was released exclusively through toriamos.com and only 2000 were produced. It is currently unknown as to whether the album will receive a mass release.

Deutsche Grammophon (2011–present)[link]

In September 2011, Amos released her first classical music album, Night of Hunters, featuring variations on a theme to pay tribute to such renowned composers as Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Granados, Satie and Schubert, through the Deutsche Grammophon label, a division of Universal Music Group. She is currently writing the music for Samuel Adamson's musical adaptation of the George MacDonald story The Light Princess for the Royal National Theatre, which was originally expected to debut in spring 2012^[42] but has now been deferred.^[43] Amos has, however, confirmed the release of an album in 2012 marking the 20th anniversary of her debut album Little Earthquakes.^[44] The album will consist of songs from her back catalogue rearranged and performed by the Metropole Orchestra.

On May 1st, 2012, Amos announced the formation of her own record label Transmission Galactic, which she intends to use to develop new artists.

In print[link]

Released in conjunction with The Beekeeper, Amos co-authored an autobiography with rock music journalist Ann Powers entitled Piece by Piece (2005). The book's subject is Amos's interest in mythology and religion, exploring her songwriting process, rise to fame, and her relationship with Atlantic Records.

Image Comics released Comic Book Tattoo (2008), a collection of comic stories, each based on or inspired by songs recorded by Amos. Editor Rantz Hoseley worked with Amos to gather 80 different artists for the book, including Pia Guerra, David Mack, and Leah Moore.

Additionally, Amos and her music have been the subject of numerous official and unofficial books, as well as academic critique, including Tori Amos: Lyrics (2001) and an earlier biography, Tori Amos: All These Years (1996).^[45][46][47]

"Tori Amos: In the Studio" (2011) by Jake Brown features an in-depth look at Amos's career, discography and recording process.^[48]

In 2011 Adrienne Trier-Bieniek, a sociology graduate student at Western Michigan University, received her PhD for a dissertation entitled “All I Am: Defining Music as an Emotional Catalyst through a Sociological Study of Emotions, Gender and Culture". Trier-Bieniek focused on Amos' female fans and the emotional support they receive from listening to Amos' music. Along with Patricia Leavy, Trier-Bieniek contributed a chapter to the book "The Art of Social Critique"^[49] which addressed Amos' later albums and songwriting skills.

Personal life[link]

Family[link]

Amos in 1993 Alexandra Palace, London

Amos is the third child of Rev. Dr. Edison and Mary Ellen Amos. She was born at the Old Catawba Hospital in Newton, North Carolina, during a trip from their Georgetown home in Washington, D.C. Her maternal grandparents were of mixed European and Eastern Cherokee ancestry; of particular importance to her as a child was her grandfather, Calvin Clinton Copeland, who was a great source of inspiration and guidance to her as a young child, offering a more pantheistic spiritual alternative to her father and paternal grandmother's traditional Christianity.^[50]

Early in her professional career, Amos befriended author Neil Gaiman, who became a fan after she referenced him in the song "Tear in Your Hand" and also in print interviews.^[51] Although created before the two met, the character Delirium from Gaiman's The Sandman series (or even her sister Death) is inspired by Amos; Gaiman has stated that they "steal shamelessly from each other".^[52] She wrote the foreword to his collection Death: The High Cost of Living; he in turn wrote the introduction to Comic Book Tattoo. Gaiman is godfather to her daughter and a poem written for her birth, Blueberry Girl, was published as a children's book of the same name in 2009.^[53]

Amos married English sound engineer Mark Hawley on February 22, 1998. Their only child, a daughter named Natashya "Tash" Lórien Hawley, was born on September 5, 2000, a few weeks after Tori's 37th birthday. The family divides their time between Sewall's Point in Florida, Kinsale^[54] (County Cork) in Ireland, and Cornwall in England.

Activism[link]

In June 1994, Amos co-founded RAINN, The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, a toll-free help line in the US connecting callers with their local rape crisis center. Amos, herself a survivor of sexual assault,^[55] was seen as unlocking the silence of her assault through her music; thus "Unlock the Silence" went on to become a year-long campaign for RAINN when Amos became a national spokesperson for the organization. By the summer of 2006, RAINN had received its one millionth caller^[56] and the organization's success has led to it ranking in "America's 100 Best Charities" by Worth, and one of the "Top 10 Best Charities" by Marie Claire.

Discography[link]

As of 2011, Amos has released 12 solo studio albums during her solo career; all but the first two are self-produced.

• Little Earthquakes (1992)
• Under the Pink (1994)
• Boys for Pele (1996)
• From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)
• To Venus and Back (1999)
• Strange Little Girls (2001)
• Scarlet's Walk (2002)
• The Beekeeper (2005)
• American Doll Posse (2007)
• Abnormally Attracted to Sin (2009)
• Midwinter Graces (2009)
• Night of Hunters (2011)

Amos has also released more than 30 singles and 60 B-sides, and has contributed original material to nine film soundtracks, including Higher Learning (1995), Twister (1996), Great Expectations (1998) and Mission: Impossible II (2000). Her cover of the 1952 hit "You Belong to Me" appears on the soundtrack to 2003's Mona Lisa Smile.

Tours[link]

Amos, who has been performing in bars and clubs from as early as 1976 and under her professional name as early as 1991 has performed more than 1,000 shows since her first world tour in 1992. In 2003, Amos was voted fifth best touring act by the readers of Rolling Stone magazine. Her concerts are notable for their changing set lists from night to night.

Little Earthquakes Tour 

Amos's first world tour began on January 29, 1992 in London and ended on November 30, 1992 in Auckland. She performed solo with a Yamaha CP-70 unless the venue was able to provide a piano.^[57][58] The tour included 142 concerts around the globe.

Under the Pink Tour 

Amos's second world tour began on February 24, 1994 in Newcastle upon Tyne and ended on December 13, 1994 in Perth, Western Australia. Amos performed solo each night on her iconic Bösendorfer^{[citation needed]} piano, and on a prepared piano during "Bells for Her". The tour included 181 concerts.

Dew Drop Inn Tour 

The third world tour began on February 23, 1996 in Ipswich, England, and ended on November 11, 1996 in Boulder. Amos performed each night on piano, harpsichord, and harmonium, with Steve Caton on guitar on some songs. The tour included 187 concerts.

Plugged '98 Tour 

Amos's first band tour. Amos, on piano and Kurzweil keyboard, was joined by Steve Caton on guitar, Matt Chamberlain on drums, and Jon Evans on bass. The tour began on April 18, 1998 in Fort Lauderdale and ended on December 3, 1998 in East Lansing, Michigan, including 137 concerts.

Five and a Half Weeks Tour / To Dallas and Back 

Amos's fifth tour was North America–only. The first part of the tour was co-headlining with Alanis Morissette and featured the same band and equipment line-up as in 1998. Amos and the band continued for eight shows before Amos embarked on a series of solo shows. The tour began on August 18, 1999 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and ended on December 9, 1999 in Denver, including 46 concerts.

Strange Little Tour 

This tour was Amos's first since becoming a mother in 2000 and her first tour fully solo since 1994 (Steve Caton was present on some songs in 1996). It saw Amos perform on piano, Rhodes piano, and Wurlitzer electric piano, and though the tour was in support of her covers album, the set lists were not strictly covers-oriented. Having brought her one-year-old daughter on the road with her, this tour was also one of Amos's shortest ventures, lasting just three months. It began on August 30, 2001 in London and ended on December 17, 2001 in Milan, including 55 concerts.

On Scarlet's Walk / Lottapianos Tour 

Amos's seventh tour saw her reunited with Matt Chamberlain and Jon Evans, but not Steve Caton. The first part of the tour, which featured Amos on piano, Rhodes, and Wurlitzer, was six months long and Amos went out again in the summer of 2003 for a tour with Ben Folds opening. The tour began on November 7, 2002 in Tampa and ended on September 4, 2003 in West Palm Beach, featuring 124 concerts. The final show of the tour was filmed and released as part of a DVD/CD set titled Welcome to Sunny Florida (the set also included a studio EP titled Scarlet's Hidden Treasures, an extension of the Scarlet's Walk album).

Original Sinsuality Tour / Summer of Sin 

This tour began on April 1, 2005 in Clearwater, Florida, with Amos on piano, two Hammond B-3 organs, and Rhodes. The tour also encompassed Australia for the first time since 1994. Amos announced at a concert on this tour that she would never stop touring but would scale down the tours. Amos returned to the road in August and September for the Summer of Sin North America leg, ending on September 17, 2005 in Los Angeles. The tour featured "Tori's Piano Bar", where fans could nominate cover songs on Amos's website which she would then choose from to play in a special section of each show. One of the songs chosen was the Kylie Minogue hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head", which Amos dedicated to her the day after Minogue's breast cancer was announced to the public. Other songs performed by Amos include The Doors' "People are Strange", Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus", Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game", Madonna's "Live to Tell" and "Like a Prayer", Björk's "Hyperballad", Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" (which she debuted in Austin, Texas, just after the events of Hurricane Katrina), Kate Bush's "And Dream of Sheep" and Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over", dedicating it to drummer Paul Hester who had died a week before. The entire concert tour featured 82 concerts, and six full-length concerts were released as The Original Bootlegs.

American Doll Posse World Tour 

This was Amos's first tour with a full band since her 1999 Five and a Half Weeks Tour, accompanied by long-time band mates Jon Evans and Matt Chamberlain, with guitarist Dan Phelps rounding out Amos's new band.^[59] Amos's equipment included her piano, a Hammond B-3 organ, and two Yamaha S90 ES keyboards. The tour kicked off with its European leg in Rome, Italy on May 28, 2007, which lasted through July, concluding in Israel; the Australian leg took place during September; the North American leg lasted from October to December 16, 2007, when the tour concluded in Los Angeles. Amos opened each show dressed as one of the four non-Tori personae from the album, then Amos would emerge as herself to perform for the remaining two-thirds of the show. The entire concert tour featured 93 concerts, and 27 full-length concerts of the North American tour were released as official bootlegs in the Legs and Boots series.

Sinful Attraction Tour 

For her tenth tour, Amos returned to the trio format of her 2002 and 2003 tours with bassist Jon Evans and drummer Matt Chamberlain while expanding her lineup of keyboards by adding three M-Audio MIDI controllers to her ensemble of her piano, a Hammond B-3 organ, and a Yamaha S90 ES keyboard. The North American and European band tour began on 10 July 2009 in Seattle, Washington and ended in Warsaw on 10 October 2009. A solo leg through Australia began in Melbourne on 12 November 2009 and ended in Brisbane on 24 November 2009. The entire tour featured 63 concerts.

Night of Hunters tour 

Amos' eleventh tour was her first with a string quartet, Apollon Musagète, (Amos' equipment includes her piano and a Yamaha S90 ES keyboard) and her first time touring in South Africa. It kicked off on 28 September 2011 in Finland, Helsinki Ice Hall and ended on 22 December 2011 in Dallas, Texas.^[60]

Award nominations[link]

Grammy Awards

Note: In 2003 the Tori Amos album Scarlet's Walk (deluxe edition) was nominated in the category "Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Packaging", this nomination went to the art directors Dave Bett and Sherri Lee. Also in 2003, "Timo on Tori (Don't Make Me Come To Vegas) a remix of the Tori Amos song Don't Make Me Come to Vegas was nominated in the category "Best Remixed Recording, Non Classical" this nomination went to the remixers Mark Buttrich and Timo Maas.

Brit Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

References[link]