Tori Amos - Wonderful Woman No. 28

Tori Amos - Born 1963
American Singer, Songwriter and Musician

Added to the album by a wonderful woman called Tara

An awesome lyricist and musician and an open and honest rape survivor.
Tara

I have to admit, though I know some of Tori's music and I remember her provocative performance of Cornflake Girl on Top of the Pops (and how it was the hot topic at school the next day), I knew little else about her until Tara added her to the album. I did not know that she was a rape survivor. Since reading about her in order to write this blog, I have learned that she is not only extremely gifted and talented but also that she is a strong, emotionally aware, creative and just woman, who is a deserved entry in this album. So a huge credit to Tara for suggesting her.

I have learned that Tori had started to learn and master playing the piano at the age of two and that by the age of five had earned a scholarship to attend a celebrated music school. While still in high school, Tori began to play gigs in bars and clubs. Her first single was released when she was still only seventeen. And at the age of twenty-one, Tori moved to Los Angeles to further her career.

It was in L.A. that Tori became the victim of a horrific and violent sexual attack. She had performed at a gig and had chatted to a guy in the audience afterwards and had been persuaded to drive him home. She was then subjected to being held at knife point, being brutally raped and repeatedly told that she would be murdered that night.

The idea was to take me to his friends and cut me up, and he kept telling me that, for hours. And if he hadn't needed more drugs I would have been just one more news report, where you see the parents grieving for their daughter. And I was singing hymns, as I say in the song, because he told me to. I sang to stay alive. Yet I survived that torture, which left me urinating all over myself and left me paralyzed for years. That's what that night was all about, mutilation, more than violation through sex.
Tori Amos

Not only did Tori survive, she survived to tell her story through music and in doing so, has helped other survivors of sexual abuse and assault to feel understood and many have said her music has assisted them in coming to terms with what they have endured. Tori co-founded RAINN, The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network which operates as a hotline for those in crisis, as well as having programmes to prevent sexual assault, help victims and to ensure that rapists are brought to justice. Tori was the spokeswoman for the campaign (a position now taken by Christina Ricci) and speaks openly about her own experiences. She has donated proceeds from album sales and concert tours to the cause, as well as dedicating her time and experience as often as possible.

Tori's career as a musician has been hugely successful, particularly in the 1990s where she had hits internationally with songs that remain popular, such as Crucify, Cornflake Girl and Professional Widow. She has produced twelve albums between 1992 and 2011 and has been nominated for a plethora of awards. As a touring artist, Tori is legendary, indeed Rolling Stone Magazine voted her the fifth best touring artist in 2003.

Tori Amos has survived so much, achieved so much and created so much, an amazing, strong and wonderful, wonderful woman.