Hubert de Givenchy, a French fashion designer who founded The House of Givenchy in 1952. He was famous for having designed much of the personal and professional wardrobe of Audrey Hepburn

Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (20 February 1927^[2] – 10 March 2018^[3]) was a French fashion designer who founded The House of Givenchy in 1952. He was famous for having designed much of the personal and professional wardrobe of Audrey Hepburn and clothing for Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1970.
Hubert James Taffin de Givenchy was born on 20 February 1927 in Beauvais, Oise^[5][6][7] into a Protestant family.^[2] He was the younger son of Lucien Taffin de Givenchy (1888–1930), marquis of Givenchy, and his wife, the former Béatrice ("Sissi") Badin (1888–1976). The Taffin de Givenchy family, which traces its roots to Venice, Italy (the original surname was Taffini), was ennobled in 1713, at which time the head of the family became marquis of Givenchy.^[8] He had an elder brother, Jean-Claude de Givenchy (1925–2009), who inherited the family's marquessate and eventually became the president of Parfums Givenchy.
After his father's death from influenza in 1930, he was raised by their mother and maternal grandmother,^[7] Marguerite Dieterle Badin (1853–1940), the widow of Jules Badin (1843–1919), an artist who was the owner and director of the historic Gobelins Manufactory and Beauvais tapestry factories. Artistic professions ran in the extended Badin family. Givenchy's maternal great-grandfather, Jules Dieterle, was a set designer who also created designs for the Beauvais factory, including a set of 13 designs for the Elysée Palace. One of his great-great-grandfathers also designed sets for the Paris Opera.
He moved to Paris at the age of seventeen, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts.^[6][7]

Career

Givenchy's first designs were done for Jacques Fath in 1945.^[6][9] Later he did designs for Robert Piguet and Lucien Lelong (1946) – working alongside the still-unknown Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior.^[6][9] From 1947 to 1951 he worked for the avantgarde designer Elsa Schiaparelli.^[6][9]
In 1952, he opened his own design house at the Plaine Monceau in Paris.^[6][7] Later, he named his first collection "Bettina Graziani" for Paris's top model at the time.^[6] His style was marked by innovation, contrary to the more conservative designs by Dior. At 25, he was the youngest designer of the progressive Paris fashion scene. His first collections were characterized by the use of rather cheap fabrics for financial reasons, but they always piqued curiosity through their design.^{[citation needed]}
Audrey Hepburn, later the most prominent proponent of Givenchy's fashion, and Givenchy met in 1953 during the shoot of Sabrina.^[10][11] He went on to design the black dress she wore in Breakfast at Tiffany's.^[10][11]
He also developed his first perfume collection for her (L'Interdit and Le de Givenchy).^[6][7] Audrey Hepburn was the face of that fragrance. This was the first time a star was the face of a fragrance's advertising campaign, and probably the last time that it was done for free, only by friendship.^[12]
At that time, Givenchy also met his idol, Cristóbal Balenciaga.^[7][13] Although a renowned designer, Givenchy not only sought inspiration from the lofty settings of haute couture but also in such avant-garde environments as Limbo, the store in Manhattan's East Village.^[14]
Clients have included Donna Marella Agnelli, Lauren Bacall,^[5] Ingrid Bergman, Countess Mona von Bismarck, Countess Cristiana Brandolini d'Adda, Sunny von Bülow,Renata Tebaldi, Maria Callas, Capucine, Marlene Dietrich,^[5] Daisy Fellowes, Greta Garbo, Gloria Guinness, Dolores Guinness, Aimee de Heeren, Audrey Hepburn,^[10] Jane Holzer, Grace Kelly,^[10] Princess Salimah Aga Khan, Rachel Lambert Mellon, Jeanne Moreau, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis,^[10] Empress Farah Pahlavi, Babe Paley, Lee Radziwill, Comtesse Jacqueline de Ribes, Nona Hendryx, Baroness Pauline de Rothschild, Frederica von Stade, Baroness Gaby Van Zuylen van Nijevelt, Diana Vreeland, Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney, Baroness Sylvia de Waldner, the Duchess of Windsor, Jayne Wrightsman, etc.
In 1954, Givenchy's prêt-à-porter collection debuted.^[7][13]
De Givenchy created the iconic 'Balloon coat' and the 'Baby Doll' dress in 1958.^[15][16]
In 1969,^[17] a men's line was also created.^[7] From 1976 through 1983, the Ford Motor Company offered a Givenchy Edition of its Continental Mark series of luxury automobiles beginning in 1976 with the Continental Mark IV coupe and ending with the 1983 Continental Mark VI coupe and sedan. In 1988, he organized a retrospective of his work at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.^[9]
The House of Givenchy was split in 1981, with the perfume line going to Veuve Clicquot, while the fashion branch was acquired by LVMH in 1989.^[18] As of today, LVMH owns Parfums Givenchy as well.^[6]


De Givenchy retired from fashion design in 1995.^[10] His successor to head the Givenchy label was John Galliano.^[6][7] After a brief stint by Galliano, a five-year stay from Alexander McQueen and a term from 2001 to 2004 by Julien Macdonald, Givenchy women's ready-to-wear and haute couture was then headed by Riccardo Tisci from 2005 until 2017.^[6][7]
Clare Waight Keller is now the creative director of the fashion house since the Resort 2018 collection.
He resided at the Château du Jonchet, a listed historic castle in Romilly-sur-Aigre, Eure-et-Loir, near Paris.^[7] In his retirement, he focused on collecting 17th and 18th-century bronze and marble sculptures.^[11] In July 2010, he spoke at the Oxford Union.^[6][7] From 8 to 14 September 2014, during the Biennale des Antiquaires, he organized a private sale exhibition at Christie's in Paris featuring, artwork by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, Jacques-Louis David, Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson, etc.^[19]
In January 2007, The French Post Office issued postage stamps for Valentine's Day designed by Givenchy. In October 2014, a retrospective exhibition featuring ninety-five of his designed pieces took place at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, Spain.^[10][20] His longtime partner was fashion designer Philippe Venet.^[21]
He died in his sleep at the Renaissance chateau near Paris on Saturday 10 March 2018.

Leslie Marr, a British landscape artist, painter and former Formula 1 racing driver

Sir Leslie Lynn Marr, 2nd Baronet (born 14 August 1922) is a British landscape artist, painter and former racing driver.
Marr was born in Durham, England, the son of John Lynn Marr (1877–1931) and Amelia Rachel, née Thompson (1884–1971). He was educated at Shrewsbury School and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He inherited his baronetcy in 1932, on the death of his grandfather, shipbuilder Sir James Marr, 1st Baronet, though he does not use the title. He studied engineering at Cambridge University, where he graduated in 1942. During World War II he served as a technician in the Royal Air Force. His interest in painting developed during his posting to Palestine.
 Marr participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, making his debut on 17 July 1954 at the British Grand Prix.^[3] Racing in his private Connaught, he finished in 13th place, but retired from his last world championship race in 1955, after a damaged brake pipe caused him to spin off.^[4][5]

 Marr competed in several non-Championship races, with his best results including winning the 1955 Cornwall MRC Formula 1 Race and finishing fourth in the 1956 New Zealand Grand Prix.

Marr is recognised primarily as a landscape artist and painter.^[6][7][8] After the war ended, Marr attended life classes at Heatherley's Art School in Pimlico and subsequently studied under David Bomberg at what was then known as the Borough Polytechnic (now London South Bank University). He allocated the upper floor of a bookshop he had rented as an exhibition space for Bomberg's students (who became known as the Borough Group). Following the Group's dissolution in 1950, Marr continued to paint and to travel across Britain and the continent, and it was at this time that Marr tried his hand at motor racing.^[1][9]

Between 1983 and 1991, Marr lived and painted on Arran, and later moved to a home and studio in Norfolk.^[1] Artworks by Marr are held in the public collections of the British Academy, Imperial College Collection, Laing Art Gallery Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Pallant House Gallery, Chichester

Pope Francis, the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church, a title he holds ex officio as Bishop of Rome, and sovereign of Vatican City

Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio;^[b] 17 December 1936) is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church, a title he holds ex officio as Bishop of Rome, and sovereign of Vatican City. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope from outside Europe since the Syrian Gregory III, who reigned in the 8th century.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked briefly as a chemical technologist and nightclub bouncer before beginning seminary studies. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina's provincial superior of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina, and the administrations of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him a political rival. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March.
Throughout his public life, Pope Francis has been noted for his humility, emphasis on God's mercy, concern for the poor and commitment to interfaith dialogue. He is credited with having a less formal approach to the papacy than his predecessors, for instance choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors. In addition, due to both his Jesuit and Ignatian aesthetic, he is known for favoring simpler vestments void of ornamentation, including refusing the traditional papal mozzetta cape upon his election, choosing silver instead of gold for his piscatory ring, and keeping the same pectoral cross he had as cardinal. He maintains that the Church should be more open and welcoming. He does not support unbridled capitalism, Marxism, or Marxist versions of liberation theology. Francis maintains the traditional views of the Church regarding abortion, marriage, ordination of women, and clerical celibacy. He opposes consumerism, irresponsible development, and supports taking action on climate change, a focus of his papacy with the promulgation of Laudato si'. In international diplomacy, he helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba. Since the publication of Amoris Laetitia in 2016, Francis has faced increasingly open criticism from theological conservatives, particularly on the question of admitting civilly divorced and remarried Catholics to Communion.

Léopold Sédar Senghor, a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of Senegal

Léopold Sédar Senghor (9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of Senegal (1960–80). Ideologically an African socialist, he was associated with the Négritude movement. He was the founder of the Senegalese Democratic Bloc party.
Senghor was the first African elected as a member of the Académie française. He is regarded by many as one of the most important African intellectuals of the 20th century.

He graduated from the University of Paris, where he received the Agrégation in French Grammar. Subsequently, he was designated professor at the universities of Tours and Paris, where he taught during the period 1935–45.^[13]
Senghor started his teaching years at the lycée René-Descartes in Tours; he also taught at the lycée Marcelin-Berthelot in Saint-Maur-des-Fosses near Paris.^[14] He also studied linguistics taught by Lilias Homburger at the École pratique des hautes études. He studied with prominent social scientists such as Marcel Cohen, Marcel Mauss and Paul Rivet (director of the Institut d'ethnologie de Paris). Senghor, along with other intellectuals of the African diaspora who had come to study in the colonial capital, coined the term and conceived the notion of "négritude", which was a response to the racism still prevalent in France. It turned the racial slur nègre into a positively connoted celebration of African culture and character. The idea of négritude informed not only Senghor's cultural criticism and literary work, but also became a guiding principle for his political thought in his career as a statesman

Farfarello, eine deutsche Akustik-Rock-Band um den Geiger Mani Neumann und den Gitarristen Ulli Brand

Farfarello, früher auch Trio Farfarello, ist eine deutsche Akustik-Rock-Band um den Geiger Mani Neumann und den Gitarristen Ulli Brand, die im Jahr 1982 gegründet wurde. Die musikalischen Einflüsse der Band reichen von traditioneller rumänischer Musik bis zum Progressive Rock.
Neben Neumann und Brand, die bis heute den Kern bilden, wurde die Band ursprünglich als Trio farfarello gemeinsam mit dem Bassisten Ecke Volk gegründet. Seit dessen Ausscheiden spielen andere Musiker als Gastmusiker bei farfarello mit, neben Bassisten auch Schlagzeuger und Perkussionisten.
So ist als Schlagzeuger regelmäßig Charly T zu hören, der unter anderem 2005 für Köster / Hocker, 2009 für The Lords und 2012 für Chris Kramer spielte.^[2] Ebenso spielt immer wieder der niederländische Jazzperkussionist Martin Verdonk mit. Früher waren unter anderem der deutsche Bassist Dal Martino und der indonesische Percussionist Nippy Noya als Gäste der Band zu hören. Zudem wurde ab 1989 die Band fast 20 Jahre lang ergänzt um den Schwelmer Gitarristen, Cellisten und Sänger Stefan Wiesbrock.^[3]
Der langjährige Gast-Bassist Joschi Kappl wurde mit dem MTV „Lifetime Award“ ausgezeichnet.^[4] Heute ist nach einer Pause wieder der Bassist Urs Fuchs mit farfarello unterwegs, der auch 2015 die CD ZeitZone mit einspielte.^[5][1] Auf größeren Konzerten gibt es seit 2015 eine Erweiterung mit einem Streichtrio, bestehend aus Violine, Viola und Cello.
Der Brite Chris Thompson spielte zusammen mit farfarello auf der 1990 veröffentlichten Single Sea of emotion. Mit der Neuen Lausitzer Philharmonie produzierte farfarello das 2001 veröffentlichte Album Classics. Gemeinsam mit dem Quintetto Accento nahm farfarello die 2004 über das Label Perleberg veröffentlichte CD Rendez Vous auf.
Beim Album farfarello & freunde von 1998 wirkte unter anderen die Kölner Harfenistin Ulla van Daelen mit.
farfarello unterstützt seit Jahren musikalisch den Lichtkünstler Jörg Rost bei seinen Darbietungen. Der spanische Perkussionist José Cortijo unterstützte im März 2013 das Duo bei dem Projekt „farfarello im Licht“^[6] und gehört derzeit ebenfalls zu den regelmäßigen Mitspielern.

Nicholas Medforth-Mills, formerly Prince Nicholas of Romania

Nicholas Michael de Roumanie Medforth-Mills, formerly Prince Nicholas of Romania, (born 1 April 1985) is the eldest child and only son of Princess Elena of Romania and Robin Medforth-Mills. As a grandson of Michael I, the former king of Romania, he was third in line to the defunct throne of Romania according to a new family statute enacted in 2007, that also conferred the title of a "prince of Romania" on him^[2] which was abrogated in 2015. The statute and the titles it confers have no standing in present Romanian law.

Nicholas Medforth-Mills was born on 1 April 1985 at La Tour Hospital in Meyrin, a commuter town near Geneva, Switzerland, the first child and son of Princess Elena of Romania and her first husband Robin Medforth-Mills and the second grandchild of King Michael I of Romania and his wife Queen Anne.^[3]
He was baptised in the Orthodox faith, his godparents being Queen Anne (his maternal grandmother) and Crown Princess Margareta of Romania (his maternal aunt).^[4]
He was followed by a sister, Elisabeta-Karina (born 1989).

Prince of Romania

In 1997, Romanian monarchists intended to ask Michael to designate a male heir-presumptive from the House of Hohenzollern in keeping with the rules of the last royal constitution which were based on agnatic primogeniture and "Salic law"; The monarchists eventually agreed on a compromise and requested him to designate a male rather than female heir-presumptive, in the person of Nicholas. However, under the influence of Queen Anne, Michael rejected the monarchists' request, and at the end of 1997, he designated Princess Margareta as heir presumptive in keeping with the European Convention on Human Rights,^[25] which meant Nicholas would only succeed to the headship of the royal family after the deaths of King Michael, Crown Princess Margareta and his mother.
In 2005, Michael told Medforth-Mills that he could choose to have the chance of becoming a "prince of Romania" which would mean assuming responsibility in a conscious manner by starting to work for the country.
On 30 December 2007, the press office of King Michael announced that Nicholas Medforth-Mills would receive the title "prince of Romania" with the style of "royal highness", coming into effect on Nicholas's 25th birthday. On 1 April 2010,^[2] by virtue of his new title, he became a member of the Romanian royal family^[26] and was decorated with the Nihil Sine Deo, the highest of royal decorations at the time.
In February 2008, Nicholas stated in an interview with the Romanian daily newspaper Cotidianul that if the Romanian people asked him to become king, he would not refuse.^[27]

In September 2012, after his university studies, he moved to Romania to undertake more of the royal family's public activities.^[28]

Removal of succession rights and princely title

On 1 August 2015, former King Michael of Romania signed a document removing the title prince of Romania and the qualification of royal highness from his grandson. Medforth-Mills also has been removed from the line of succession. The former king took the decision after considering that Romania needed a ruler marked by modesty and moral principles, respect and thought for others after the "reign and life" of his eldest daughter, Crown Princess Margareta, will have finished. In issuing the declaration, the former king expressed the hope that "Nicholas will find in future years a suitable way to serve the ideals and use the qualities that God gave him". Nicholas's mother, Princess Elena, received notification of the former king's decision in a personal letter.^[29]
The move "stunned Romanians" and "sparked speculation that a jealous relative had sought to edge Nicholas out of the succession."^[30] Marlene Eilers Koenig speculated that the exclusion of Nicholas from the royal succession was due to the birth of an illegitimate daughter, born from a short relationship with Nicoleta Cîrjan.^[31] The child, born 9 February 2016 and named Iris Anna, was not recognized by the former prince.^[32]
Nicholas released a press statement on 18 November 2017 from London about the child.^[33] Point 2 of the Press release stated, "I returned to Romania in November 2015 to resolve the situation with my alleged child. Due to the constant lack of co-operation from the mother of my alleged child, this situation has remained unclear. So far, there is no medical evidence to support the mother's accusations. Therefore, any accusations that are related to this subject are unfounded."^[33] On 27 May 2019, Nicholas confirmed via a Facebook post that paternity tests had confirmed the illegitimate child is his, and that he had assumed legal responsibility for the child.^[

George Best, a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. In 1968, he won the European Cup with Manchester United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year

George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. In 1968, he won the European Cup with Manchester United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. The Irish Football Association described him as the "greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland".^[2]
Born and brought up in Belfast, Best began his club career in England with Manchester United, with the scout who had spotted his talent at the age of 15 sending a telegram to manager Matt Busby which read: "I think I've found you a genius."^[3] After making his debut aged 17, he scored 179 goals from 470 appearances over 11 years, and was the club's top goalscorer in the league for five consecutive seasons.^[4]
Regarded as one of the greatest dribblers in the history of the sport, his playing style combined pace, skill, balance, feints, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders.^[5][6][7] Best unexpectedly quit United in 1974 at age 27, but returned to football for a number of clubs around the world in short spells, until retiring in 1984, age 37. In international football, he was capped 37 times and scored nine goals between 1964 and 1977, although a combination of the team's performance and his lack of fitness in 1982 meant that he never played in the finals of a European Championship or World Cup.
Best was one of the first celebrity footballers, earning the nickname "El Beatle" in 1966,^[8] but his subsequent extravagant lifestyle led to various problems, most notably alcoholism, which he suffered from for the rest of his life. These issues affected him on and off the field, at times causing controversy.^[9] He said of his career: "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds [women] and fast cars – the rest I just squandered".^[10] After football, he spent some time as a football analyst, but his financial and health problems continued into his retirement.^[9] He died in 2005, age 59, due to complications from the immunosuppressive drugs he needed to take after a liver transplant in 2002.^[11] He continued drinking after the transplant.^[12] Best was married twice, to two former models, Angie Best and then Alex Best. His son Calum Best was born in 1981 from his first marriage.
Best was voted 8th in the World Soccer 100 greatest football players of the 20th century election in 1999 and was voted 16th in the IFFHS World Player of the Century election in 1999. He was on the six-man short list for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Century in 1999. Best was one of the inaugural 22 inductees into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, he was voted 19th in the public UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll and was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. Best was once quoted as saying, “Pelé called me the greatest footballer in the world. That is the ultimate salute to my life.”^[13] On what would have been his 60th birthday, Belfast City Airport was renamed the George Best Belfast City Airport. According to the BBC, Best was remembered by mourners at his public funeral held in Belfast as "the beautiful boy" [with a] "beautiful game".^[14]

Tori Amos, an American singer-songwriter, pianist and composer

Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos,^[1] August 22, 1963^[2]) is mezzo-soprano vocal range.^[10]
an American singer-songwriter, pianist and composer. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range.
Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full scholarship to the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University at the age of five, the youngest person ever to have been admitted. She was expelled at the age of eleven for what Rolling Stone described as "musical insubordination."^[11] Amos was the lead singer of the short-lived 1980s pop group Y Kant Tori Read before achieving her breakthrough as a solo artist in the early 1990s. Her songs focus on a broad range of topics, including sexuality, feminism, politics, and religion.^[12]
Her charting singles include "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "God", "Cornflake Girl", "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Professional Widow", "Spark", "1000 Oceans", "Flavor", and "A Sorta Fairytale", her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date.^[13] Amos has received five MTV VMA nominations, eight Grammy nominations, and has won an Echo award for her classical work. She is listed on VH1's "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll" list. 

Early life and education

Amos is the third child of Mary Ellen (Copeland) and the Rev. Edison McKinley Amos.^[15] She was born at the Old Catawba Hospital in Newton, North Carolina during a trip from their Georgetown home in Washington, D.C. Amos has said that her maternal grandparents each had an Eastern Cherokee grandparent of their own; of particular importance to her as a child was her maternal grandfather, Calvin Clinton Copeland, who was a great source of inspiration and guidance, offering a more pantheistic spiritual alternative to her father and paternal grandmother's traditional Christianity.^[16]
When she was two years old, her family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where her father had transplanted his Methodist ministry from its original base in Washington, D.C. Her older brother and sister took piano lessons, but Amos didn't need them. From the time she could reach the piano, she taught herself to play: when she was two, she could reproduce pieces of music she had only heard once,^[17] and, by the age of three, she was composing her own songs. She has described seeing music as structures of light since early childhood, an experience consistent with chromesthesia:

The song appears as light filament once I've cracked it. As long as I've been doing this, which is more than thirty-five years, I've never seen the same light creature in my life. Obviously similar chord progressions follow similar light patterns, but try to imagine the best kaleidoscope ever—after the initial excitement, you start to focus on each element's stunning original detail. For instance, the sound of the words with the sound of the chord progression combined with the rhythm manifests itself in a unique expression of the architecture of color-and-light. ... I started visiting this world when I was three, listening to a piece by Béla Bartók; I visited a configuration that day that wasn't on this earth. ... It was euphoric.^[18]

At five, she became the youngest student ever admitted to the preparatory division of the Peabody Conservatory of Music.^[19][20] She studied classical piano at Peabody from 1968 to 1974.^[19] In 1974, when she was 11, her scholarship was discontinued 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.^[21][17][22]
In 1972, the Amos family moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, where her father became pastor of the Good Shepherd United Methodist church. At 13, Amos began playing at gay bars and piano bars, chaperoned by her father.^[21][17]
Amos won a county teen talent contest in 1977, singing a song called "More Than Just a Friend".^[20] 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". Before this, she had performed under her middle name, Ellen, but permanently adopted Tori after a friend's boyfriend told her she looked like a Torrey pine, a tree native to the West Coast.^[23][24]

Career

Beginnings

By the time she was 17, Amos had a stock of homemade demo tapes that her father regularly sent out to record companies and producers.^[20] Producer Narada Michael Walden responded favorably: he and Amos cut some tracks together, but none were released.^[20] Eventually, Atlantic Records responded to one of the tapes, and, when A&R man Jason Flom flew to Baltimore to audition her in person, the label was convinced and signed her.^[19]
In 1984, Amos moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career^[20] after several years performing on the piano bar circuit of the D.C. area.

Y Kant Tori Read (1986–88)

In 1986, Amos formed a musical group called Y Kant Tori Read, named for her difficulty sight reading.^[25] In addition to Amos, the group was composed of Steve Caton (who would later play guitars on all of her albums until 1999), drummer Matt Sorum, bass player Brad Cobb and, for a short time, keyboardist Jim Tauber. The band went through several iterations of songwriting and recording; Amos has said interference from record executives caused the band to lose its musical edge and direction during this time. Finally, in July 1988, the band's self-titled debut album, Y Kant Tori Read, was released. Although its producer, Joe Chiccarelli, stated that Amos was very happy with the album at the time,^[26] Amos has since criticized it, once remarking: "The only good thing about that album is my ankle high boots."^[27]
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.^[28]

The Atlantic years (1990–2001)

Despite the disappointing reaction to Y Kant Tori Read, Amos still had to comply with her six-record contract with Atlantic Records, which, 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.^[29] 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.^[19] This album became her commercial and artistic breakthrough, entering the British charts in January 1992 at Number 15.^[19] Little Earthquakes was released in the United States in February 1992 and slowly but steadily began to attract listeners, gaining more attention with the video for the single "Silent All These Years".^[19]
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 No. 12 on the Billboard 200,^[30] a significantly higher position than the preceding album's position at No. 54 on the same chart.^[31] However, the album found its biggest success in the UK, debuting at number one upon release in February 1994.

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's acoustics. For this album, Amos used harpsichord, harmonium, and clavichord as well as the piano. 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 No. 2 on the UK Top 40^[32] and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 upon its release.^[30]
Fueled by the desire to have her own recording studio to distance herself from record company executives, Amos had the barn of her home in Cornwall converted into the state-of-the-art recording studio, Martian Engineering Studios.^[33]
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, and vocal washes. 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. Debut sales for From the Choirgirl Hotel are Amos's best to date, selling 153,000 copies in its first week.^[34] 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.^[35]
Shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Amos decided to record a cover album, taking songs written by men about women and reversing the gender roles to reflect a woman's perspective.^[36][37] That became Strange Little Girls, released in September 2001. The album is Amos's first concept album, with artwork featuring Amos photographed in character of the women portrayed in each song.^[37] Amos would later reveal that a stimulus for the album was to end her contract with Atlantic without giving them 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.^[38]