Tori Amos and her ‘Sinful Attraction’ tour

Get ready for the haunting and eccentric voice of American talent, Tori Amos, coming to Phoenix on July 18th. Singer, songwriter and pianist, Amos came to international success in the 90s with her deeply emotional and social-minded lyrics coupled with her offbeat composing. Even her performances are unusual in the way she presents herself, nearly facing the audience as she plays the piano. Her style is a little Kate Bush, a little Fleetwood Mac, a bit of Joni Mitchell but somehow she is an original.

Classified as alternative rock performer, her singles include top hits such as ‘Crucify,’ ‘Silent All These Years,’ ‘Cornflake Girl,’ and ‘A Sorta Fairytale, her most successful US single.

Her latest and tenth album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, will be released on May 19th through distributor, Universal Republic, and was recorded at her Cornwall, UK home studio, Martian Studios, by her British husband Mark Hawley and his partner Marcel van Limbeek. The album has some powerfully sad melodies.

Amos describes the album as "really handmade. I wanted to make a treasure, something people will value… I wanted to really investigate how we're controlled by the threat of despair…. I wanted to look at power, how we think and how you can reclaim the right to think for yourself, to uncover what you believe in as a spiritual, sexual creature. You don't need the approval of your family, or of their religion. You can think, 'Wait a minute, I'm a spiritual being. Just because I like gold handcuffs doesn't mean I'm not a spiritual being. These definitions are not for my mother to make about me.' What I am exploring with this record is power, and giving it away with your thinking. How do we become controlled?"

This six-time Grammy award winner began playing piano at the age of two and by five she was composing pieces on the piano. At nine years of age she started adding in lyrics. Highly talented she won a full scholarship to the Preparatory Division of the Peabody Conservatory of Music at the age of 5, but it was suddenly discontinued when she turned 11, perhaps because of her newfound interest in rock music.

At age 21, Amos moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career, formed a band, Y Kant Tori Read, and quickly secured a six-record deal with Atlantic Records. Her first album was an embarrassment to her but her next album very much piano-focused, and the recording company’s executives decided to promote her as the next Joni Mitchell and relocate her to Britain, considered to be more open-minded musically. Her career then began its steady ascent.

Come hear this ethereal and thought provoking star perform at our very own Dodge Theater for one memorable night.