Powerhouse Tori Amos stormed the pop charts in the 1990s with her unforgettable album Little Earthquakes.
Her signature sound redefined the boundaries of the pop genre and paved the way for other artists to follow their own paths.
In this episode of Take 5 with Zan Rowe, Tori Amos opens up about where it all began: being the youngest person ever accepted into a prestigious music school… and then being expelled.
“I think I said something like ‘You’re so stupid.’ I started challenging when I was about 8 or 9 and by the time, I was 11 it was just insubordinate.”
The industry hasn’t always been a safe space. She has faced plenty of rejection and fierce criticism of her unconventional musical choices.
“I had seven years of rejection. Every company rejected me many, many, many times… Billboard called me a bimbo. How do you go from child prodigy to bimbo?”
A survivor and activist, Tori speaks candidly about sexual assault and channelling her own experiences into her art:
“As a woman I’m trying to deal with the emotions that are coming up as the song is coming. It’s overwhelming. To perform it I’m allowing the song to inhabit my body, and I’m just an observer.”
But Tori has faced everything life has thrown at her head on, and she is still selling out tours globally.
This episode of Take 5 is filled with stories of resistance, rebellion and finding one’s voice. “You find your own style because you’re on your knees and you surrender.” All told through the songs that soundtrack the life of an extraordinary woman.
Production credit: Take 5 with Zan Rowe is an ABC Production. Created and hosted by Zan Rowe, Executive Producer: Nikita Agzarian, Series Producer: Josh Schmidt, Director/DOP: Aaron Smith, Double J Content Director: Ryan Egan, Head of Music: Meagan Loader, Executive Producer Arts: Kalita Corrigan, Acting Head of Factual and Culture: Richard Huddleston.
