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6/15/2008

What is My Connection to Tori Amos??




(Picture credits go to http://everythingtori.com/go/galleries/)

I promise you there is a connection between Tori Amos and me but you’ll have to be a little patient to find out what it is. :) So please keep reading

I’ve decided you’ve probably heard enough “emergency room” talk in my last post (I know I have!) and you may be ready for a more uplifting/fun post! Hopefully this will fit the bill. Here goes!

Let me start by saying one reason writing this post is FUN for me is that Tori Amos’ music has gotten me through some very difficult and challenging times in my life… including lifting my spirits when my endometriosis was displaying particularly fierce symptoms.

Believe it or not, a big factor in how I stayed away from the emergency room trip this weekend was by playing Tori Amos CDs (!) while I was doing deep breathing exercises, meditating, lying very still, etc. I was able to lower my blood pressure, in part, because I find Tori’s music so therapeutic!

So I’m writing about my all-time favorite musical artist: Tori Amos. I once read she had been voted by Rolling Stone magazine as the # 5 Live Performer of All Time!! Yet -- you very, very rarely hear her on the radio. In fact, many of you have never heard of her. (She doesn’t worry about chart sales; her passion is the music, the sound, the lyrics… She does not let others dictate to her. She follows her own path). She is a very successful singer-songwriter, producer, recording artist, pianist, live performer… with a rabid “cult following”. She is NOT a “cookie cutter” recording artist. She is unique.

She has sold 12+ million records worldwide as of 2005, as per Wikipedia which was quoting the following press release for the autobiography Tori Amos co-wrote with Ann Powers: http://everythingtori.com/go/book/.

OK, I’ve kept you in suspense long enough. I have to tie Tori together with this blog so that you won’t wonder why I’m writing about Tori Amos on my endo blog, right?

I read Tori’s autobiography several years ago (see below):


“Tori Amos Piece by Piece. A Portrait of the Artist: Her thoughts. Her Conversations”, I was stunned to discover from her book that Tori Amos has endometriosis!

Now you may be wondering why that’s a big deal, right? It’s not like endometriosis is exactly uncommon. Well, it's just that I have seen or heard SO many print, Internet, and TV interviews of Tori (basically anything I heard about that was Tori-related… I tuned in for!) and I had never known that she has endometriosis until I read this book. So I was just amazed at this piece of information. Tori mentioned endometriosis just in passing in the book. (In it, she did discuss her difficult experiences with multiple miscarriages). I believe she had three of them. (She was diagnosed with a protein deficiency that her miscarriages were attributed to).

She also co-founded RAINN ranked in America’s 100 Best Charities by Worth Magazine in 1994, as per this Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAINN. Also here is Tori’s RAINN Public Service Announcement:



Yes, I really met Tori Amos! Look (below) at the pictures that were taken with my camera.

My friend took this shot of me with Tori Amos minutes before the concert:


Yes. I was this close to Tori Amos! :) I took this shot:


I’ve seen Tori live 4 times. The last time I saw her, my friend and I had special tickets. Ironically, my friend who went to that "special ticket" concert with me (the night we actually MET Tori) ALSO has endometriosis.

We had 3rd row seats (!!!) and we got to meet Tori before the concert, get a photo taken with her, get an autograph, listen to part of the sound check before the show, etc. It was one of those nights you never forget. :)

I find Tori completely musically brilliant, fascinating, complex, brilliantly intelligent, courageous, strong, outspoken, not afraid of what people think, controversial, a person who follows her instincts, and finally just a sensitive, caring, sincere person who tries to do her part to make the world a better place. As I said, I have had the honor and pleasure of meeting her in person at a concert because my friend and I had special tickets that were equivalent to “backstage passes”.

For info on Tori, see the Wikipedia entry for her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tori_Amos.

My passion for Tori Amos’ music all started when I got my hands on “Little Earthquakes” in 1992. That CD was all it took for me to be hooked for life.

Per her Wikipedia entry (see link above), here are some of the awards she has been nominated for:

Grammy Awards

1995 — Best Alternative Music Album (for Under The Pink, nomination).
1997 — Best Alternative Music Album (for Boys For Pele, nomination).
1999 — Best Alternative Music Album (for From the Choirgirl Hotel, nomination).
1999 — Female Rock Vocal Performance (for "Raspberry Swirl", nomination).
2000 — Best Alternative Music Album (for To Venus and Back, nomination).
2000 — Female Rock Vocal Performance (for "Bliss", nomination).
2002 — Best Alternative Music Album (for Strange Little Girls, nomination).
2002 — Female Rock Vocal Performance (for "Strange Little Girl", nomination).
2004 — Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Packaging (for Scarlet's Walk, nomination).

So one of my connections to Tori Amos (the one that motivated me to write this article) is that we both have endometriosis. However, I also feel connected to Tori because I love her music so much! It has lifted me up, kept me sane, and given me hope. I feel connected to her because she gives me strength and hope! Her music calms me down when little else can. I feel connected to her in many ways. I believe she has a very special gift.

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jeanne,
That's great. It's amazing how music can be so therapeutic.
Alicia

Jeanne said...

Alicia,

Yes! Music is SO powerful! I have learned over the years that it's so, so much more than just entertainment. It can literally make one feel better when he/she is ill. That's what Tori does for me... makes me feel better. (How did you like that picture of me standing right next to Tori??)... :)

Jeanne

Anonymous said...

Love the pics! When I went through my miscarriage I was really drawn to Michael Buble's 'Lost' and John Mayer's 'In Repair', so I know what you mean!

Jeanne said...

Alicia,

When I look at those pics, I realize that, yes, I really did meet Tori in person. It was surreal the night of the concert. It's a night I'll never forget. It was great to go to it with my friend too! I'm not one to get hooked into following celebrities... but this was Tori! From 1992 to present, her music has been with me whenever I can listen to it. It's just amazing.

Yes, music can be so healing! Tori spoke in her book of the anguish she went through with her miscarriages. I can only imagine she must have used music to get through those difficult times. I know some of her work was influenced by those miscarriage experiences.

It's amazing how we're drawn to what we need when it comes to something like music. I'm glad you found music that was helpful to you when you had your miscarriage!

Jeanne

Tracee Sioux, Sioux Ink: Soul Purpose Publishing said...

cool you really got to meet your favorite star!

Jeanne said...

Oh, Tracee. You have no idea. Ever since "Little Earthquakes" came out in 1992, I have been such a huge fan of Tori Amos! I don’t just find her music pleasant, fun, uplifting, etc. I find it HEALING!!! To me she is just an utter musical genius.

When she was admitted to the Peabody Conservatory of Music (affiliated with John Hopkins, I think), she was the youngest student to have been admitted. (I’m pretty sure she was 5 when they admitted her).

She went from classical child prodigy to bar piano player to what she is now: complex, hard to classify, and generally difficult to label.

She is bold, unique, courageous, and astoundingly unafraid to take risks. She is an artist.

Can she be controversial? You bet. However, it’s her courage and strength that inspire so many. It’s her love of life and her fearlessness that so many admire.

Standing next to her was an extreme honor. It wasn’t about “meeting a celebrity”. It was about meeting an incredible human being who has positively touched the lives of so many.

She has an energy and spirit that are just remarkable.

It was so awesome to actually MEET her!!! I am truly grateful!

Jannie Funster said...

JEANNE!!! That's you with Tori Amos!! Yay. Thank you so much for this post.

I thik Tori Amos is nothing short of wonderful.

Hope you're having a great day.

Jannie
xo

Jeanne said...

Jannie,

That was my 4th time seeing her perform live. My friend and I were in row 3!!! :)

My friend who went with me to the last concert (the row 3 one) also has endo. Plus Tori has endo.

We were 2 out of just 25 people at our venue who were sitting in the front area (where our seats were). They were worth the extra money!!!

That's why we got to meet her... because we bought special seats as soon as the "The Tori Store" website opened. (That was the only place to get those special tickets... her special site).

The site crashed because of too many hits but we got tickets just in time before they shut it down!!!

At the show, we met people in the section behind us that were online trying to get tickets right when they became available (just like what we did). They weren't as fortunate as we were to get their orders to clear before the site crashed. So they had to wait until Ticketmaster had seats available.

We were so lucky to get row 3 and meet her!!! :)

There is a reason Rolling Stone magazine ranked her the "#5 Live Performer of All Time"!!! (Of course, I'd rank her #1)!!!

She is so amazing live! This last (4th) time I saw her was the best.

Part of it was being in the 3rd row. Part of it was getting her autograph, getting to shop the concert merchandise before the doors opened, seeing part of the sound check, and meeting her!!

All of her shows are AMAZING!!!

This last one, though, was super high-energy! She didn't even take a break!

There was supposed to be an intermission but she spontaneously decided to play right through it so we got to hear extra time!!!

That's the only show I recall her not taking any breaks... She was amazing even by her standards that night...

It was AWESOME!!!

Jeanne :)

P.S.

The "Tori Amos: Live at Montreux 1991-1992" DVD and CD just came out recently! They were recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The '91 show was prior to the release of Little Earthquakes and the '92 show took place after she had released LE. She plays some common songs at both the 1991 and 1992 shows... but by the second show of the DVD and CD, she had made her breakthrough and her "cult following" had begun. I highly recommend the CD and DVD from Montreux. You can order them from Amazon through my blog widget if you like hearing people play live and you like Tori. I know you love music from reading your blog! :)

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