Tori Amos was born Myra Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963.  She was born at the Old Catawba Hospital in Newton, North Carolina.

Tori was two and a half when she started learning to play the piano.  Playing by ear, she soon played classical pieces and popular tunes.  By the time she was 5 years of age she could play anything she took a fancy to after hearing it only once. 

As a result her parents felt that they should help nurture her obvious talent.  She therefore attended Peabody Conservatory of Music.  She was in fact the youngest student the Peabody had ever accepted.  It was while attending this school that she discovered the sounds of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix.

The fun of playing the piano was threatened when instructors at the school forced Tori to learn how to read music in order to "break her ear".   She loved to play the songs as she felt them.  However, the teachers wanted to hear Mozart.  As a result of this "difference in taste" at the age of 10 her way of playing the classics led to her being kicked out of school.

After leaving the Conservatory Tori decided to reach her goal and become a rock star.  She started playing in clubs with her father as a chaperon. Surprisingly, gay bars were the first ones to open their doors to a 13-year old piano player and her Methodist minister father.

In the fall of 1980, Tori recorded her first single with the private pressing of a song co-written with her brother Mike.  The song was entitled "Baltimore", written in honour of the city's baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles.  The b-side was "Walking With You".  She was awarded a Citation from the city's Mayor for "the splendid quality of public service which you have rendered".

In 1983, Myra Ellen changed her name to Tori, after a friend's boyfriend said "Tori....your name's Tori.."  She agreed since she was looking for a stage name and thus became Tori Amos.

One year later, Tori left home to head to Los Angeles.  After offering a ride home to a fan, he in turn raped and threatened to kill her.  She promised herself to never speak of the experience and tried to move on although later she would write and record "Me And A Gun" recounting the experience.

In 1987 she signed with Atlantic Records to record an album with a band she had put together called Y Kant Tori Read.  By this point however, Tori was not playing the piano anymore.  It is noted from the album credits that a member of her band played the piano.  The album was a flop.  The singles taken from this album were "The Big Picture" and "Cool On Your Island".

After the failure of Y Kant Tori Read, Atlantic decided to give Tori one more chance and gave her until March of 1990 to create a new album.  Tori took her new vulnerability and poured it out on paper.  She also rediscovered the piano

In early 1990, Atlantic grew worried at the likelihood of having hits by March and sent Davitt Sigerson to "help" Tori with her songs.  When he got to her house, he heard what she had written and promptly left, saying "You don't need my help".  Tori let Atlantic take another listen and they said she should take a chance in London as she would be "a bigger fish in a smaller pond". Off she went and loved every second of it playing clubs.

It was during this stay in England that Tori went to the cinema to see Thelma and Louise and was reminded once again of the horror she experienced many years before in Los Angeles. "Me And A Gun" was penned later that day and sung for the first time at the gig she played that same night.  This would later become one of Tori's trademark songs and the inspiration for the creation of RAINN, the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network.

Later in 1992, Tori released the album Little Earthquakes which Tori refers to as being in diary form.  The singles taken from this album were "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "Winter", "China" and "Me And A Gun".

In 1994 Under The Pink album was released.  The meaning of the title "Under The Pink" was inspired by Tori's idea that "underneath it all, we're all pink".  Tori has said that "Little Earthquakes" may be a diary but "Under The Pink" is a painting.  The singles taken from this album were "Pretty Good Year", "God", "Past The Mission" and "Cornflake Girl".

After a lengthy relationship with Eric Rosse, who co-produced both "Little Earthquakes" and "Under The Pink", he and Tori went their separate ways. The break up became Tori's inspiration for "Boys For Pele", which Tori explains is more like a novel, each chapter exploring a different theme.  The singles taken from this album were "Professional Widow", "Caught A Lite Sneeze", "Hey Jupiter", "In The Springtime Of His Voodoo" and "Talula".

Following the end of the Pele tour, Tori discovered she was pregnant.  Devastatingly, she miscarried after three months. Tori has talked about the miscarriage, telling how it affected her and inspired a lot of the songs for the album "From the Choirgirl Hotel", which was released in May 1998.  The singles taken from this album are "Spark", "Raspberry Swirl", "Cruel" and "Jackie's Strength"

In March 1998 Tori was wed to British sound engineer Mark Hawley.  It was at his Cornwall, England studio that she recorded choirgirl.  The couple were married at a medieval castle in England.  For the Choirgirl album and tour, Tori "plugged" in for the first time, opting for electric instrumentation over her usual acoustic. 

Tori then decided to take a break from recording original material and decided to start on a 3 CD project which would include hard-to-find B-sides.  However Tori was finding that new songs were coming.  It was then decided that the new album would be a 2 CD album, one CD with new material and the other with live material recorded during the "Plugged 98" tour.  Tori released her fifth solo album in Autumn 1999 named To Venus and Back.  The singles taken from this album are "Bliss", "Concertina", "Glory Of The 80's" and "1000 Oceans".

It then all went quiet until 5 September 2000 when it was announced that Tori had given birth to a daughter, Natashya who weighed 7lbs 1oz.

Strange Little Girls, Tori's sixth solo album is released in September 2001.  This album is a collection of songs previously recorded by men but retold by Tori from a woman's point of view.  Also in September 2001, Tori embarked on the solo "Strange LIttle Tour" across Northern America and Europe.  The single taken from this album was "Strange Little Girl" although this was withdrawn at the last minute.

In 2002 Tori left Atlantic Records following the end of her 6 album Contract with them.  She joined Epic Records and her 7th solo album Scarlet's Walk was released in October 2002.  On 7 November Tori also began touring.  The only single to be taken from this album is "A Sorta Fairytale".  "Taxi Ride" and "Don't Make Me Come To Vegas" were released as promos only.  "Strange" was edited for a possible release. 

2003 saw Tori embarking on her second leg of the On Scarlet's Walk tour and the Lottapianos tour. 

Tori's eighth album is released in November 2003. Not a greatest hits album as such but a reworking of various songs including two new songs "Snow Cherries From France" and Angels".  "Mary" and "Angels" are the promos to be taken from this album.

In May 2004 Tori released "Welcome to Sunny Florida" a DVD of her concert on 4 September 2003 at West Palm Beach, Florida.  This release was accompanied by "Scarlet's Hidden Treasures" CD.

Tori's ninth album "The Beekeeper" is released in February 2005 with a bonus DVD containing extra track "Garlands".  The radio singles taken from this album are "Sleeps With Butterflies", "Sweet The Sting" and "Cars And Guitars".  Also released is Tori's first book "Piece by Piece" written with Ann Powers.  In April 2005 Tori embarked on another solo tour including Australia for the first time in 10 years!

In late 2005 Tori released 6 official bootleg recordings - Chicago 15.4.05, Denver 19.4.05, Los Angeles 25.4.05, London 4.6.05, Manchester 5.6.05, Boston 21.8.05

In September 2006 Rhino Records released Tori Amos : A Piano Collection with 5 discs of music covering alternate mixes, demos and several unreleased songs, "Take Me With You", "Peeping Tommi", "Ode To My Clothes", "Not David Bowie", "Dolphin Song", "Walk To Dublin (Sucker Reprise)", "Fire-eater's Wife", "Zero Point" and an "Intro Jam" to "Marys Of The Sea".  An exclusive bonus DVD was available from Barnes & Noble in the US.

May 2007, Tori next album American Doll Posse was released.