Tori Amos, still rocking at 50: ‘It’s easy to shock. It’s tough to be great.’

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Here are some photos of Tori Amos at an Apple store event in Berlin a few days ago. Tori is promoting her new album, Unrepentant Geraldines, which is her 14th studio album. Can you believe that? Crazy. Tori is now 50 years old (she turns 51 in August). That’s even crazier. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve followed Tori’s career this whole time, but in my youth, I was OBSESSED. Her first three albums (Little Earthquakes, Under the Pink and Boys for Pele) are perfection and I probably listened to all three about a million times. I still have “God” and “Little Amsterdam” on my iPod… sorry, I’m back after downloading some more songs from Boys for Pele. Where was I? Oh, right. Tori Amos is everything. She has a new interview with ELLE, which you can read here. Some highlights:

Being 50 years old & still rocking: “In the music industry, you’re aware that there are a lot more contracts for our male compadres, 50 and up. I’m not talking any greatest hits projects. I’m talking about work that is pertinent for now, and that is how the industry is right now. So it seems to me that I had an opportunity.… so I’m going out alone with a piano [and] an organ, and I’m going to be playing them all while wearing a heel, singing and rocking.”

What her 13-year-old daughter thinks of Miley Cyrus: “Well, she listens to all kind of things. She just discovered Nirvana. She’s open-minded. [As for Miley], she likes the record. But you have to remember, Tash is interested in Coco Chanel, and she’s been around the world seven times now, so she’s had a different life exposure. Overt sexuality isn’t necessarily shocking for her. She’s grown up in a very liberal household with a mom who’s been fighting patriarchy. As far as she and I are concerned, the fact that Miley’s survived the Disney world and went on to create a great record—that’s fantastic, how exciting. But you have to understand not everybody needs the shock factor.”

The Shock Factor: “It’s easy to shock. It’s tough to be great. Betty White taking her clothes off would shock me more probably. But to be honest with you, if I had Helen Mirren’s body, and I could move like Beyoncé, would I be sashaying down the street workin’ it? Hopefully. But I don’t have those attributes. And also, to be honest with you, I’m into romance. I’m into walking in the rain and holding hands and being in love. I’ve got a strange mind. But you know, what a great time to be in your 20s and expressing yourself. I will say this to you, which I think is important: Men have been pushing sexuality and it’s been accepted by the public. Look at Prince. He’s a genius. So the fact that women feel like they should be able to express themselves sexually, I absolutely support that. I support equality. I don’t necessarily think that all young women should express themselves in that way, and that’s okay, too.”

[From ELLE]

“It’s easy to shock. It’s tough to be great.” I love that so much I want to cry. Why isn’t THAT on t-shirts? I like that Tori isn’t a late-in-life prude about sexuality too – she comes at sexuality through a progressive feminist view, where if the guys can do it, the ladies should do it too. Equality across the board, no slut shaming, just acceptance of differences. Bless her.

Anyway, this was just a post recognizing that Tori Amos still kicks so much ass. Honk if you agree! And here’s the first single off her new album. It’s called “Trouble’s Lament”. It’s got a nice hook and it sounds like Classic ‘90s Tori.

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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80 Responses to “Tori Amos, still rocking at 50: ‘It’s easy to shock. It’s tough to be great.’”

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  1. Hannah says:

    Honk.

  2. pru says:

    Listen up, Madonna.

    • OriginalCrystal says:

      Madonna is still one of the highest paid women in the music industry and her tours are constantly the highest grossing of any female artist so I think she’s fine. Her antics may be try-hard and tedious she isn’t washed up just yet. She’s spent her whole career shocking people so I’m not sure why she should stop now. She can’t sing like Whitney and sure as hell can’t dance like Janet so shocking is what she’s good at.

      • Nev says:

        WORD.

      • Artemis says:

        She’s spent her whole career shocking people so I’m not sure why she should stop now. She can’t sing like Whitney and sure as hell can’t dance like Janet so shocking is what she’s good at.

        But she spend the majority of her career making great albums that stood the test of time. Her career is extremely fluid despite all the different genres.

        Everybody was ‘used’ to a shocking Madonna as she kept people guessing but what made her great was the fact that she was AHEAD of trends or created new ones. Without that, she would have faded away real quick. She made solid albums. People gladly piss on Madonna for her antics but they also bought her works and basically kept her at the top for 25+ years. You have to do more than shock people to have that effect on them.

        Also her shocking had very much a purpose, combining sexuality and religion so explicitly could have destroyed her career yet it made her into a gay icon that set an example for future female popstars. What’s the purpose of her licking a shower or calling her son the n-word? Why has she become so lazy when it comes to making new music? And more importantly, why the hell is MADONNA of all people cutting up her face to the point where you have to google her original face?

  3. Nicole says:

    Honk!

  4. Samtha says:

    I’ll forever love Tori’s early albums. And she’s a force to be reckoned with as a live performer.

    • MissTrial says:

      She is amazing , her live show left me speechless! I have a hard time undertanding the meanings to some of her songs ( or the lyrics) but like with songs by Stevie Nicks, I assume it is something prolific , deep and the lyrics I get tend to stay with me.

      She looks a bit toxed or filled in those pics tho maybe it is the blush.

      • MaiGirl says:

        I wish! No, she started tweaking and filling a few years ago. I love her and always will, but her face work is baaaaad and hurts my feelings. I don’t get it because she seemed to be aging so well.

        LOVE this new song! I’m all for artists growing, but her journey’s been rocky sometimes, with some not-stellar choices and truly opaque lyrics, but at her best, no one can do what she does. Hope the rest if the album is this good!

      • aims says:

        I’ve seen Tori twice and she’s amazing. She can play two pianos at the same time.

      • Pepsi Presents...Coke says:

        She had surgery for TMJ, it got botched and she ended up with some nerve damage so she ended up getting reconstructive and cosmetic surgery to balance it out. But yeah, she’s still gone down the rabbit hole.

        Give me life, give me pain, give me myself again, amirite?

      • MaiGirl says:

        Awwwww….sorry to hear that, Pepsi. Hate to think of her suffering, truly. But “I got botched TMJ surgery-related never damage and needed copious fillers and an EYE-LIFT to balance it out” thing gets a bit of the side-eye from me, but I haven’t been following her career that closely lately. Since she’s been missing me with some of her artistic choices lately, I’m a bit out of the loop, though the love is still there.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        “Give me life, give me pain, give me myself again”

        After a friend in high school introduced me to Tori, I played that song for my mom. I think it made her worry about me, lol.

      • Pepsi Presents...Coke says:

        Oh, I totally agree with you about her going overboard, that’s what I meant with the rabbit hole remark. I’m seeing now that my comment wasn’t all that clear, but we are of one mind. Still better than how she looked 5 or 6 years ago, but I’m grading on the curve.

  5. Nev says:

    YES TORI!!!!!!!!

    forever. major points here Kaiser. WORD.

  6. Londerland says:

    Honk honk!

    Love Tori. She will always be a massive figure in my life, just one of those formative figures. And I love that she is actually less prudish about Miley than she used to be about, say, Alanis or the Britney/Christinas. (She once snarked You Oughta Know thusly: “Going down in the theatre – honey, no, unless you dropped your popcorn…”)

    • LadySlippers says:

      Her snark is very funny though…

    • mercy says:

      She probably felt some competition back then, and who can blame her. The pressure on women to conform to an image that could be packaged and sold was intense. Still is, but she was in the thick of it back then. She always had a good sense of humour that cut through her pretentious tendencies, and seemed more comfortable showing the fragile parts of herself than some of her peers.

  7. MrsB says:

    Honk! I have loved her since my early teens and she is one of the few that has never disappointed me.

  8. merski says:

    HONK!!

    Although, I don’t know if anyone feels the same way, but I admit I had a hard time getting through her albums released after Scarlet’s Walk… I don’t really know why that is. But anything up to that point I’ve listened to a million times for sure!

    • Londerland says:

      Merski – it’s not just you. From Scarlet onward, I find the albums patchy (and AATS was not good at all for me – it kind of sounded like someone who had never heard her, doing an impersonation of what they imagined Tori Amos to sound like). I just cherry-pick the good tracks. I’d love another stone-cold classic like Pele with no filler but never mind…

    • Samtha says:

      I agree too–there were some tracks I liked on Scarlet’s Walk, but after that…nothing. I haven’t been able to connect with any of it. Those first albums, though–including Choirgirl and Venus–were the soundtracks to my teen years.

    • Pepsi Presents...Coke says:

      Definitely. I think once she became huge she didn’t have anyone telling her no when she was in studio and so the worst qualities about her work metastasized and turned to parody.

      Dang, that sounded extremely harsh. SW is the last one I have. I understand why Strange Little Girls was what it was, but it broke me. The ‘Enjoy The Silence’ cover? That was an act of war.

      • MaiGirl says:

        I have agreed with everything you have posted, Pepsi. It’s hard to critique when you have so much love, but when Tori is off, she’s OFF OFF OFF! But when she is on, she is unbeatable, so it’s hard to reckon with her album history.

  9. Miss Jupitero says:

    Leaning on my horn here. I love her.

  10. lucy2 says:

    She is fantastic What a great and classy way to make her opinion known without trashing anyone in the process.
    I loved those 3 albums too, and got to see her in concert back in college. I’ll have to check out her new work.

  11. blue marie says:

    Of course I’ll honk, Tori rocks!

  12. Tapioca says:

    Didn’t Prince write SONGS about sex, rather than – barring the deeply unerotic Lovesexy cover – physically strip off, though? I can’t actually think of any male artist who completely reduces themselves down to photoshopped meat to sell records in the way that a lot of young female “singers” are currently doing.

    Personally I don’t believe there’s any great power to be had in women focussing on tits & ass over talent and thus slapping a “Use by” date on themselves that ensures their careers will be over the second they deign to get old. There’s a reason that it’s Tori who’s still going strong in her fifties.

    • Mandy says:

      Good insight. Love the “use by” analogy.

    • littlemissnaughty says:

      Well, the men didn’t strip down, no. They wrote and sang about sex and still do it to this day but she didn’t exactly put it like that to begin with. She said “pushing sexuality” which I think is right. Men typically sang about sex and having sex and “giving it to” women etc. I’m no fan of songs like that tbh, especially when the word “baby” is used more than twice. It’s so boring most of the time.
      It’s interesting to think about though. Because while men often go the “show me what you got/I’ll give it to you” route, women (are they still girls? I’m not sure) choose the “come and get it” option a lot. Which …. fits, kind of. But it’s one and the same narrative and I don’t know how that is supposed to be empowering. Same sh*t, different angle. Women offer themselves and their sexuality up on a platter while men let the women come to them. Musically speaking.

      I don’t know if we’ve moved forward that much quite honestly. I somehow feel like Miley is doing what Biggie has been telling her to do from the beyond for a looong time.

      But you know, I read between the lines that Tori knows this but is trying to be polite/supportive as best as she can. Just me?

    • LadySlippers says:

      I think Prince did use nakedness more than once. But his was always to prove a point rather than shock.

    • mercy says:

      Prince was running around in a g-string in his early days, but he was confronting sexual boundaries in a different way than the Madonna’s and Miley’s. Using naked women to sell products is nothing new, sad to say, and the M’s haven’t really contributed much in terms food for thought, or art. With Prince it was shocking, but it was also sensual, like his music, and had the added bonus of pissing off homophobes. 😉 And he was / is really talented.

    • Tiffany :) says:

      Remember his butt-less costume? He also did a LOT of humping on stage.

      I think it kind of did a disservice to him, though. He is one of THE BEST GUITAR PLAYERS that ever lived, and yet he is never recognized for it. People think of purple costumes and frilly shirts, not the guitar beast that is wearing them.

      • Pepsi Presents...Coke says:

        I’m now remembering that he opened for the Rolling Stones wearing the G-string and trenchcoat and that the audience threw garbage at him. Funny and strange.

  13. Frida_K says:

    You get a honk from me, Kaiser!

    And a happy Friday to you and to the lovely folks on the Bitchy!

    🙂

  14. Dawn says:

    She just said a mouthful and has 50 years of experience to back it up! Too bad some of the artists today can’t see that because they are too busy trying to shock and call it artistic when it is not. Using cuss words constantly or wearing a mask to use cuss words is NOT artistic, it is simply wearing a mask. It gets tiring to see these kinds of artist get accolades for doing basically nothing.

  15. Gwen says:

    Honk, honk!

  16. Here or there says:

    Honk!
    She’s so awesome I’ll forgive the forehead that dare not move. 😉

  17. Darkladi says:

    Hooooonnnk!!!!

    Her first 3 albums are on my life soundtrack!

  18. Sullivan says:

    I will always Honk! for Tori.

  19. frivolity says:

    Honk! A much needed role model for the millennial girls…

    I can’t wait to see her promote her album on Letterman. He seems to adore her for all of the same reasons (as we here do). It’s adorable.

  20. Kkhou says:

    Love Tori!

  21. Amy Tennant says:

    Look at the picture of Tori next to the one of Lohan. Who looks older, seriously?

  22. Luca26 says:

    Yes Tori is the sound of my youth her first 3 albums defined my college years.

  23. Mia says:

    Tori, one of my first loves. In my strange little heart forever.

  24. aenflex says:

    Loved her in the 90s. Don’t know if I would be the same person without Little Earthquakes and Under the Pink. Wasn’t so much a fan of Pele. I agree, she’s marvelous.

  25. Jaded says:

    Honk!! She and Kate Bush broke so many barriers and stereotypes back in the day – thanks Kaiser, and woo-hoo it’s Friday! Have a great weekend CBers!

  26. Jess says:

    Wow. I’m 40 so I grew up with her but was never really into her music. But this interview made me love her. She is awesome!

  27. LolaB says:

    Honk honk!

    Omg, love her.

  28. punkitten says:

    Honk!
    Love, love , love Tori! In middle school I was given a cassette tape release of Y Kant Tori Read and sang along with her playing in my Walkman. When Little Earthquakes was released the same family friend (who worked in a record store gave me the store promotional copy of Little Earthquakes and I fell in love. Hard. Little Earthquakes and Under the Pink were the soundtrack to my high school years (along with other favorites like NIN and PJ Harvey) I didn’t get to see her in concert until the tour for Boys for Pele but I’ve been able to see all the tours since and through the one for the American Doll Posse. I had a baby and skipped the tour for Abnormally Attracted to Sin then saw her again for Night of the Hunters and she was as incredible as ever. Even when I didn’t love the album the concert was FAB! Admittedly, strange little girls, the beekeeper, and gold dust haven’t ever connected with me. They may some day but they haven’t yet. Tori is magic on the stage. For such a small woman, sometimes just with her piano and harpsichord, sometimes with a guitarist, or with a backing band, etc. she fills the stage and reaches out to every nook and cranny of the audience. I have tickets to see her this year and look forward to hearing her new album live. Unrepentant Geraldines had been playing in my car and house since I received it. One of the few releases I bought a hard copy of. And it connects. I love it. I’ve been blessed to be second row center and to shake her hand after the show (the tour for boys for pele) and see her again at a meet and for a later album. Great to see a post with one of my all time favorites. Had to honk. Hope there aren’t too many typos. On my phone with a baby in one arm and a tori song dancing around in my head. 

  29. Happyhat says:

    Honk a thousand times! Her pre-Scarlets Walk albums are eternal to me. Post…not so much. I’ve been trying with Night of Hunters – it’s growing on me. I’d still get Unrepentant Geraldines, though. Just cos.

  30. Gina says:

    Seriously great quote. Hell motto, life lesson!

  31. Grumf says:

    How refreshing and awesome.

  32. MSat says:

    She’s fantastic. I have the new album and it’s really good. I’ve seen her live show more times than I can count. She’s the real deal. No auto-tune, no thong, no tongue hanging out. Just straight up brilliance. BOOM.

  33. Lucretia says:

    Honk, honk, honk — leaning on the horn. Tori and Shawn Colvin were the backbones of my college soundtrack.

  34. mercy says:

    I can see the t-shirt now. One side: ‘It’s easy to shock’ with picture of shock seeker, fame chaser of choice. Other side: ‘It’s tough to be great’ with picture of a truly talented artist. I don’t know who’s picture I’d use for the former, though. Too many choices, and I wouldn’t want their mug on my person.

  35. Heather says:

    WOW, what a great interview and an open perspective….LOVE her!!

  36. Sadezilla says:

    Honk! I haven’t gotten into her music but have always liked what she’s had to say.

  37. Msmlnp says:

    How can she be 50? It still seems to me 1995 was 10 years ago. Gawd I’m getting old.

    She looks great!

  38. Amulla says:

    She could not possibly be 50 years old.

    She looks 30.

  39. Abby_J says:

    Honk. Tori Amos is amazing. I credit her with finally letting me understand the lyrics to Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. She covered it beautifully.

  40. M says:

    So she claims to be fighting patriarchy yet still chooses to inject her face with botox and fillers…interesting.

    • Ginger says:

      Not necessarily…she’s always had the cheeks and the lips and amazing skin. I have the cheeks and creamy skin as well which has always necessitated LOTS of sunscreen. Of course I used to hate that but now that I’m 45, I TRULY appreciate them. It does make me look younger. In our family we also don’t wrinkle early. Most people think I’m 35. Some of us are just naturally genetically blessed. So please don’t hate on Tori. Not everyone needs fillers or Botox.

    • Nibbi says:

      Nah, I feel like she can fight the patriarchy and still do whatever she feels like to her face. I don’t know about you, but not every damn thing i do to myself cosmetically is about pleasing men… It actually kinda seems like, I dunno, stuck-in-patriarchy kinda thinking to assume it’s as simple as that.

  41. Ginger says:

    HONK! She’s only five years older than me and I love her attitude! My son is also close to her daughter’s age. I like to think that our kids are growing up in a progressive time. At least that’s how I teach him. I want him to be a respectful gentleman of the world who loves and supports his woman when he’s ready. Keep on fighting the patriarchy Tori!

  42. Lux says:

    Honk! x 1928039

    Love her. I hope this new album is amazing. Her later albums have been hit and miss for me, though I loved Night of Hunters.

    She is still a glorious human being though, and her live performances are just phenomenal.

  43. Bread and Circuses says:

    Whoa, she’s fifty? She looks much younger. Being awesome must be excellent for one’s health.

    • Jayna says:

      She’s been messing with her face for years. Fans always talk about it and don’t get it. It was noticeable. But she’s looking more normal again

  44. Nibbi says:

    Saw her in Paris last weekend. She’s goddamn AMAZING

  45. whateveryouwantittobe says:

    Love what she said. I haven’t listened to Miley Cyrus’s album nor do I have any interest in it so I only know what I see, which is pictures of her grabbing her ass on stage and spreading her legs wide open and grabbing her crotch with that tongue out face. I just don’t fucking get it, I don’t see the point. Apart from the shock value, which is NOT ARTISTRY, it’s just attention whoring.

    Somebody please educate me if I’m wrong about this.

  46. P.J. says:

    “But to be honest with you, if I had Helen Mirren’s body, and I could move like Beyoncé, would I be sashaying down the street workin’ it? Hopefully.”

    Long live the QUEEN ❤️

    Though she released her first free albums during my late elementary/early middle school years, I discovered her album ‘From the Choir Girl Hotel’-her best yet IMHO-during my emotionally turbulent late teens/early 20’s and I have never even thought of looking back! I have something like 6 or 7 of Tori’s albums on my iPod and I just worship her. The woman is actually a literal musical genius, has lived through hell and come out on the other side with nothing but grace, and despite her being as famous the world over as she is, manages to live a very quiet happy life in England with her hubby and daughter. (A daughter who no one has ever once seen on camera. Imagine that other celebs??)

  47. Paul Ó Duḃṫaiġ says:

    I will say she did a rather interesting (and different) cover of Slayer’s “Raining Blood” (1986 — Reign in Blood), love her cover of Smells like Teen spirit.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCpOAXIgF9U

  48. Dizzybenny says:

    honk,honk,honk,hooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnk

  49. Pirouette says:

    Honk!! Thanks for this post!