Tori Amos

American singer-songwriter Tori Amos was one of several female artists who combined the stark, lyrical attack of '90s alternative rock with a distinctly '70s musical approach, creating music that fell between the orchestrated meditations of Kate Bush and the stripped-down poetics of Joni Mitchell. She also reestablished the piano as a rock & roll instrument, commanding the keys with both intimacy and aggression. A classically trained child prodigy who has been performing at clubs since 13 years old, her big break came with 1992's solo debut Little Earthquakes, a confessional album with themes including her religious upbringing, sexual awakening, struggle to establish her identity, and sexual assault; it has since been regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. Although Amos would never bare her soul so directly, her following fifteen albums exhibited an unheard-of consistent level of quality, with critical and commercial successes including eight Grammy nominations and 12 million record sales worldwide.