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110-463: Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos ; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full scholarship to the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University at the age of five, the youngest person ever to have been admitted. She had to leave at

220-642: A B-side , "Walking With You". Before this, she had performed under her middle name, Ellen, and was considering the stage name "Sammy Jaye" at the time, but permanently adopted "Tori" after a friend's boyfriend told her she looked like a Torrey pine , a tree native to the West Coast. By the time she was 17, Amos had a stock of homemade demo tapes that her father regularly sent out to record companies and producers. Producer Narada Michael Walden responded favorably: he and Amos cut some tracks together, but none were released. Eventually, Atlantic Records responded to one of

330-491: A "sonic novel", the album explores Amos' alter ego , Scarlet, intertwined with her cross-country concert tour following 9/11 . Through the songs, Amos explores such topics as the history of America, American people, Native American history, pornography, masochism , homophobia and misogyny . The album had a strong debut at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. Scarlet's Walk is Amos' last album to date to reach certified gold status from

440-429: A Lite Sneeze ", " Professional Widow ", " Spark ", " 1000 Oceans ", " Flavor " and " A Sorta Fairytale ", her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date. Amos has received five MTV VMA nominations and eight Grammy Award nominations, and won an Echo Klassik award for her Night of Hunters classical crossover album. She is listed on VH1 's 1999 "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll" at number 71. Amos

550-476: A backup vocalist. She also recorded a song called "Distant Storm" (which she did not write), which was used in the film China O'Brien . In the credits, the song is attributed to a band called Tess Makes Good. Amos recorded the vocals for the song in 1988, for $ 150; she was unaware for several years that the song had actually been heard in a film. Other than the appearance in the film itself, "Distant Storm" has never been commercially issued in any format. Despite

660-589: A blend of memoir, criticism, and aesthetic theory in order to argue that the aesthetics of disgust are useful of thinking in a broader way about women's experience of all art forms. Amos released her second memoir, called Resistance: A Songwriter's Story of Hope, Change, and Courage on May 5, 2020. Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes (2022) by Tori Amos and Neil Gaiman is an official graphic novel celebrating 30 years of Tori Amos' breakout album Little Earthquakes . Mezzo-soprano While mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas, notable exceptions include

770-634: A body blow. If you are merely looking for sex or a date, the Web is now the first stop for most gay men". June Thomas explained the decline by noting that there is less need for gay-specific venues like bars because gay people are less likely to encounter discrimination or be made unwelcome in wider society. Entrepreneur magazine in 2007 included them on a list of ten types of business that would be extinct by 2017 along with record stores, used bookstores and newspapers. Some commentators have argued there has been some recent decline in gay-specific venues mainly due to

880-660: A brief tour from June to September 2010, Amos released a live album From Russia With Love in December the same year, recorded in Moscow on September 3, 2010. The limited edition set included a signature edition Lomography Diana F+ camera, along with two lenses, a roll of film and one of five photographs taken of Amos during her time in Moscow. The set was released exclusively through her website and only 2000 copies were produced. In September 2011, Amos released her first classical-style music album, Night of Hunters , featuring variations on

990-516: A centre for gay culture in the 19th century, making the city a queer capital during the early 20th century, when the Montmartre and Pigalle districts were meeting places of the LGBTQ+ community. Although Amsterdam , Berlin , and London had more meeting places and organizations than Paris, the latter was known for the "flamboyance" of LGBTQ+ quarters and "visibility" of LGBTQ+ celebrities. Paris retained

1100-452: A common feature in many gay bars, even men-only spaces. Some gay bars and clubs which have a predominantly male clientele, as well as some gay bathhouses and other sex clubs , may offer occasional women-only nights. A few gay bars attempt to restrict entry to only gay or lesbian people, but in practice this is difficult to enforce. Most famously, Melbourne 's Peel Hotel was granted an exemption from Australia's Equal Opportunities Act by

1210-423: A conversation, where they didn't feel like sexual freaks or somehow not part of the larger social fabric; from that came culture, politics, demands for equal rights." Gay bars traditionally preferred to remain discreet and virtually unidentifiable outside the gay community, relying exclusively on word of mouth promotion. More recently, gay clubs and events are often advertised by handing out eye-catching flyers on

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1320-482: A county teen talent contest in 1977, singing a song called "More Than Just a Friend". As a senior at Richard Montgomery High School , she co-wrote " Baltimore " with her brother, Mike Amos, for a competition involving the Baltimore Orioles . The song did not win the contest but became her first single, released as a 7-inch single pressed locally for family and friends in 1980 with another Amos-penned composition as

1430-519: A deluxe version of the album Boys for Pele to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original release. This follows the deluxe re-releases of her first two albums in 2015. On September 8, 2017, Amos released Native Invader , accompanied by a world tour. During the summer of 2017, Amos launched three songs from the album: "Cloud Riders", "Up the Creek", and "Reindeer King", the latter featuring string arrangements by John Philip Shenale . Produced by Amos,

1540-492: A digital download. Shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Amos decided to record a cover album , taking songs written by men about women and reversing the gender roles to reflect a woman's perspective. That became Strange Little Girls , released in September 2001. The album is Amos' first concept album , with artwork featuring Amos photographed in character of the women portrayed in each song. Amos would later reveal that

1650-528: A few gay bars in the first quarter of the 20th century. The best known was The Empire  [ nl ] , in Nes , which was first mentioned in 1911 and existed until the late 1930s. The oldest that still exists is Café 't Mandje , which was opened in 1927 by lesbian Bet van Beeren . It closed in 1982, but was reopened in 2008. After World War II , the Amsterdam city government acted rather pragmatic and tolerated

1760-639: A fuller, more dramatic quality. Such roles include Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte and Zerlina in his Don Giovanni . Mezzos sometimes play dramatic soprano roles such as Santuzza in Mascagni 's Cavalleria rusticana , Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth , and Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal . The vocal range of the mezzo-sopranos lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types . Mezzo-sopranos generally have

1870-800: A gay bar in the 1950s. It now claims to be one of the oldest gay bars in Europe. The main Copenhagen gay district is the Latin Quarter . The very first gay bar in Europe and probably in the world was the Zanzibar in Cannes on the French Riviera. The Zanzibar was opened in 1885 and existed for 125 years, before it was closed in December 2010. Among its visitors were many artists, like actor Jean Marais and comedians Thierry Le Luron and Coluche . Paris became known as

1980-479: A gay bar is the nature of its clientele. While many gay bars target the gay and/or lesbian communities, some (usually older and firmly established) gay bars have become gay, as it were, through custom, over a long period of time. The serving of alcohol is the primary business of gay bars and pubs. Like non-gay establishments they serve as a meeting place and LGBTQ+ community focal point, in which conversation, relaxation, and meeting potential romantic and sexual partners

2090-510: A haunt for the wealthy, aristocratic and bohemian. Its creator Frida Strindberg née Uhl set it up as an avant-garde and artistic venture. The club provided a solid model for future nightclubs. After homosexuality was partially decriminalized in the UK in 1967, gay bar culture became more visible and gradually Soho became the centre of the London LGBTQ+ community, which was "firmly established" by

2200-554: A heavier, darker tone than sopranos. The mezzo-soprano voice resonates in a higher range than that of a contralto. The terms Dugazon and Galli-Marié are sometimes used to refer to light mezzo-sopranos, after the names of famous singers. Usually men singing within the female range are called countertenors since there is a lighter more breathy tonal (falsetto) quality difference. In current operatic practice, female singers with very low tessituras are often included among mezzo-sopranos, because singers in both ranges are able to cover

2310-402: A lead role ): The lyric mezzo-soprano has a range from approximately the G note below middle C (G 3 , 196 Hz) to the A two octaves above middle C (A 5 , 880 Hz). This voice has a very smooth, sensitive and at times lachrymose quality. Lyric mezzo-sopranos do not have the vocal agility of the coloratura mezzo-soprano or the size of the dramatic mezzo-soprano. The lyric mezzo-soprano

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2420-549: A new album and tour would materialize in 2014 and that it would be a "return to contemporary music". September 2013 saw the launch of Amos' musical project adaptation of George MacDonald 's The Light Princess , along with book writer Samuel Adamson and Marianne Elliott . It premiered at London's Royal National Theatre and ended in February 2014. The Light Princess and its lead actress, Rosalie Craig , were nominated for Best Musical and Best Musical Performance respectively at

2530-564: A place of refuge and support for gay men and the HIV-affected community impacted by the virus. Cure fundraising, testing, support group, and free condom events have been present at gay bars. Some commentators have suggested that gay bars are facing decline in the contemporary age due to the pervasiveness of technology. Andrew Sullivan argued in his 2005 essay "The End of Gay Culture" that gay bars are declining because "the Internet dealt them

2640-513: A range from approximately the G below middle C (G 3 , 196 Hz) to the B two octaves above middle C (B 5 , 988 Hz). Some coloratura mezzo-sopranos can sing up to high C (C 6 , 1047 Hz) or high D (D 6 , 1175 Hz), but this is very rare. What distinguishes these voices from being called sopranos is their extension into the lower register and warmer vocal quality. Although coloratura mezzo-sopranos have impressive and at times thrilling high notes, they are most comfortable singing in

2750-522: A rarity around the world. Many articles have been published discussing possible reasons as to why lesbian bars struggle to exist despite a growing lesbian population. Like most bars and pubs, gay bars range in size from the small, five-seat bars of Tokyo to large, multi-story clubs with several distinct areas and more than one dance floor. A large venue may be referred to as a nightclub , club , or bar, while smaller venues are typically called bars and sometimes pubs . The only defining characteristic of

2860-475: A result of the industry's decline. Amos released two more albums with Epic , The Beekeeper (2005) and American Doll Posse (2007). Both albums received generally favorable reviews. The Beekeeper was conceptually influenced by the ancient art of beekeeping , which she considered a source of female inspiration and empowerment. Through extensive study, Amos also wove in the stories of the Gnostic gospels and

2970-477: A retrospective collection titled Tales of a Librarian (2003) through her former label, Atlantic Records; a two-disc DVD set Fade to Red (2006) containing most of Amos' solo music videos, released through the Warner Bros. reissue imprint Rhino; a five disc box set titled A Piano: The Collection (2006), celebrating Amos' 15-year solo career through remastered album tracks, remixes, alternate mixes, demos, and

3080-608: A shebeen in Soweto , for example, was used as a meeting place for black gay men who were part of the Gay Association of South Africa (GASA) but did not feel welcome in the GASA offices. With the establishment of the post-apartheid 1996 constitution that outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as race, South Africa's gay night life exploded, though many bars continued to be segregated by race, and fewer blacks than whites go to

3190-432: A stimulus for the album was to end her contract with Atlantic without giving them original songs; Amos felt that since 1998, the label had not been properly promoting her and had trapped her in a contract by refusing to sell her to another label. With her Atlantic contract fulfilled after a 15-year stint, Amos signed to Epic in late 2001. In October 2002, Amos released Scarlet's Walk , another concept album. Described as

3300-486: A string of unreleased songs from album recording sessions, also released through Rhino; and numerous official bootlegs from two world tours, The Original Bootlegs (2005) and Legs & Boots (2007) through Epic Records. In May 2008, Amos announced that, due to creative and financial disagreements with Epic Records , she had negotiated an end to her contract with the record label, and would be operating independently of major record labels on future work. In September of

3410-571: A theme to pay tribute to composers such as Bach , Chopin , Debussy , Granados , Satie and Schubert , on the Deutsche Grammophon label, a division of Universal Music Group . Amos recorded the album with several musicians, including the Apollon Musagète string quartet . To mark the 20th anniversary of her debut album, Little Earthquakes (1992), Amos released an album of songs from her back catalogue re-worked and re-recorded with

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3520-421: A unique expression of the architecture of color-and-light. ... I started visiting this world when I was three, listening to a piece by Béla Bartók ; I visited a configuration that day that wasn't on this earth. ... It was euphoric. At five, she became the youngest student ever admitted to the preparatory division of the Peabody Institute . She studied classical piano at Peabody from 1968 to 1974. In 1974, when she

3630-556: Is Amos' interest in mythology and religion, exploring her songwriting process, rise to fame, and her relationship with Atlantic Records. Image Comics released Comic Book Tattoo (2008), a collection of comic stories, each based on or inspired by songs recorded by Amos. Editor Rantz Hoseley worked with Amos to gather 80 different artists for the book, including Neil Gaiman , Carla Speed McNeil, Mark Buckingham, C.B. Cebulski, Nikki Cook, Hope Larson, John Ney Reiber, Ryan Kelly, Pia Guerra , David Mack , and Leah Moore . Tori Amos: In

3740-587: Is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian , gay , bisexual , transgender or queer ( LGBTQ+ ) clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBTQ+ communities. Gay bars once served as the centre of gay culture and were one of the few places people with same-sex orientations and gender-variant identities could openly socialize. Other names used to describe these establishments include boy bar , girl bar , gay club , gay pub , queer bar , lesbian bar , drag bar , and dyke bar , depending on

3850-403: Is ideal for most trouser roles . Lyric mezzo-soprano roles in operas ( * denotes a lead role ): A dramatic mezzo-soprano has a strong medium register, a warm high register and a voice that is broader and more powerful than the lyric and coloratura mezzo-sopranos. This voice has less vocal facility than the coloratura mezzo-soprano. The range of the dramatic mezzo-soprano is from approximately

3960-412: Is more than thirty-five years, I've never seen the same light creature in my life. Obviously similar chord progressions follow similar light patterns, but try to imagine the best kaleidoscope ever—after the initial excitement, you start to focus on each element's stunning original detail. For instance, the sound of the words with the sound of the chord progression combined with the rhythm manifests itself in

4070-553: Is not unusual for gay bars to sponsor teams in local sports/game leagues, and many otherwise traditional gay pubs are well known for hosting post-game parties—often filling with local gay athletes and their fans on specific nights or when major professional sporting events are broadcast on TV. Some of the longest established gay bars are unofficial hosts of elaborate local 'Royal Court' drag pageants and drag-related social groups. Gay bars and nightclubs are sometimes segregated by sex. In some establishments, people who are perceived to be of

4180-675: Is the Half-and-Half, which in 2004 had been open over ten years. The first lesbian bar in China (also in Beijing) was Maple Bar, opened in 2000 by pop singer Qiao Qiao . The On/Off was a popular bar for both gay men and lesbians. The increase in China's gay and lesbian bars in recent years is linked to China's opening up to global capitalism and its consequent economic and social restructuring. The bar Centralhjørnet in Copenhagen opened in 1917 and became

4290-471: Is the primary focus of the clientele. Historically and continuing in many communities, gay bars have been valued by patrons as the only place closeted gay men and lesbians can be open and demonstrative about their sexuality without fear of discovery. Gerard Koskovich of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society explains that "[Gay bars] were a public place where gay people could meet and start to have

4400-668: Is the third child of Mary Ellen (née Copeland) and Edison McKinley Amos. She was born on August 22, 1963 at the Old Catawba Hospital in Newton, North Carolina , during a trip from their Georgetown home in Washington, D.C., and was named Myra Ellen Amos. Some of Amos's ancestors were Confederate soldiers. In her memoir, Piece by Piece , she talks about the experience of these Confederate ancestors, Margaret Little and Grandaddy Calvin Rice, during

4510-592: The American Civil War , and says that they had become "all worked up" by "the preacher", and that like other farmers were scared of "losin' everythin' to them greedy Yankees". Amos wrote that she believed her great-grandmother "was just defending her home at a certain point". When she was two years old, her family relocated to Baltimore , Maryland, where her father had moved his Methodist ministry from its original base in Washington, D.C. Her older brother and sister took piano lessons, but Tori did not need them. From

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4620-586: The EPIX original docuseries Women Who Rock which premiered on July 10, 2022. In 2023, Amos and Trevor Horn covered Kendrick Lamar 's " Swimming Pools (Drank) ". She also released a remix dance single titled "Tequila," produced by Paul Woolford . On November 1, 2024, Amos announced the release of a live album, Diving Deep Live , on December 6, 2024. The album will consist of recordings from her 2022-23 tour in support of Ocean to Ocean and be released on double vinyl and CD respectively. Amos and her music have been

4730-899: The Evening Standard Award . Craig won the Best Musical Performance category. Amos' 14th studio album, Unrepentant Geraldines , was released on May 13, 2014, via Mercury Classics/Universal Music Classics in the US. Its first single, " Trouble's Lament ", was released on March 28. The album was supported by the Unrepentant Geraldines Tour which began May 5, 2014, in Cork and continued across Europe, Africa, North America, and Australia, ending in Brisbane on November 21, 2014. In Sydney , Amos performed two orchestral concerts, reminiscent of

4840-609: The Gold Dust Orchestral Tour , with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House . According to a press release, Unrepentant Geraldines was a "return to her core identity as a creator of contemporary songs of exquisite beauty following a series of more classically-inspired and innovative musical projects of the last four years. [It is] both one further step in the artistic evolution of one of

4950-624: The Metropole Orchestra . The album, titled Gold Dust , was released in October 2012 through Deutsche Grammophon. On May 1, 2012, Amos announced the formation of her own record label, Transmission Galactic, which she said she intended to use to develop new artists. In 2013, Amos collaborated with the Bullitts on the track "Wait Until Tomorrow" from their debut album, They Die by Dawn & Other Short Stories . She also stated in an interview that

5060-561: The RIAA . Not long after Amos was ensconced with her new label, she received unsettling news when Polly Anthony resigned as president of Epic Records in 2003. Anthony had been one of the primary reasons Amos signed with the label and as a result of her resignation, Amos formed the Bridge Entertainment Group. Further trouble for Amos occurred the following year when her label, Epic/Sony Music Entertainment, merged with BMG Entertainment as

5170-512: The Schöneberg district around Nollendorfplatz there were many cafes, bars and clubs, which also attracted gay people who had to flee their own country in fear of prosecution, like for example Christopher Isherwood . The gay club Eldorado in the Motzstraße was internationally known for its transvestite shows. There was also a relatively high number of places for lesbians. Within a few weeks after

5280-476: The "wrong" sex (for example, a man attempting to enter a women's club) may be unwelcome or even barred from entry. This may be more common in specialty bars, such as gay male leather fetish or BDSM bars, or bars or clubs which have a strict dress code . It is also common in bars and clubs where sex on the premises is a primary focus of the establishment. On the other hand, gay bars are usually welcoming of transgender and cross-dressed people, and drag shows are

5390-460: The 17th century record the existence of bars and clubs that catered to, or at least tolerated, openly gay clientele in several major European cities. The White Swan (created by James Cook and Yardley, full name unknown) on Vere Street , in London , England, was raided in 1810 during the so-called Vere Street Coterie . The raid led to the executions of John Hepburn and Thomas White for sodomy . The site

5500-514: The 18th century, molly houses were clandestine clubs where gay men could meet, drink, dance and have sex with each other. One of the most famous was Mother Clap's Molly House. The first gay bar in Britain in the modern sense was The Cave of the Golden Calf , established as a night club in London . It opened in an underground location at 9 Heddon Street, just off Regent Street , in 1912 and became

5610-456: The 1980s made Munich "one of the four gayest metropolises in the world" along with San Francisco, New York City and Amsterdam. In particular, the area around Müllerstraße and Hans-Sachs-Straße was characterized by numerous gay bars and nightclubs. One of them was the travesty nightclub Old Mrs. Henderson , where Freddie Mercury , who lived in Munich from 1979 to 1985, filmed the music video for

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5720-443: The 1980s, police raids on white gay clubs lessened as the apartheid government forces found itself dealing with more and more resistance from the black population. In the black townships, some of the shebeens , unlicensed bars established in people's homes and garages, catered to LGBTQ clients. During the struggle against apartheid, some of these shebeens were important meeting places for black gay and lesbian resistance fighters. Lee's,

5830-561: The British charts in January 1992 at Number 15. Little Earthquakes was released in the United States in February 1992 and slowly but steadily began to attract listeners, gaining more attention with the video for the single " Silent All These Years ". Amos traveled to New Mexico with personal and professional partner Eric Rosse in 1993 to write and largely record her second solo record, Under

5940-612: The Carlton Hotel in downtown Johannesburg in the late 1940s, catering exclusively to men of wealth. In the 1960s, other urban bars began to open that drew more middle and working class white men; lesbians were excluded. The language of Gayle had its roots in the Cape Coloured and Afrikaans -speaking underground gay bar culture. In 1968, when the government threatened to pass repressive anti-gay legislation, queer culture went even further underground, which meant clubs and bars were often

6050-481: The Choirgirl Hotel were mostly favorable and praised Amos' continued artistic originality. Debut sales for From the Choirgirl Hotel are Amos' best to date, selling 153,000 copies in its first week. To Venus and Back , a two-disc release of original studio material and live material recorded from the previous world tour, received mostly positive reviews and included the first major-label single available for sale as

6160-640: The EP remotely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic . On September 20, 2021, Amos announced her sixteenth studio album, Ocean to Ocean , which was released on October 29. The album was written and recorded in Cornwall during lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and explores "a universal story of going to rock bottom and renewing yourself all over again". Amos embarked on a European and United States tour in support of

6270-570: The F below middle C (F 3 , 175 Hz) to the G two octaves above middle C (G 5 , 784 Hz). The dramatic mezzo-soprano can sing over an orchestra and chorus with ease and was often used in the 19th century opera, to portray older women, mothers, witches and evil characters. Verdi wrote many roles for this voice in the Italian repertoire and there are also a few good roles in the French Literature. The majority of these roles, however, are within

6380-497: The German Romantic repertoire of composers like Wagner and Richard Strauss . Like coloratura mezzos, dramatic mezzos are also often cast in lyric mezzo-soprano roles. Dramatic mezzo-soprano roles in operas ( * denotes a lead role ): All of Gilbert and Sullivan 's Savoy operas have at least one mezzo-soprano character. Notable operetta roles are: Gay bar This is an accepted version of this page A gay bar

6490-504: The LGBTQ+ capital image after the end of World War II , but the center of the meeting place shifted to Saint-Germain-des-Prés . In the 1950s and 1960s the police and authorities tolerated homosexuals as long as the conduct was private and out of view, but gay bar raids occurred and there were occasions when the owners of the bars were involved in facilitating the raids. Lesbians rarely visited gay bars and instead socialized in circles of friends. Lesbians who did go to bars often originated from

6600-713: The Nazis took over government in 1933, fourteen of the best known gay establishments were closed. After homosexuality was decriminalized in 1969, many gay bars opened in West Berlin , resulting in a lively gay scene. In Munich , a number of gay and lesbian bars are documented as early as the Golden Twenties . Since the 1960s, the Rosa Viertel (pink quarter) developed in the Glockenbachviertel and around Gärtnerplatz , which in

6710-613: The Pimpernel), Inge Meysel and Hildegard Knef . The oldest continuously operating Japanese gay bar, New Sazae, opened in Tokyo in 1966. Most gay bars in Tokyo are located in the Shinjuku Ni-chōme district, which is home to about 300 bars. Each bar may only have room to seat about a dozen people; as a result, many bars are specialized according to interest. Because of a raid on a Mexico City drag ball in 1901, when 41 men were arrested,

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6820-530: The Pink . The album was received with mostly favorable reviews and sold enough copies to chart at No. 12 on the Billboard 200 , a significantly higher position than the preceding album's position at No. 54 on the same chart. However, the album found its biggest success in the UK, debuting at number one upon release in February 1994. Her third solo album, Boys for Pele , was released in January 1996. Prior to its release,

6930-543: The Studio (2011) by Jake Brown features an in-depth look at Amos' career, discography, and recording process. Sing Us a Song, Piano Woman: Female Fans and the Music of Tori Amos (2013) by Adrienne Trier-Bieniek explores the ways women are represented in pop culture and the many-layered relationships female fans build with feminist musicians in general and with Tori Amos in particular. Tori Amos' Boys for Pele (2018) by Amy Gentry uses

7040-490: The age of eleven when her scholarship was discontinued for what Rolling Stone described as "musical insubordination". Amos was the lead singer of the short-lived 1980s pop / rock group Y Kant Tori Read before achieving her breakthrough as a solo artist in the early 1990s. Her songs focus on a broad range of topics, including sexuality, feminism, politics, and religion. Her charting singles include " Crucify ", " Silent All These Years ", " God ", " Cornflake Girl ", " Caught

7150-589: The album explores topics like American politics and environmental issues, mixed with mythological elements and first-person narrations. Native Invader obtained a score of 76 out of 100 on the review aggregator website Metacritic, based on 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On November 9, 2020, Amos announced the release of a holiday-themed EP entitled Christmastide on December 4, digitally and on limited-edition vinyl. The EP consists of four original songs and features her first work with bandmates Matt Chamberlain and Jon Evans since 2009. Amos recorded

7260-505: The album in 2022, and continued to support the album in 2023 with a European Tour in March and April and additional US dates in June and July . Matt Chamberlain and Jon Evans were featured on drums and bass guitar respectively, their first collaboration with Amos on an album since 2009's Midwinter Graces . For the 2022 and 2023 tour, Amos was joined by Jon Evans and the drummer Ash Soan. She appeared at

7370-544: The album's erratic lyrical content and instrumentation, the latter of which kept it away from mainstream audiences, Boys for Pele is Amos' most successful simultaneous transatlantic release, reaching No. 2 on the UK Top 40 and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 upon its release. Fueled by the desire to have her own recording studio to distance herself from record company executives, Amos had the barn of her home in Cornwall , UK converted into

7480-467: The alert for bullying and attacks. In 2013, Moscow's largest gay bar, Central Station, had its walls sprayed with gunfire, had harmful gas released into a crowd of 500 patrons, and had its ceiling nearly brought down by a gang who wanted to crush the people inside. Nonetheless, gay nightlife is increasing in Moscow and St. Petersburg, offering drag shows and Russian music, with some bars also offering discreet gay-only taxi services. The first recorded use of

7590-467: The band's eponymous debut album, Y Kant Tori Read , was released. Although its producer, Joe Chiccarelli , stated that Amos was very happy with the album at the time, Amos has since criticized it, once remarking: "The only good thing about that album is my ankle high boots." Following the album's commercial failure and the group's subsequent disbanding, Amos began working with other artists (including Stan Ridgway , Sandra Bernhard , and Al Stewart ) as

7700-760: The disappointing reaction to Y Kant Tori Read , Amos still had to comply with her six-record contract with Atlantic Records, which, in 1989, wanted a new record by March 1990. The initial recordings were declined by the label, which Amos felt was because the album had not been properly presented. The album was reworked and expanded under the guidance of Doug Morris and the musical talents of Steve Caton , Eric Rosse , Will MacGregor, Carlo Nuccio, and Dan Nebenzal, resulting in Little Earthquakes , an album recounting her religious upbringing, sexual awakening, struggle to establish her identity, and sexual assault. This album became her commercial and artistic breakthrough, entering

7810-676: The early 1990s. Gay bars, cafes, restaurants and clubs are centred on Old Compton Street . Other cities in the UK also have districts or streets with a concentration of gay bars, like for example Stanley Street Quarter in Liverpool, the Merchant City in Glasgow, Canal Street in Manchester and the Birmingham Gay Village . There are many institutions in the United States that claim to be

7920-530: The early 2000s, the human rights of gays and lesbians in Taiwan improved significantly. The gay nightlife entertainment scene shifted from being a scene opened by gays and only having gay customers. Some non-gay-only nightclubs were considered gay nightclubs because they gathered a large number of gays. Representative stores are TeXound and 2F. Starting in 2007, gay bars began to move into the Ximen Red House, which

8030-443: The existence of gay bars. In the 1960s their number grew rapidly and they clustered in and around a number of streets, although this was limited to bars, clubs and shops and they never became residential areas for gays, like the gay villages in the US. Since the late 1950s the main Amsterdam gay street was Kerkstraat , which was succeeded by Reguliersdwarsstraat in the early 1980s, when the first openly gay places opened here, like

8140-534: The famous cafe April in 1981, followed by dancing Havana in 1989. Other streets where there are still concentrations of gay bars are Zeedijk , Amstel and Warmoesstraat , the latter being the center of the Amsterdam leather scene , where the first leather bar already opened around 1955. The Queen's Head is a gay bar located at Zeedijk 20 in the centre of Amsterdam. Because of the high prevalence of homophobia in Russia, patrons of gay bars there often have had to be on

8250-578: The first single, " Caught a Lite Sneeze " became the first full song released for streaming online prior to an album's release. The album was recorded in a church in Delgany , County Wicklow , Ireland , with Amos taking advantage of the church's acoustics. For this album, Amos used the harpsichord , harmonium , and clavichord as well as the piano. The album garnered mixed reviews upon its release, with some critics praising its intensity and uniqueness while others bemoaned its comparative impenetrability. Despite

8360-451: The foreign zones, which were traditionally more tolerant. One male bar patron said Korean bar culture was not as direct as in the United States, with customers indicating their interest in another customer by ordering him a drink through a waiter. The oldest lesbian bar in Seoul is Lesbos, which started in 1996. Under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco from 1939 to 1975, homosexuality

8470-458: The group was composed of Steve Caton (who would later play guitars on all of her albums until 1999), drummer Matt Sorum , bass player Brad Cobb and, for a short time, keyboardist Jim Tauber. The band went through several iterations of songwriting and recording; Amos has said interference from record executives caused the band to lose its musical edge and direction during this time. Finally, in July 1988,

8580-401: The label to listen to it. American Doll Posse , another concept album, is fashioned around a group of girls (the "posse") who are used as a theme of alter-egos of Amos'. Musically and stylistically, the album saw Amos return to a more confrontational nature. Like its predecessor, American Doll Posse debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. During her tenure with Epic Records, Amos also released

8690-477: The middle of their range, rather than the top. Many of the hero roles in the operas of Handel and Monteverdi , originally sung by male castrati, can be successfully sung today by coloratura mezzo-sopranos. Rossini demanded similar qualities for his comic heroines, and Vivaldi wrote roles frequently for this voice as well. Coloratura mezzo-sopranos also often sing lyric-mezzo-soprano roles or soubrette roles. Coloratura mezzo-soprano roles in operas ( * denotes

8800-407: The modern effects of gentrification . But despite the decline, gay bars still exist in relatively strong numbers and thrive in most major cities where male homosexuality is not heavily condemned. They also asserted many gay men (especially men new to gay nightlife) still find some value in gay-specific venues and being in the company of other gay men. Unlike gay bars, lesbian bars have become

8910-530: The most successful and influential artists of her generation, and a return to the inspiring and personal music that Amos is known for all around the world." The 2-CD set The Light Princess (Original Cast Recording) was released on October 9, 2015, via Universal/Mercury Classics. Apart from the original cast performances, the recording also includes two songs from the musical ("Highness in the Sky" and "Darkest Hour') performed by Amos. On November 18, 2016, Amos released

9020-499: The niche communities that they serve. With the advent of the Internet and an increasing acceptance of LGBTQ+ people across the Western world, the relevance of gay bars in the LGBTQ+ community has somewhat diminished. In areas without a gay bar, certain establishments may hold a gay night instead. Gathering places favoured by homosexuals have operated for centuries. Reports from as early as

9130-526: The number 41 has come to symbolize male homosexuality in Mexican popular culture , figuring frequently in jokes and in casual teasing. The raid on the "Dance of the 41" was followed by a less-publicized raid of a lesbian bar on 4 December 1901 in Santa Maria. Despite the international depression of the 1930s and along with the social revolution overseen by Lázaro Cárdenas (1934–1940), the growth of Mexico City

9240-431: The oldest gay bar in the country. Since Prohibition ended in 1933, there are a number of notable gay bars that have opened. In alphabetical order: Gay bars have been heavily impacted by the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS with both potential risk and crucial community support and education. San Francisco had over 100 gay bars when the epidemic first hit in the early 1980s; by 2011 there were only about 30 remaining. During

9350-657: The oldest lesbian bar in Singapore. Today, many gay bars are located on the Neil Road stretch, from Taboo and Tantric, to Backstage Bar, May Wong's Café, DYMK and Play. Mega-clubs like Zouk and Avalon are also a big draw for the gay crowd. The history of gay and lesbian bars in South Africa reflects the racial divisions that began in the Apartheid era and continue, to some extent, in the 21st century. The first white gay bar opened in

9460-454: The only places to meet. These bars were often the targets of police raids. The decade of the 1970s was when urban gay clubs took root. The most popular gay club of Johannesburg was The Dungeon, which attracted females as well as males, and lasted until the 1990s. The 1979 police assault on the New Mandy's Club, in which patrons fought back, has been referred to as South Africa's Stonewall . In

9570-468: The other, and true operatic contraltos are very rare. Within the mezzo-soprano voice type category are three generally recognized subcategories: coloratura mezzo-soprano, lyric mezzo-soprano, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. A coloratura mezzo-soprano has a warm lower register and an agile high register. The roles they sing often demand not only the use of the lower register but also leaps into the upper tessitura with highly ornamented, rapid passages. They have

9680-752: The owners paid bribes . A fairly visible presence was developed in large cities such as Guadalajara , Acapulco , Veracruz and Mexico City. Today, Mexico City is home to numerous gay bars, many of them located in the Zona Rosa , particularly on Amberes street, while a broad and varied gay nightlife also flourishes in Guadalajara, Acapulco, in Cancun attracting global tourists, Puerto Vallarta which attracts many Americans and Canadians, and Tijuana with its cross-border crowd. However, there are at least several gay bars in most major cities. In Amsterdam , there were already

9790-514: The removal of women from a position of power within the Christian church to create an album based largely on religion and politics. The album debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, placing her in an elite group of women who have secured five or more US Top 10 album debuts. While the newly merged label was present throughout the production process of The Beekeeper , Amos and her crew nearly completed her next project, American Doll Posse , before inviting

9900-627: The same year, Amos released a live album and DVD, Live at Montreux 1991/1992 , through Eagle Rock Entertainment , of two performances she gave at the Montreux Jazz Festival very early on in her career while promoting her debut solo album, Little Earthquakes . By December, after a chance encounter with chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group , Doug Morris , Amos signed a "joint venture" deal with Universal Republic Records . Abnormally Attracted to Sin , Amos' tenth solo studio album and her first album released through Universal Republic,

10010-611: The same year. The album features reworked versions of traditional carols, as well as original songs written by Amos. During her contract with the label, Amos recorded vocals for two songs for David Byrne's collaboration album with Fatboy Slim , titled Here Lies Love , which was released in April 2010. In July of the same year, the DVD Tori Amos- Live from the Artists Den was released exclusively through Barnes & Noble . After

10120-492: The song Living on My Own at his 39th birthday party. Other gay venues include Pompon Rouge , Mandy's Club , Pimpernel nightclub, the bar Mylord , the Ochsengarten , which was "Germany's first bar for leather men ", as well as the gay hotel-pub Deutsche Eiche . Regulars in many of these bars and nightclubs include, for example, Freddie Mercury, Rainer Werner Fassbinder , Walter Sedlmayr (who met his later murderer in

10230-537: The state-of-the-art recording studio of Martian Engineering Studios. From the Choirgirl Hotel and To Venus and Back , released in May 1998 and September 1999, respectively, differ greatly from previous albums. Amos' trademark acoustic, piano-based sound is largely replaced with arrangements that include elements of electronica and dance music with vocal washes. The underlying themes of both albums deal with womanhood and Amos' own miscarriages and marriage. Reviews for From

10340-660: The stereotypical triad associated with contraltos of "witches, bitches, and britches": witches, nurses, and wise women, such as Azucena in Verdi 's Il trovatore ; villains and seductresses such as Amneris in Verdi's Aida ; and " breeches roles " or "trouser roles" (male characters played by female singers) such as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro . Mezzo-sopranos are well represented in baroque music , early music , and baroque opera . Some roles designated for lighter soubrette sopranos are sung by mezzo-sopranos, who often provide

10450-595: The street, in gay or gay-friendly shops and venues, and at other clubs and events. Similar to flyers for predominantly heterosexual venues, these flyers frequently feature provocative images and theme party announcements. While traditional gay pub-like bars are nearly identical to bars catering to the general public, gay dance venues often feature elaborate lighting design and video projection, fog machines and raised dancing platforms. Hired dancers (called go-go girls or go-go boys ) may also feature in decorative cages or on podiums. Gay sports bars are relatively unusual, but it

10560-405: The subject of numerous official and unofficial books, as well as academic critique, including Tori Amos: Lyrics (2001) illustrated by Herb Leonhard, and an earlier biography, Tori Amos: All These Years (1996) by Kalen Rogers. Released in conjunction with The Beekeeper , Amos co-authored an autobiography with rock music journalist Ann Powers titled Piece by Piece (2005). The book's subject

10670-470: The tapes, and, when A&R man Jason Flom flew to Baltimore to audition her in person, the label was convinced and signed her. In 1984, Amos moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career after several years performing on the piano bar circuit in the Washington, D.C. area. In 1986, Amos formed a musical group called Y Kant Tori Read , named for her difficulty with sight-reading . In addition to Amos,

10780-606: The term "gay bar" is in the diaries of homosexual British comedian Kenneth Williams : "16 January 1947. Went round to the gay bar which wasn't in the least gay." At the time Williams was serving in the British Army in Singapore . In the 1970s, straight nightclubs began to open their doors to gay clients on designated nights of the week. In the 1980s, a lesbian bar named Crocodile Rock opened in Far East Plaza, which remains to this day

10890-423: The time she could reach the piano, she taught herself to play: when she was two, she could reproduce pieces of music she had only heard once, and, by the age of three, she was composing her own songs. She has described seeing music as structures of light since early childhood, an experience consistent with chromesthesia : The song appears as light filament once I've cracked it. As long as I've been doing this, which

11000-696: The title role in Bizet 's Carmen , Angelina ( Cinderella ) in Rossini 's La Cenerentola , and Rosina in Rossini's Barber of Seville (all of which are also sung by sopranos and contraltos). Many 19th-century French-language operas give the leading female role to mezzos, including Béatrice et Bénédict , La damnation de Faust , Don Quichotte , La favorite , Dom Sébastien , Charles VI , Mignon , Samson et Dalila , Les Troyens , and Werther , as well as Carmen . Typical roles for mezzo-sopranos include

11110-566: The urban bars. The 2005 inaugural gay shebeen tour was advertised as a gay pub crawl that would provide an opportunity for South Africans and foreigners to "experience true African gay Shebeen culture". In Seoul, most gay bars were originally congregated near the Itaewon area of Seoul , near the U.S. military base. But in recent years, more clubs have located in the Sinchon area, indicating that "safe spaces" for Korean LGBTQ+ people have extended beyond

11220-614: The working class. Chez Moune , opened in 1936, and New Moon were 20th-century lesbian cabarets located in Place Pigalle , which converted to mixed music clubs in the 21st century. Since the 1980s, the Le Marais district is the center of the gay scene in Paris. In Berlin , there was gay and lesbian night life already around 1900, which throughout the 1920s became very open and vibrant, especially when compared to other capitals. Especially in

11330-524: The worst years of the epidemic (before affordable and effective treatment), millions of gay men around the world died; consequently fewer persons owned or patronized gay bars. A 2009 study revealed a correlation between gay bar attendance and certain high-risk sexual behaviors. Specifically, the research indicated that individuals who frequented gay bars were more likely to engage in insertive unprotected anal intercourse, including with partners whose HIV status differed from their own. Gay bars have always been

11440-717: Was accompanied by the opening of gay bars and gay bathhouses . During the Second World War , ten to fifteen gay bars operated in Mexico City, with dancing permitted in at least two, El África and El Triunfo. Relative freedom from official harassment continued until 1959 when Mayor Ernesto Uruchurtu closed every gay bar following a grisly triple-murder. But by the late 1960s several Mexican cities had gay bars and, later, U.S.-style dance clubs . These places, however, were sometimes clandestine but tolerated by local authorities, which often meant that they were allowed to exist so long as

11550-590: Was eleven, her scholarship was discontinued, and she was asked to leave. Amos has asserted that she lost the scholarship because of her interest in rock and popular music, coupled with her dislike for reading from sheet music. In 1972, the Amos family moved to Silver Spring, Maryland , where her father became pastor of the Good Shepherd United Methodist church. At thirteen, Amos began playing at gay bars and piano bars , chaperoned by her father. Amos won

11660-635: Was illegal. However, in 1962, Spain's first gay bar, Tony's, opened in Torremolinos and a clandestine gay bar scene also emerged in the 1960s and early 1970s in Barcelona . In Taiwan, Gay bar culture was first brought to Taiwan by the US military stationed in the 1960s. In the 1970s, the first gay bar "Take" appeared in Taipei. At the same time, lesbians often held activities in American military bars and gay bars. It

11770-515: Was not operating well at that time. Relying on the gay customer base, this place gradually gathered a lot of popularity and became the first openly gay business district in Taiwan. Nowadays, Ximen Red House Bar Street is a must-visit attraction for gays from all over the world when visiting Taiwan. Currently, the representative gay bars include Abrazo Bistro, Bacio Taipei, Belle's, Commander D, Fairy Taipei, G-Star, Ganymede, Hunt and Locker Room. There are also many small gay bars in Ximen Red House. In

11880-462: Was not until 1985 that the first lesbian bar "Forgettable Valley" appeared. After the mid-1980s, Gay bars and T-bars sprouted up like mushrooms after a rain. In addition to Taipei, they also began to appear in Taichung and Kaohsiung. The style has also become diversified from simply drinking and chatting. For example, Funky in the 1990s divided its business hours into singing hours and dancing hours. In

11990-509: Was released in May 2009 to mostly positive reviews. The album debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, making it Amos' seventh album to do so. Abnormally Attracted to Sin , admitted Amos, is a "personal album", not a conceptual one, with the album exploring themes of power, boundaries, and the subjective view of sin. Continuing her distribution deal with Universal Republic, Amos released Midwinter Graces , her first seasonal album, in November of

12100-686: Was the scene of alleged gay marriages carried out by the Reverend John Church . It is not clear which place is the first gay bar in the modern sense. In Cannes , France, such a bar had already opened in 1885, and there were many more in Berlin around 1900. In the United Kingdom and the Netherlands gay bars were established throughout the first quarter of the 20th century. The oldest gay bar in Beijing

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