Tori Amos, born Myra Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963, in Newton, North Carolina, began playing piano as a child prodigy and received a scholarship to the Peabody Institute at age five. After forming the pop-rock band Y Kant Tori Read in 1986, which released one album in 1988, she launched her solo career with the 1992 debut Little Earthquakes, featuring piano-driven alternative rock and confessional lyrics on topics including religion and assault. Follow-up albums Under the Pink (1994), which reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200 and topped the UK chart, and Boys for Pele (1996) expanded her experimental style incorporating diverse instrumentation. Amos has released over a dozen studio albums, including From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998), Scarlet's Walk (2002), and American Doll Posse (2007), earning eight Grammy nominations and selling more than 12 million records worldwide. She co-founded RAINN in 1994 and was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2012. Known for dynamic live performances, Amos has conducted over 1,000 shows, ranked fifth best touring act by Rolling Stone readers in 2003.