Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos on 22 August 1963 in Newton, North Carolina, United States) is an American pianist and singer-songwriter. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full scholarship to the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, the youngest person ever to have been admitted, at age five. She was expelled at age eleven for, in her own words, insisting on playing by ear and because of her interest in popular rock music.