Tori Amos on Being Compared to Kate Bush (2014 Interview)

[@DavidMichaelCommer]

They share some superficial similarities but they are entirely different and unique artists in their own rights. Their songwriting may be structurally comparable in some ways, but their subject matter, their perspectives and the ways in which they express themselves are totally different. Tori is a pianist fiest and foremost, the very emodiment of a musical prodigy, and she is a confessional poet and essayist who sings. Nearly all her songs are sung from the most personal vantage points possible, which is one reason her songs can be cryptic to people who know nothing about her personally. She has strong opinions on religion, spirituality, politics, women's issues, and so on, as well as an encyclopedic knowledge of mythologies from the entire Western world. These are all central to her music. Kate is more of a musical fiction writer in terms of the content of her writing, and more of an experimental expressionist artist in terms of both her musical compositions and her performance art. If Tori is the superior pianist (she is, unquestionably), then Kate is (really unquestionably) the superior performance artist, who uses her whole body to express many of her songs. Dance is integral to her music, as has been miming and outrageous, exaggerated facial expressions. Tori's music has spanned nearly every genre and Kate's music overwhelmingly has been (in my mind's eye) a kind of musical version of the German expressionist movement-The Scream, Metropolis, Nosferatu, the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari all seem in keeping with Kate's music in my mind. I am awed by both artists. They are similar in certain ways but at their hearts they are entirely different. I consider Tori my favorite artist of any medium, probably because of both her copious output and the intensely personal nature of her music. Kate is more personally distant from the content of her songs and so she's not as deeply meaningful to me, but she is nevertheless my second-favorite musical artist. She's an astonishing talent. Both women have defined themselves as their own genres and comparing and contrasting the two may be worthwhile as a means to analyzing their music, but it's not worthwhile if the point is to say one is imitating the other. Tori has been "accused" of being a copycat Kate all her career, and that is objectively preposterous. Tori's primary musical influences are her classical training, church hymns she grew up playing, singing traditional music with her Eastern Cherokee grandfather, and Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Joni Mitchell and other artists who were popular when she was young. Tori was accepted into the Peabody Conservatory of music at age five. Kate is only five years older than Tori is. So she was 10, still a decade from her first single Wuthering Heights coming out. During those intevening years, Tori studied music every single day under the regimented instruction of music professors and her stern disciplinarian father. Tori has spoken only flattering and admiringly of Kate's music, but she has suggested that the first Kate song she heard was Babooshka, which came out in 1980. Tori would have been 17, with 12 years of intensive musical study influencing her development. If you are at all familiar with the music of Led Zeppelin, you can hear their influence-which Tori says is her greatest influence-in the subject matter about what she sings, in her vocalizations, in her compositions. Tori has been put on the spot throughout her career to 'defend' whether Kate Bush is or is not her primary influence, and the implication always is that she copies Kate. Kate simply was not a primary influence, despite their superficial similarities, and when Tori tells the truth and flatters Kate at the same time, Tori is accused of lying about her influences. She really can't win. Kate Bush is only five years older than Tori is. They probably have some similarities simply because they grew up in the same generation and had similar influences.

[@BoysOnFilm]

I love your very detailed response, and I agree with you! The reason I asked the question was also partly because I wanted to let her know that I thought the 'copycat' accusations were unfair, although flattering.

[@js2010ish]

Fair take!

[@pooki903]

phenomenal comment.

[@pinkbeatle2012]

they have similar vocal styles but the music is pretty different.

[@bepitan]

@@pooki903 no ...she sounds like kate bush...so similar its ridiculous.

[@themysticmuse]

Apples. Oranges. Both superb. 🙏🔥✨

[@bepitan]

apples and some other apples...

[@vishnurpillai7973]

​@@bepitanyes. Fiona Apples.

[@karmone11]

EPIC we can enjoy them both...Beautiful.

[@BoysOnFilm]

Absolutely! I do.

[@jelniemeijer4921]

Guys,lets celebrate two brilliant women in music and not compare them! I'm a Kate girl,but love Tori's music too! They both can bring me to tears and move me! Thats the most important thing of all! They are saying something...if you want to hear it! ❤

[@BoysOnFilm]

I agree. I love both artists independently. Many of my favourite artists are women. The reason I asked Tori the question is because I was curious about her reaction to so many people comparing them.

[@jelniemeijer4921]

@@BoysOnFilm i understand,it was more a reaction to the things that were said here! Its not a competition ..its music! Every one to their own taste and respecting each other! 😁

[@MobiusBandwidth]

her first record, the influence was obvious, but it was good music. she definitely found her own voice, we all stand on the shoulders of giants.

[@rodnee2340]

That is a great compliment. And the comparison is correct. But Tori Amos is a force for music.

[@philltolkien5082]

Don't care. Love em both. Tori s my fav ever.

[@kryw10]

Heard “Happy Phantom” on the speakers at the record store, asked “when did Kate put out a new album?!” I old me it was someone new named Tori Amos, bought the record, no regrets.

[@BoysOnFilm]

Great story!

[@elainesutton7183]

Two of my longstanding favorite artists. Both incredibly talented in their own ways. No need to compare.

[@BoysOnFilm]

🥰

[@veronicaveronica97]

They're totally different. I love and listen both, and this is the reason that I say they're totally different!

[@ilovelctr]

It's funny I got to know Kate because of Tori's music, and because of that very comparison people have been making, which led me to give Kate's music a try. I immediately fell in love with Kate, and I'll admit I do find some similarities between their voice performances, during their youth. I feel this comparison is definitely a compliment to both of them. Yes, they are unique and exceptional in their own rights. I love both of them, each to their own.

[@BoysOnFilm]

😍

[@TheWaynos73]

to be honest when i first heard Tori i thought she was Kate

[@jmcd21182]

To be dishonest when I first heard Kate I thought she was Tori

[@ekspatriat]

@@jmcd21182 You were 'Late with Kate' pal

[@jmcd21182]

@@ekspatriat you were definitely Kate with Late ma'am

[@ekspatriat]

@@jmcd21182 1 was before the other...methinks 1 copied

[@missyflutter5562]

Both wonderful independently but I’m ngl imagine a duet 😮❤

[@BoysOnFilm]

Can you imagine! That duet would be gorgeous.

[@missyflutter5562]

@@BoysOnFilm it’s already my new favourite song, it would be incredible 🙏🏼

[@TuliTheUnruly]

It seems like a forced comparison. They have totally different approaches to songwriting. Tori's music is biographical, grounded and more somber. Kate's work is mostly inspired by romantic myths, movies and books. They also have different production styles. Tori's voice can sound like Kate sometimes, but that's where the likeness ends.

[@Missjunebugfreak]

Exactly. They are very different from each other in their artistry, and other than Tori's voice sounding a bit similar to Kate when she's singing higher notes that's where it ends. Wish people would stop lazily comparing the two.

[@JetWindTV]

I heard of Tori Amos first. I only started hearing about Kate Bush recently. Tori Amos is more well known in America.

[@jecarlin]

The first time I heard of Kate Bush was 2014 in Ireland. I knew of Tori since seeing Silent All These Years on MTV.

[@freakrainbo]

No one ever mentions that they are both Leo's! I really think it says so much about both their similarities and their uniqueness, they are both so expressive, poetic, mystical, powerful, and strange. Tori came after Kate so comparing her to Kate was obvious, but beyond that initial comparision Tori has proved herself, and I think in some ways has even gone beyond Kate, but that's a personal opinion and they're each very very special.

[@BoysOnFilm]

Love this!

[@trindadetm]

Completely agree with that!

[@gaffawebber]

I love both. ❤️

[@BoysOnFilm]

me too!

[@Heartwing37]

Kate Bush is everything!

[@elizzzzzzzza]

I find it so weird people compare them when they’re so completely different. It’s amazing it’s like they see a woman and a piano and look no further

[@BoysOnFilm]

I agree. I never really got the Kate comparisons. They both play piano and have a high range, but that's about it really.

[@bepitan]

you guys cannot be serious...

[@calliet]

She very obviously ripped off her entire act from this Bush lady. She got caught.

[@Fenyxfire]

​@@bepitan i agree with them. Tori's songwriting and how she chooses what notes and progressions she uses are veeeery different. The only similarity is the girl with the piano thing and the timbre of her voice.

[@Mysteriuminiquitatis1998]

@@FenyxfireI disagree. I can totally see the reason for the comparison. The execution of their work is very different in some areas but their singing voices are very similar in my opinion.

[@ghanimaatreides5889]

Tori was gracious about this older, but when she was younger she hated the comparison ... Sarah Mac OTOH always proudly wore her KT influence on her sleeve

[@lethiapage4767]

I think that is a really gracious gesture for Tori to embrace that people find them similar. Buuuut I think for the "smaller" of the two comparisons can really swallow you up. I always always thought this happened to Rickie Lee Jones being compared to Joni Mitchell. Two pretty blondes singing their own material and running their own show....a bit folky, a bit jazzy and both a little woowoo. There's only room for one and I think Rickie Lee's career took a hit. She did seem to find a tribe, but she didn't have much mainstream success. Funny this mostly happens with female artists.

[@joeagger]

SO TRUE! Rickie is so unfairly underrated at this point, she deserved a way longer imperial period. Living It Up is up there with the greatest pop songs of the 80s

[@yoboi01]

I mean sure it's a compliment but i never thought Kate Bush when listening to Tori , or vice versa. To me they both have their own lanes of creativity in their art. For me Kate has a few stand outs obviously- running up that hill and Tori - Winter and there's no comparable to me

[@BoysOnFilm]

They're both unique in their own way, for sure. I think people just compare them because they both play piano and both have distinctive voices that reach high notes.

[@tessagoode8616]

I like Tori but Tori likes herself even more and she hates, hates being compared to anyone.

[@Missjunebugfreak]

While there are a few similarities in terms. of the voice (well maybe not so much since Kate sings in an English accent whereas Tori has an American accent) they are different artists. I'll admit that i have much stronger preference for Kate since she is my favorite artist of all time and most of Tori's music isn't my thing but I respect her talent. And i do think the constant comparisons between the two are a little unfair since they are worlds apart in terms of their artistry.

[@BoysOnFilm]

Yeah I agree. I can understand the comparisons but they are quite lazy. Both have distinctive voices (although Kate's range has dropped with age - much like Tori's I guess). They are both very talented musicians. You only have to watch Tori playing multi instruments and singing to appreciate this. And her storytelling is off the scale.

[@ahom_ahom_ahom]

I always thought Cornflake Girl was Kate Bush. So surprising I was so wrong for so long.

[@bagenclarksmith1598]

This doesn't need to be a cat Vs dog war. Like either or even like both. I don't know Tori's work so well, however what I've heard has been fine, infact I should really listen to more. It is great that we live in a world that offers some many different types of music, if we lived in 1700's we'd be saying,"If I have to hear another harpsichord..."

[@orcopatiniox]

Ambas tocan piano es lo único que tienen de similar pero para mí son dos artistas completamente diferentes

[@Doomsterlobster]

I never understood the comparison, but Kate Bush has been the go-to reference point for discussion of any new, remotely artsy female singer-songwriter for 30 years. Anyone from Tori and Björk (lol) to Bar for Lashes, Joanna Newsom and, FFS, Caroline Polachek have been compared to Bush. She just stands as the prototypical, iconic weird woman with artistic integrity and independence. In reality, Tori owes more to the sensual piano rock of Laura Nyro etc. She is not (or was not, to begin with) an art-popper. The few legitimate Bush comparisons I can think of are Akiko Yano and maybe Jane Siberry.

[@Missjunebugfreak]

Well Kate broke the mould for so many female artists at her young age with her unusual sound and the full control of her work that gave other women like Björk, Fiona Apple, Joanna Newsom etc the confidence to be themselves and have artistic control. So that causes so many newer art pop artists to be unfairly compared to her since she really did in many ways pave the way for them. Just like any new female singer-songwriters in the folk genre get compared to Joni Mitchell. Tori unfortunately has been compared to Kate so much that i think it does injustice to her own artistry for people to claim she "copied" Kate. They are very different artists with their own approach to music. In fact, I'd say Tori has far more in common with Laura Nyro than with Kate.

[@rumblefish9]

I don't even think Kate's music was angsty.

[@BiancaBergeron-b7f]

i love kate bush sm ❤❤❤

[@apriljohnson1067]

Absolutely I’ve made this comparison also

[@BoysOnFilm]

Who is your favourite?

[@apriljohnson1067]

@@BoysOnFilm Tori

[@ShakeYrFist]

"I'm touring!"

[@IHeartNoise]

Thought it was "I'm Tori"

[@jeeither]

​@IHeartNoise she said was touring at the same time as Kate Bush so she wouldn't be able to see her live.

[@TheGabygael]

i really like her approach on comparison, she sounds like the type of people who wants to understand the world around her with her own system

[@BoysOnFilm]

Very dignified.

[@PrinceAsmodeus]

They're very different

[@Phix75]

Tori vocally does remind me of Kate at times.. is what it is. Both fantastic special talents.

[@BoysOnFilm]

😍

[@rumblefish9]

I feel like the difference is nobody is as obsessed in Kate Bush as fans are with Tori. You don't see grown men and women crying seeing Kate Bush perform. You don't see Kate's fans telling her how she literally saved their lives. Tori is female rage personified. Tori is a force.

[@BoysOnFilm]

Oh I've cried seeing Kate Bush perform, trust me! Saw her comeback show at the Hammersmith Apollo and it was incredible. But then I love Tori equally! - Phil

[@sagedandy123]

They're so different.

[@BoysOnFilm]

Very much so. Both artists are women, playing the piano. About the only similarities.

[@VarvelloS-garf]

Tori and Kate needs to sing together

[@BoysOnFilm]

Oh my! Can you IMAGINE!

[@RSDFGH]

Она прекрасна ❤

[@TastySchu4]

My family brings me Hatch chilies when they pass thru Utah from New Mexico. They’re so yummy. We add them to everything ❤

[@suzannepuckett1668]

❤

[@jackstraw6760]

Tori is closer to Robert Smith than Kate Bush.

[@philltolkien5082]

Tori 4 ever.

[@BoysOnFilm]

YES! 👏🏻

[@nicholamc2629]

Not a patch.

[@the92project]

Tori Amos flies miles above Kate bush. Not even close.

[@isobeljames1328]

Try again

[@ExtravertmE]

Have you ever listened to Kate?

[@the92project]

@@ExtravertmE no of course I have not. Why would I need to know about a topic in order to have an opinion 🤣🤣🤣

[@the92project]

@@isobeljames1328 Tori Amos flies miles above Kate Bush. Not even close. Satisfied? Good

[@mattiusgabe7354]

I love them both - but compare Tori's touring/live performances history to Kate's. Tori I feel is just more musically gifted and truly appreciates her fanbase to keep touring so much.

[@jacquelinelewis3131]

There is only one Kate Bush

[@BoysOnFilm]

🥰

[@ComeJesusChrist]

Dude witches

[@angeladawn805]

10 years on, and I'm rediscovering Tori, - prompted by the latest Taylor Swift album. I'd say Tori is the pefect centre of a Kate - Taylor Venn Diagram ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@BoysOnFilm]

It's never too late to rediscover Tori!

[@rumblefish9]

*Please don't EVER put an artist of Tori's calibre alongside that terrible excuse for a singer named Taylor Swift. It's an insult!*

[@tonileigh8660]

So, are the ones who compared her to Kate Bush hearing imparied????? I mean seriously, they MUST be. That's like comparing a supernova to a cap gun. With Kate Bush of course being the supernova.

[@iantuition]

Oh please. How reductive

[@joeagger]

wow… so incredibly wrong lol. I’m more of a Kate fan, dgmw, but Tori is a phenomenal artist who deserves all the flowers she gets and more

[@Cosmo-Kramer]

I would rate Kate at 7.5/10 as an artist (singer, songwriter, musician, performer). Tori is that rare 10/10 artist.

[@joeagger]

nah, Kate’s an easy 10. have you listened to Suspended in Gaffa and A Coral Room? she is a musical genius, plain and simple (as is Tori, of course)

[@ExtravertmE]

LMAOOO

[@randomtology2173]

shes NOTHING like kate

[@mercurialpierrot7073]

The would be no Tori, as we know her, without Kate.

[@rumblefish9]

She was never influenced by Kate. So no. There would still be Tori.

[@beatricedesbois2108]

Problème : Tu ne mets pas du t Amos avec le visage de Kate Bush....Je Kifff les 2 Rtises mais...Il y a TROMPERIE.

[@nyckhampson792]

Tori ...i like you ...but your NO Kate Bush ,by a long chalk

[@stevencochran5301]

2 experienced in women's voice. Sorry, Tori.

[@ltyr-mr2if]

Ummm. I think Tori is talented, but... Not even close!

[@hatchibyebye]

Word on the street is Kate Bush don’t like her. Imo Tori’s music is better. Running Up That Hill is a great song but the rest of her catalogue is quite lacklustre. But tori has multiple bangers and is a stronger vocalist

[@PesterFester1966]

Your 'F stupid.

[@beebee242]

Agree. Tori is a god 👑🏆

[@davehoward22]

Kate bush has a far better and bigger selling back catalogue. Most people on the street probably couldn't name a tori Amos song.

[@hatchibyebye]

@@davehoward22 I know she is more popular. Doesn’t make her better

[@jorvikaengelskvinna7157]

Lacklustre catalogue? Anything but.

[@daniellev7258]

I never got the comparison personally. Honestly no offense to kate Bush fans but I just think. T has a far better voice. .

[@WasteFaced]

I think it’s pretty obvious that Tori ripped off Kate Bush, but I forgive her because she writes better songs.

[@iantuition]

There is literally no evidence to support that LMFAO Tori was playing piano at 5, singing in bars at 13, before anyone had heard of Kate, especially in the U.S. The songwriting and playing are completely different and and always have been (Tori is far more complex musically). The only similarity is their early singing voices, and that's because they both have similar, pseudoclassical stylings.

[@bunjijumper5345]

They brought it up because it’s true, Tori absolutely copied Kates sound.

[@BoysOnFilm]

I disagree. I’m sure she was influenced but her music is different.

[@beebee242]

@@BoysOnFilm 💯💯💯 you cannot help but be influenced by your musical predecessors. Kate did trail-blaze but Tori carved out her own fork in the road. Tori is her own in every right.

[@BoysOnFilm]

@@beebee242 You said it more eloquently than I did!

[@PesterFester1966]

​@@BoysOnFilm Stop The Cap.

[@orlandooracle7008]

Why do we have to compare women artists? You don’t ever hear about Freddie Mercury being compared to David Bowie or kiss being compared to ZZ Top. I just don’t understand why they have to do that to the women and not the men.

[@bunnylarese2161]

Tiri, you are compared to Kate because you copied her.

[@BoysOnFilm]

Oh I don't think so at all.

[@sidhedanu]

Hardly 🤣

[@TechnicJunglist]

Thanks for the laugh Bunny I needed that

[@freudianslippers6567]

Surpassed her then, if she "copied." Sorry.

[@thischarminglovehound2376]

Y Kant Tori Read and LE are her at her most Kate.

[@BoysOnFilm]

Yeah I agree. Y Kant definitely has a more Kate production.

[@randomtology2173]

not at all

[@kaysussex4991]

Kate is a great, Tori is a pale imitation

[@BoysOnFilm]

They're both great!