Tom Waits

Thomas Alan Waits, born December 7, 1949, is an American musician and actor. His songs typically examine the fringes of society, delivered in a famously deep, gravelly voice. He started out in 1970s folk music, but after the 1980s his work absorbed rock, jazz, Delta blues, opera, vaudeville, cabaret, funk, and experimental sounds close to industrial music. Jim Fusilli described him as a sharp, sensitive chronicler of the lost and broken, creating three-dimensional characters capable of insight even in confusion.

Childhood and adolescence: 1949–1968

Daniel Durchholz said his voice sounds like it was soaked in bourbon, hung in a smokehouse, then run over by a car. Waits was born into a middle-class family in Pomona, California, and moved to Whittier later in 1949. He lived on Kentucky Avenue (and briefly Pickering Avenue), a key setting in his memories.

Early musical career: 1969–1976

Inspired by Bob Dylan and the Beat Generation, he started singing in San Diego’s folk scene. He moved to Los Angeles in 1972, worked as a songwriter, and signed with Asylum Records. His debut album Closing Time came out in 1973, followed by The Heart of Saturday Night (1974) and Nighthawks at the Diner (1975). He toured the U.S., Europe, and Japan, gaining more critical and commercial success with Small Change (1976), Blue Valentine (1978), and Heartattack and Vine (1980).

In 1978 he entered film, where he met Kathleen Brennan. He worked with Crystal Gayle on the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola’s One From the Heart (1982) and appeared in several Coppola films. In 1980, Waits married Brennan, left his manager and record label, and moved to New York City.

The Black Rider, Bone Machine, and Alice: 1989–1998

With Brennan’s encouragement and collaboration, he pursued a more eclectic, experimental sound influenced by Harry Partch and Captain Beefheart, heard on the loose trilogy Swordfishtrombones (1983), Rain Dogs (1985), and Franks Wild Years (1987). In 1990 he worked with theater director Robert Wilson on the musical The Black Rider, releasing its songs on an album of the same name. They reunited for the musicals Alice (1992) and Woyzeck (2000); songs from those were released on the albums Alice and Blood Money in 2002. Waits won Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Contemporary Folk Album for Bone Machine (1992) and Mule Variations (1999).

Real Gone and Orphans: 2004–2011

He later released Real Gone (2004), the compilation Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (2006), the live album Glitter and Doom Live (2009), and Bad as Me (2011). He hasn’t toured since 2008 or issued a new album since 2011, but continues occasional guest appearances at concerts and events. He has also published poetry and kept acting in offbeat character roles.

Waits has influenced many artists and built an international cult following. His songs have been covered by Bruce Springsteen, Tori Amos, Rod Stewart, and the Eagles, and he has written songs for Johnny Cash and Norah Jones. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Neil Young introduced him by saying, “This next man is indescribable… a performer, singer, actor, magician, spirit guide, changeling.” Accepting, Waits remarked, “They say that I have no hits and I’m difficult to work with.