Tom Waits was born in Pomona, California to two schoolteachers. His parents divorced when he was 10 years old, and Waits began learning to play piano with the help of a teacher who was sympathetic to Tom's non-classical interests. By the time he was 16, Tom had joined an R&B band and begun to write songs.
1968: At about age 18 Tom developed a fascination with the Beat writers. Wore dark shades. Subscribed to Downbeat.
In 1971, manager Herb Cohen stumbled upon Waits in a venue called the Troubadour and suggested that the two work together. Later that year, Herb Cohen helped Tom negotiate a contract with Bizarre/Straight records in 1971 and started recording demos, then switched to Asylum Records the following year. Throughout the '70s, he released six albums, toured extensively, and became something of an alcoholic. He appeared in a movie with Sylvester Stallone, and later wrote music for other films.
He married screenwriter Kathleen Brennan in 1980 and began collaborating with her, first as co-producer, but soon as cowriter. He moved to Island Records to release 1983's Swordfishtrombones, which marked an artistic shift toward unusual instrumentation and non-mainstream song forms. Swordfishtrombones was also Tom's first self-produced work.
Born in Cork, Ireland, in 1955 and raised in Illinois, Kathleen Brennan was working as a script analyst for Zoetrope, Francis Ford Coppola's production company. Waits and Brennan met while he was recording the soundtrack to Coppola's One From the Heart.
Tom describes his wife Kathleen as "an incandescent presence in everything I do." He credits her with co-writing songs, steering him away from alcohol, and ultimately saving his life.
In 1993 Tom Waits won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Rock Album for his album Bone Machine. This was followed by a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2000 for Mule Variations.
On March 14, 2011, Waits was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Neil Young.
Waits puts up respectable sales numbers, but his influence as a songwriter is a better measure of his cultural impact. Bruce Springsteen, who covered his song "
Jersey Girl," is a big fan, as are Bob Seger, Sarah McLachlan and Bette Midler, all of whom have recorded his songs. Rod Stewart had the biggest hit with a Waits cover, taking "
Downtown Train" to #3 in 1990.
Waits has fought vigilantly to keep his songs from being used in commercials. "It has always been my belief that anything that degrades the value of the work degrades the artist," he said. "The artist has the right to have his work presented as intended and not ruthlessly cannibalized."
He is a popular actor, appearing in over 20 movies. Look for him in Down by Law (1986), Candy Mountain (1987), Queens Logic (1991), and Short Cuts (1993).
Waits is averse to interviews, but he shared this bit of songwriting philosophy with Steve Baltin for the book Anthems We Love: 29 Iconic Artists on the Hit Songs That Shaped Our Lives: "It is like a painting and only you can decide when it is done. If the song is too personal, it will not relate. But if it has a metaphoric aroma then the listener will supply their own pictures as they are finishing the song with their own experiences and their own memories."