Tom Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor known for his musical tales of bohemians, drifters and misfits and for his stylistic blend of blues, folk and jazz. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding like "it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car." With this trademark growl, his incorporation of pre-rock music styles such as blues, jazz, and vaudeville, and experimental tendencies verging on industrial music.
Waits' lyrics frequently present atmospheric portraits of grotesque, often seedy characters and places—although he has also shown a penchant for more conventional ballads. He has a cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters despite having little radio or music video support. His songs are best-known through cover versions by more commercial artists: "Jersey Girl", performed by Bruce Springsteen, "Ol' '55", by the Eagles, and "Downtown Train", by Rod Stewart. Although Waits' albums have met with mixed commercial success in his native United States, they have occasionally achieved gold album sales status in other countries.
Waits has built up a distinctive musical persona. He has worked as a composer for movies and musicals and has acted in supporting roles in films, including Paradise Alley and Bram Stoker's Dracula. He also starred in Jim Jarmusch's 1986 film Down by Law. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his soundtrack work on One from the Heart.
Pausing at the crossroads in Santa Rossa, California 1999, Tom Waits casts a glance of displeasure, or so it appears, over his shoulder
Tom Waits onstage at the Victoria Apollo, London in March, 1981.
Tom Waits in a Chinese diner in Santa Rossa, California in January 1999
Official contact sheet print from the acclaimed Duffy archive of David Bowie in his Scary Monsters Pierrot costume in 1980.
Joe Strummer (lying on floor) & Mick Jones performing live onstage on their 'Sort It Out' Tour at the Paradiso, Amsterdam.
Bob Marley relaxing with friends and family after a show in Houston, Texas in 1976
Pink Floyd in Abbey Road making a new album that became 'Wish You Were Here'. Jill Furmanovsky was asked to drop in and shoot some stills
Syd Barrett was a founder member of Pink Floyd and was the lead singer, guitarist and principle songwriter in the band's early years
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk.
Beck Hansen, known by stage name Beck, is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist.
Nirvana were an American rock music band formed by Kurt Cobain & Krist Novoselic, they were considered the 'flagship band' of Generation X.
Here are the very latest prints we have added to our collection. We hope you love them as much as we do.
Welcome to our Folk & Country Print Collection - iconic images of the world's greatest artists from the past 50 years
The USA has given us many of the world's greatest music artists - we celebrate the best of the best
Pink Floyd's sublime music of hope and despair, touches all nationalities and is as meaningful today as it was when conceived.
