Amanda Palmer
Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer[3] (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo the Dresden Dolls.[4] She performs as a solo artist and was also a member of the duo Evelyn Evelyn and the lead singer and songwriter of Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra.[5] She has gained a cult fanbase throughout her career, and was one of the first musical artists to popularize the use of crowdfunding websites.[6]
For another person with the name, see Amanda Palmer (film executive).
Amanda Palmer
Amanda MacKinnon Palmer
April 30, 1976
New York City, U.S.
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Singer-songwriter
- musician
- performance artist
- author
1999–present
- Roadrunner
- Cooking Vinyl
- 8ft. Records
Early life[edit]
Palmer was born Amanda MacKinnon Palmer in New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital,[7] and grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts.[8] Her parents divorced when she was one year old, and as a child she rarely saw her father.[9]
She attended Lexington High School, where she was involved in the drama department,[10] and later attended Wesleyan University[11][12] where she studied theater and was a member of the Eclectic Society.[13] In 1999, Palmer founded the Shadowbox Collective, a performance group devoted to street theatre and putting on theatrical shows (such as the 2002 play, Hotel Blanc,[14] which she directed).
Palmer graduated from Wesleyan University with a BA in 1998. Palmer then spent several years busking as a living statue called "The Eight Foot Bride" in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Edinburgh, Scotland; Berlin, Germany and Melbourne, Australia (where she met future collaborator Jason Webley);[15] and many other locations. She refers to her street performance work in The Dresden Dolls song "The Perfect Fit", as well as on the A is for Accident track "Glass Slipper".
Some of the books written in full, or collaboratively, by Amanda Palmer:
Palmer also has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans.