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Thomas Alan (Tom) Waits (Pomona (Californië), 7 december 1949) is een Amerikaans zanger, componist, schrijver en acteur. Zijn stem kan omschreven worden als een lage, rauwe, bijna grommende stem, en soms hees als een fluisterzanger.

Hij werkte eerst voornamelijk in een jazzy stijl, maar zijn muziek vanaf de jaren tachtig weerspiegelt meer invloeden van blues, rock, vaudeville, theatermuziek en experimentele genres. Zijn teksten weerspiegelen de onderkant van de maatschappij, zij gaan over dronkaards, hoeren, junkies, voyeurs en andere drop-outs. Volgens zijn vrouw Kathleen Brennan maakt Waits maar twee soorten liedjes, grand weepers en grim reapers (tranentrekkers en magere heinen), een verdeling die enigszins parallel loopt met zijn Asylum Records-periode en zijn Island Records-periode.

Ondanks een beperkt commercieel mainstream succes, heeft Waits veel muzikanten beïnvloed en een internationale cult-aanhang gekregen. Bob Dylan, die zelf een grote invloed had op de jonge Waits, verklaarde dat Waits een van zijn "geheime helden" was. Zijn songs zijn door vele artiesten gecoverd, Rod Stewart had nummer 1-hits met "Downtown Train" en "Tom Traubert's Blues", en er zijn verschillende biografieën over hem geschreven. In 2015 werd hij gerangschikt op nummer 55 op Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time". In 2011 werd hij opgenomen in de Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Hoewel Waits ook een filmcarrière heeft, is hij toch voornamelijk musicus, gekarakteriseerd door zijn rockstem, zijn sterke persoonlijkheid en theatrale aanwezigheid op het podium, en de late night smoky bars-humor van zijn teksten ("I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy"). Tijdens zijn optredens gebruikt hij vele verschillende vormen. Soms zingt hij door een megafoon, of hij zet op onnavolgbare wijze zijn hoed scheef en gooit wat confetti in de lucht ("Fall out of a window with confetti in your hair"). Hoewel zijn liederen door veel beroemde artiesten zoals Bruce Springsteen, Meat Loaf en Rod Stewart zijn uitgevoerd, blijft Tom Waits een cultartiest, altijd buiten de mainstream.

Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the folk scene during the 1970s, but his music since the 1980s has reflected the influence of such diverse genres as rock, Delta blues, opera, vaudeville, cabaret, funk, hip hop and experimental techniques verging on industrial music. Per The Wall Street Journal, Waits "has composed a body of work that's at least comparable to any songwriter's in pop today. A keen, sensitive and sympathetic chronicler of the adrift and downtrodden, Mr. Waits creates three-dimensional characters who, even in their confusion and despair, are capable of insight and startling points of view. Their stories are accompanied by music that's unlike any other in pop history."

Tom Waits was born and raised in a middle-class family in Pomona, California. Inspired by the work of Bob Dylan and the Beat Generation, he began singing on the San Diego folk circuit. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1972, where he worked as a songwriter before signing a recording contract with Asylum Records. His first albums were the jazzy Closing Time (1973), The Heart of Saturday Night (1974) and Nighthawks at the Diner (1975), which reflected his lyrical interest in poverty, criminality and nightlife. He repeatedly toured the United States, Europe and Japan, and found greater critical and commercial success with Small Change (1976), Blue Valentine (1978) and Heartattack and Vine (1980). During this period, Waits entered the world of film, acting in Paradise Alley (1978), where he met a young story editor named Kathleen Brennan. He composed the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's One from the Heart (1982) and made cameos in several subsequent Coppola films.

In 1980, Waits married Brennan, split from his manager and record label, and moved to New York City. With Brennan's encouragement and frequent collaboration, he pursued a more eclectic and experimental sound influenced by Harry Partch and Captain Beefheart, as heard on the loose trilogy Swordfishtrombones (1983), Rain Dogs (1985) and Franks Wild Years (1987). Waits starred in Jim Jarmusch's Down by Law (1986), lent his voice to his Mystery Train (1989), composed the soundtrack for his Night on Earth (1991) and appeared in his Coffee and Cigarettes (2003). He collaborated with Robert Wilson and William S. Burroughs on the "cowboy opera" The Black Rider (1990), the songs for which were released on the album The Black Rider. Waits and Wilson collaborated again on Alice (2002) and Woyzeck (2000). Bone Machine (1992) and Mule Variations (1999) won Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Contemporary Folk Album, respectively. In 2002, the songs from Alice and Wozzeck were recorded and released on the albums Alice and Blood Money. Waits went on to release Real Gone (2004), the compilation Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (2006), the live album Glitter and Doom Live (2009) and Bad as Me (2011).

Waits has influenced many artists and gained 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, among others. In 2011, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Introducing him, Neil Young said: "This next man is indescribable, and I'm here to describe him. He's sort of a performer, singer, actor, magician, spirit guide, changeling... I think it's great that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has recognized this immense talent. Could have been the Motion Picture Hall of Fame, could have been the Blues Hall of Fame, could have been the Performance Artist Hall of Fame, but it was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that recognized the great Tom Waits." In accepting the award, Waits mused, "They say that I have no hits and that I'm difficult to work with. And they say that like it's a bad thing!"