Photo: Published by Asylum Records. Photographer uncredited and unknown. / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Tom Waits is, for my money, the great holdout of American music. Plenty of artists talk about authenticity; Waits built an entire fifty-year career out of it, singing about society's losers and night owls in that gravel-and-whiskey voice no producer could ever polish. What I admire most is his restlessness: folk gave way to jazz, blues, cabaret, and junkyard experimentalism, and he never once chased a trend. The 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction felt less like an honor for him than the Hall finally catching up. Every time I revisit his records I hear the same lesson: a beautiful voice is optional, an honest one is everything.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Tom Waits
- Name (Japanese)
- トム・ウェイツ
- Reading
- とむ・うぇいつ
- Born
- December 7, 1949 (age 76)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Ox
- Origin
- Pomona, California, United States
- Occupation
- singer-songwriter / singer / actor / composer / jazz pianist
2. Background
- High school
- Hilltop High School
- University
- Southwestern College
Awards & achievements
- 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Tom Waits born?
Born December 7, 1949 (age 76).
Where is Tom Waits from?
Tom Waits is from Pomona, California, United States.
What does Tom Waits do?
Tom Waits works as singer-songwriter, singer, actor, composer, jazz pianist.
Singer-songwriter — see all → · Singer — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.