Historical Figure
Amanda Palmer
b. 1976
American musician and performance artist (born 1976)
Talk to Amanda Palmer
Have a conversation with this historical figure through AI
Biography
Amanda MacKinnon Palmer is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who was the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo the Dresden Dolls and the ex-wife of author Neil Gaiman. 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. She has gained a cult fanbase and was one of the first musical artists to popularize the use of crowdfunding websites.
In Their Own Words (5)
I'm bisexual, but it's not the sort of thing I spent a lot of time thinking about … I've slept with girls; I've slept with guys, so I guess that's what they call it! I'm not anti trying to use language to simplify our lives.
As quoted in "Getting Real With Amanda Palmer" at AfterEllen (18 July 2007) , 2007
It makes me very sad when I find out that people who never hear our music think that we are really about image and not about substance. … I can understand why you might get that impression if you've never heard the band's music and see a photo of a guy and a girl dressed up in crazy costumes and think, "I don't need to pay attention to that — why do they need to wear those crazy clothes?" I think that's why we've constantly toured. Our live show is so intense and so substantive and emotional that it's sort of the price we have to pay for being so flamboyant — we have to prove ourselves as a rock band.
As quoted in "Getting Real With Amanda Palmer" at AfterEllen (18 July 2007) , 2007
I really like Neil a whole, whole, whole lot, and I really do not want to marry Kevin Smith, even a little. Do you remember the Trojan War, dude? I’m just saying. Can you imagine what a world war between a Neil Gaiman army and a Kevin Smith army would actually look like? Their fans are serious. I predict there would be lots of very high-fallutin’, toilet-based name-calling, confusing many. And possibly foam swords swinging at hockey sticks. Actually, that’s bullshit. There’s no way anybody would leave their Twitter feeds for long enough to pull out a foam sword or a hockey stick. Maybe it’ll be the world’s first full-on digital war and people will just head over to Second Life to duke it out. I hope Neil’s army wins.
On a humorous twitter courtship by Kevin Smith, as quoted in "Amanda Palmer Freaks Out With Evelyn Evelyn" by Scott Thill in WIRED (29 March 2010) , 2010
Rock needs theater, rock is theater. We just go through different eras of guilty admission about this. Having risen with The Dresden Dolls in the heyday of The Strokes and The White Stripes, everyone was looking at us as completely misfit theater dorks. But it’s really encouraging to see a more theater-dork wave of bands like The Scissor Sisters, Antony & The Johnsons, CocoRosie, Patrick Wolf and even Arcade Fire and Decembrists becoming popular. The dress-up freaks are coming back, and it’s wonderful to watch.
As quoted in "Amanda Palmer Freaks Out With Evelyn Evelyn" by Scott Thill in WIRED (29 March 2010) , 2010
I still get laughed at but it doesn't bother me, I'm just so glad to hear laughter around me.
Timeline
The story of Amanda Palmer, told in moments.
Released the debut album with the Dresden Dolls, her "Brechtian punk cabaret" duo. They built a cult following through relentless touring and direct fan engagement.
Raised $1.2 million on Kickstarter for her solo album Theatre Is Evil, becoming one of the first musicians to prove crowdfunding could replace a record label. She'd asked for $100,000.
Delivered a TED talk called "The Art of Asking" that was viewed over 12 million times. It became a bestselling book in 2014.
More from the Late 20th Century
Explore what happened on the days that shaped Amanda Palmer's life. Today In History connects historical figures with the events, births, and deaths that defined their era. Browse all historical figures or explore today's events.