Amanda Palmer - Biography
Amanda Palmer is an American singer, songwriter, performer and crowdsourcing newsmaker. Raised in Massachusetts, Palmer has an interest in performing arts and theater, even spending many years as a living statue of the Eight-Foot Bride in Cambridge's Harvard Square (she later starred in Statuesque, a short silent film with well-known author and now-husband Neil Gaiman, inspired by that time). In 2000, Palmer formed the punk-cabaret troupe The Dresden Dolls, releasing their self-titled debut album in 2003.
Four albums later, she released her first solo record, Who Killed Amanda Palmer (Roadrunner Records, 2008). After a long legal battle with her label, Palmer self-released two EPs, Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukelele and Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under. In 2012, Palmer made news when she raised $1.2 million through a Kickstater fundraising campaign, selling almost 25,000 copies of Theatre is Evil, her sophomore full-length album, along with premium merch and opportunities to interact with the artist at house parties and other special "experiences." Theatre Is Evil was widely released on September 11, 2012 on her own 8 Ft Records.
In addition to her work as a recording artist, Palmer has maintained her interest in theater, not only through her theatrical performances themselves, but also by co-writing and producing a play, With the Needle That Sings in Her Heart, with the students at her high school alma mater in Massachusetts, based on Neutral Milk Hotel’s album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Merge Records, 1998). She also served as the Master of Ceremonies at 43 sold-out performances in the American Repertory Theater’s 2010 Boston production of Cabaret.
