Tom Waits

Born in 1949, Tom Waits left high school at 16 and worked various jobs, including in pizza houses, while performing as a singer and playing accordion and piano in bars. He became a popular local performer on the Los Angeles blues and rock club circuit. His debut album, "Closing Time," released in March 1973, garnered critical acclaim and achieved modest sales. Known for his throaty, whiskey-inflected voice and distinctive appearance, Waits lived in motels for several years. He embarked on a music tour to London in the late 1970s and began his acting career with a significant role in the 1978 film "Paradise Alley," followed by appearances in "One From The Heart" (1982), "The Outsiders" (1983), and "Rumblefish." He was arrested for disturbing the peace in May 1977. Waits married Irish playwright Kathleen Brennan on December 31, 1981, in Los Angeles. The couple had a daughter, Kellesimone, in October 1983, and a son, Casey, in September 1985. As his music gained wider acknowledgment, marked by sellout tours across Europe and the U.S., he relocated his family to San Francisco. His film career also progressed with roles in "The Fisher King" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula." Waits won his first Grammy Award on February 24, 1993, and successfully pursued lawsuits against Frito-Lay potato chip company in 1990 and 1993 for unauthorized use of his likeness and voice.