Regina Spektor

At 44 years old, Regina Spektor has this physical status:

Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (born February 18, 1980) is a Russian-born American singer, songwriter, and pianist who gained success in New York City's independent music scene, particularly the anti-folk scene, Spektor joined Sire Records in 2004 and began receiving greater mainstream success.

Sire's third album, Begin to Hope, would go on to earn a Gold award from the RIAA, after giving her third album a major label re-release.

Far and What We Saw From the Cheap Seats, her two albums, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200.

On the Billboard 200, Remember Us to Life, 2016 reached its high point. Bill de Blasio, the Mayor of New York City, has officially declared June 11, 2019 as Regina Spektor Day in New York City.

Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. inducted Spektor into the Bronx Walk of Fame on Saturday, May 18, 2019.

Early life and musical beginnings

Spektor was born in 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, to a musical Russian-Jewish family. Ilya Spektor, her father, was a photographer and amateur violinist. Bella Spektor, her mother, was a music professor at a Soviet college of music and now works at a public elementary school in Mount Vernon, New York. Boruch (also known as Bear) was Spektor's brother who was included in track 7, "* *" or "Whisper" of her 2004 album Soviet Kitsch. Regina began taking piano lessons when she was seven years old and learned how to play the piano by practicing on a Petrof upright that her grandfather gave her. She grew up listening to classical music and Russian bards like Vladimir Vysotsky and Bulat Okudzhava. Her father, who made cassettes in Eastern Europe and swapped cassettes with friends in the Soviet Union, introduced her to rock and roll bands, such as the Beatles, Queen, and the Moody Blues.

During the period of Perestroika, when Soviet citizens were allowed to immigrate, the family left the Soviet Union for the Bronx in 1989, when Spektor was nine and a half. She had to leave her piano behind. The seriousness of her piano studies prompted her parents to consider leaving the Soviet Union, but they eventually decided against immigrating due to racial, ethnic, and political discrimination faced by Jewish people. The Spektor family was admitted to the United States as refugees with the support of HIAS, first to Austria and then Italy. (The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) Spektor graduated from SAR Academy, a Jewish day middle school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, and they settled in the Bronx. Spektor played on tabletops and other hard surfaces until she discovered a piano in her synagogue's basement, since the family had been unable to bring their piano from Moscow. Spektor studied classical piano with Sonia Vargas, a professor at the Manhattan School of Music, until she was 17 years old; Spektor's father, violinist Samuel Marder, knew Vargas through Vargas' husband, Vargas. Spektor attended high school in Paramus, New Jersey, but later moved to Fair Lawn High School in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, where she completed the last two years of her high school education.

Spektor was originally interested in classical music, but she later became interested in hip hop, rock, and punk. Though she had always made up songs around the house, she first became interested in more formal songwriting during a visit to Israel with the Nesiya Institute in her teenage years when she attracted the attention of the other passengers on the trip for the songs she created up while hiking.

Spektor was introduced to the works of Joni Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, and other singer-songwriters, which ignited her curiosity in creating her own songs. She recorded her first cappella songs around the age of 16 and her first songs for voice and piano when she was 17.

Spektor completed the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College's four-year composition program, graduating with honors in 2001. She worked briefly at a butterfly farm in Luck, Wisconsin, and then studied in Tottenham (north London) for a year.

Personal life

Spektor is fluent in Russian and reads Hebrew. She has paid tribute to her Russian roots by quoting the poem "February" by Russian poet Boris Pasternak in her song "Après Moi" and claiming, "I'm very connected to the language and the culture."

Spektor and her family didn't return home to Moscow until July 2012, when she toured through Russia in favor of her sixth album, What We Saw From the Cheap Seats. She used to be vegetarian, but she stopped doing so after touring with The Strokes, who often dined on steak.

In 2011, Spektor married singer-songwriter Jack Dishel. In the song "Call Them Brothers," he was formerly a guitarist with the Moldy Peaches. Dishel is a member of the band Only Son and performs with Spektor. They have two children.

"I see my family...In Everybody," Spektor says of her involvement as an immigrant youth in New York in the release Remember Us to Life.

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Career

Spektor gradually became well-known for his appearances in downtown New York City's anti-folk scene, most notable at the East Village's SideWalk Cafe. Sarah Lawrence College and others, as well as the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, appeared at local universities (such as Sarah Lawrence College). During her appearances during this period, she sold self-published CDs: 11:11 (2001) and Songs (2002). Spektor's first national tour was accompanying The Strokes as the opening act on their 2003-2004 Room on Fire tour, which included performances at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. While on tour, she and the band performed and recorded "Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men." Spektor was invited to open for them on their own European tour after the tour. Spektor signed a deal with Warner Brothers' record label Sire Records to produce and distribute her third album, Soviet Kitsch, which was first released in 2003. She made her first television appearances in 2005, including guest spots on several late-night talk shows.

Spektor appeared on the opening act of the English piano rock band Keane in June 2005, when she appeared at Radio City Music Hall on June 7, 2005.

On June 13, 2006, Spektor began to release Begin to Hope. The album debuted at number 70 on the Billboard 200, but it went on to number 20 and was named Gold by the RIAA due to the success of the single "Fidelity." Spektor's video for "Fidelity" was viewed more than 200,000 times in two days on YouTube. Spektor's 2006 headlining tour in favor of the Begin to Hope album featured back-to-back hometown performances at Town Hall Theater in New York City on September 27 and September 28, 2006. Spektor's first tour to have a complete backing band was on this tour.

The people of Sirius Radio's Left of Center channel voted her single "Fidelity" as the No. 1. This is the first song of 2006. VH1 debuted her as part of its "You Oughta Know: Artists on the Rise" featurettes, playing clips from the "Fidelity" music film, and filming portions of an interview with Spektor during commercial breaks on the channel, with her in 2006. Spektor's film "Fidelity" debuted at No. 1 in the nation. VH1's Top 20 Countdown is ranked number three on the VH1's Top 20 Countdown. Spektor A.C. Spektor has risen to No. No. 5 in the world of Spektor. 33 on the top 100 of 2006 Blender magazine's best 100, and in addition as one of the "Hottest Women of Rock" nominees. On January 21, 2007, she was given a lengthy feature on CBS News Sunday Morning that highlighted her musical roots and growing success.

Spektor debuted at many major music festivals in 2007, including Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Lollapalooza, Virgin Festival, and Austin City Limits Music Festival. "Better" was released on VH1 and YouTube on October 1, 2007, where it gained more than 100,000 views within the first 24 hours. Spektor appeared acoustic at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheatre on October 27, 2007.

Spektor died during the sound check and was taken to a local emergency room on November 14, 2007. Spektor was fine, according to the audience's report, but doctors said she would not be able to perform that night. The cause of the loss, according to later reports, was an inner ear infection that caused intense vertigo. The performance had been originally scheduled for December 6, 2007, but the date was later postponed and the performance took place on February 29, 2008. She was able to appear in concert at Mountain Stage in West Virginia on November 18, 2007, and at Duke University on November 19, 2007.

Spektor wrote the song "The Call" for the 2008 film "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which appeared prominently in the film's closing scene. She then appeared on "You Don't Know Me," a single from Ben Folds' 2008 album, Way to Normal. The pair appeared together on several late-night talk shows as part of their single release.

Farewell, Spektor's fifth album, was released on June 23, 2009. David Kahne (who had previously worked with Spektor on Begin to Hope) Mike Elizondo, Jacknife Lee, and Jeff Lynne were among the notables who worked with four producers. In its first week, the record sold 50,000 copies, debuting at number three in the US Billboard 200; the record stayed on the charts for 19 weeks. According to statistics, the album reached number 30 and 16 in the United Kingdom and Canada. On June 29, 2009, she headlined Serious Sessions, a series of concerts at Hyde Park in London. Glastonbury Festival, Hultsfred Festival, Oxegen 2009, T in the Park, Paradiso, Latitude Festival, and Rock Werchter were among the European performances in 2009. Spektor's 2009 North American tour brought a Brooklyn-based rock band Jupiter One to open concerts. Spektor headlined a concert at Radio City Music Hall in NYC on October 14, 2009. Spektor would write the music for the musical Beauty, a modern interpretation of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty that was first scheduled to open during the 2011-2012 Broadway season, and it was announced on September 16, 2009. Regina made her Saturday Night Live debut on October 10, 2009, on "Eet" and "The Calculation" off Far's Far.

Spektor appeared with Barack and Michelle Obama at the White House reception in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month in May 2010. "The Sword & the Pen" and "Us" were two of her "Us" and "The Sword & the Pen."

What We Saw From the Cheap Seats, Spektor's sixth album, was released on May 29, 2012. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, much like her previous album. Spektor appeared on the Colbert Report's June 7, 2012 edition, as well as "Ballad of a Politician" as online bonus material. Spektor's world tour in support of What We Saw From the Cheap Seats included a Moscow appearance; she hadn't returned since moving with her family in 1989.

Spektor was christened a "Steinway Artist" in 2012; she plays Steinway & Sons pianos almost exclusively.

Spektor produced and performed "You've Got Time" for Netflix's original series Orange Is the New Black's flagship title song, "You've Got Time," which premiered in July 2013. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, it was nominated in the Best Song Written for Visual Media category.

Spektor announced her seventh album, Remember Us to Life, on July 21, 2016, through her email newsletter. The album was released on September 30, 2016. "Bleeding Heart," the first single, was released on July 22, 2016. "Small Bill$," the follow-up single, was released on August 11, 2016. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Regina Spektor's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was released in August 5, 2016, the sequel to Kubo and the Two Strings.

Spektor was one of the Hamilton Mixtape's most popular artists in 2016, and she appears in "Dear Theodosia" with Ben Folds.

Spektor appeared on the title track to Gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello's studio album Seekers and Finders in 2017. Spektor was also featured on Odesza's album "Just A Memory" as a guest vocalist.

Spektor released "Birdsong," a new song written especially for an episode of the Amazon Prime series The Romanoffs, on November 8, 2018.

Spektor announced on March 25, 2019 that she would perform as the Artist in Residency at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre for five performances from June 20 to 26, 2019.

Spektor unveiled an acoustic version of her own "You've Got Time" on July 26, 2019, the start of the seventh and final seasons of Orange Is the New Black. In the final episode of the series, the song is included.

Spektor released "Walking Away," a new song from Amazon Prime Original Series Modern Love in late 2019.

Spektor unveiled her eighth studio album Home on February 22, 2022, just after the album's lead single "Becoming All Alone" was announced on June 24. Spektor and John Congleton produced the album, which was recorded in upstate New York.

On August 5, 2022, she performed "Becoming All Alone" from her latest album, as well as tunes from past launches such as "Fidelity" and "Samson."

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