Tom Waits

Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949 in Pomona, California) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor.

Waits' gravelly voice is immediately recognizable, described by the MusicHound Rock Album Guide as sou

Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949 in Pomona, California) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor.

Waits' gravelly voice is immediately recognizable, described by the MusicHound Rock Album Guide as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car." With this trademark growl, as well as his experimental tendencies and a love of pre-rock Americana styles such as blues, jazz, and Vaudeville, Waits has built up a distinctive musical persona. Trouser Press called Waits "at once a throwback and a visionary."