Regina Spektor is a Russian-born American singer, songwriter, and pianist.  Her family moved to New York when she was very young, and it was there that she studied classical piano.  Spektor wrote her first a cappella songs when she was in her mid-teens, and by eighteen, she was writing songs for voice and piano.

Regina Spektor

I started to write before I went to SUNY Purchase music conservatory. As an audition I submitted what I now think are really awful songs, but I guess they saw something in them.

The Early Years

Regina Spektor is a Russian-born American singer, songwriter, and pianist.  Her family moved to New York when she was very young, and it was there that she studied classical piano.  Spektor wrote her first a cappella songs when she was in her mid-teens, and by eighteen, she was writing songs for voice and piano.

She completed a studio composition program of the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College, graduation with honors.  Upon graduation, she began performing in New York City in the anti-folk scene, during this time, she sold self-published CDs of her music, including 11.11 in 2001 and Songs in 2002.  Her 2003 self-release, Soviet Kitch, would later be re-released under a professional label.  

Growing Success

Her performances and recordings eventually attracted the attention of professionals in the music industry, and in 2004, she was offered a recording contract with Warner Bros, with Sire Brothers as her publishing company.  With their backing, she released her third album, Soviet Kitsch.  Critics were impressed with her combination of classical piano and poetic lyrics.

Her fourth album, Begin to Hope, illustrated her growing popularity by debuting at #50 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.  It peaked, however, at #20 because of the positive response of the public to her single, Fidelity.  Rolling Stone Magazine named Beginning to Hope #21 on the lift of the Top 200 Albums of 2006.  With over 500,000 units sold, the album certified gold, and was nominated for the 2007 Shortlist Music Prize.  

Here and Now

Regina Spektor released her most recent album, Far, in June of 2009.  She released her first single, Laughing With, to her MySpace page for streaming and to the internet for digital download a month before release.  The album included four exclusive iTunes bonus tracks and the deluxe version had two hidden tracks.   Critics were again pleased with her recordings, as were her fans.  The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and the Top Digital and Top Internet Album charts.  She appeared on the charts in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Ireland, New Zealand, and Switzerland, as well as in the United States.

Spektor is currently on an international tour.  She has contributed to multiple albums, concerts, and festivals to benefit such charitable and humanitarian organizations as Doctors Without Borders, Tibetan human rights, and Planned Parenthood

Did you know . . .

• Regina Spektor does not own a television set or a radio.

• While completing a sound check for a concert in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2007, Spektor collapsed.  She was taken to the hospital and the concert was cancelled.  It was later concluded that the collapse was actually due to vertigo brought on by an inner-ear infection.

• In 2007, Spektor’s hit, Fidelity was voted the #1 song of 2006 by listeners of SIRIUS Radio.  The video for Fidelity  was viewed on YouTube 200,000 times in its first two days of availability.

• Unlimited Music Access
• Music File Sharing
• Country Based Radio Channels
• Easy, Fast and Safe!
• 100% Free!