Regina Spektor is a Russian-American singer-songwriter and classically trained pianist, born in Moscow in 1980 and raised in New York after her family emigrated in 1989. She came up in the city's anti-folk scene; Begin to Hope (2006) was the breakthrough and is still the place to start. Browse Regina Spektor vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Regina Ilyinichna Spektor was born in Moscow, Soviet Union on February 18, 1980. She emigrated from the Soviet Union with her family in 1989 amid Jewish refugee resettlement, eventually settling in the Bronx, New York. She studied classical piano from age six, with classical training continuing across her career. She launched her recording career in the early 2000s in the New York anti-folk scene alongside contemporaries like Kimya Dawson, the Moldy Peaches, and Adam Green. Her 2006 album Begin to Hope was her commercial breakthrough. She has continued releasing material across multiple decades. Her parallel work includes Netflix series Orange Is the New Black theme song composition (2013 single You've Got Time).
Regina Spektor's sound combines indie pop, anti-folk, chamber pop, indie folk, alternative pop, art pop, and singer-songwriter with her distinctive vocal delivery (use of unconventional vocalizations, classical-influenced phrasing, and Russian-accented articulation), virtuosic classical-trained piano work, and lyrical content addressing autobiographical and abstract literary themes drawing on Russian literary and broader classical traditions.
Sire Records and Warner Bros. pressings of the Regina Spektor catalog have been issued in multiple color variant editions and limited deluxe pressings.
Listeners new to Regina Spektor typically start with Begin to Hope (2006) or Far (2009).
