Regina Spektor

Early life and musical beginnings

Spektor was born on February 18, 1980, in Moscow, Soviet Union, to a musical Russian-Jewish family. Her father, Ilya Spektor, was a photographer and amateur violinist. Her mother, Bella Spektor, was a music professor in a Soviet college of music and taught at public elementary schools in Mount Vernon, New York, now retired. Spektor has a brother, Boruch, who was featured in the track "* * *" (or "Whisper") from her 2003 album Soviet Kitsch, and who inspired the song "Bear Spektor", which has been performed live but never officially released. Growing up in Moscow, Regina started taking piano lessons when she was seven and learned how to play the piano by practicing on a Petrof upright that her grandfather gave her mother. She grew up...

2001–2005: Career beginnings and Soviet Kitsch

Spektor gradually achieved recognition through performances in the anti-folk scene in downtown New York City, most prominently at the East Village's SideWalk Cafe. She also performed at local colleges (such as Sarah Lawrence College) with other musicians, including the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. She sold self-published CDs at her performances during this period: 11:11 (2001) and Songs (2002). Spektor's first nationwide 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 the tour, she and the band performed and recorded "Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men". After the tour, Kings of Leon, who were the second opening act...

Fidelity

"Fidelity" is a song by American singer-songwriter Regina Spektor, released as the second single from her fourth album Begin to Hope. The song marked Spektor's first and only Billboard 100 entry and is her most successful track to date.

Despite a release date of September 25, the song did not hit the charts until December. The song was released in the UK as a two-part single on March 12, 2007.

Music video

It is directed by Marc Webb. The video features Spektor in a black and white dress in an abstract environment enjoying tea alone. The room and decor are also black and white. As the video progresses, an empty suit is shown, which Spektor converses with as though it were a real companion. Near the end of the video, Spektor drops a heart pendant on the ground, revealing colored dust. A man (played by Scoot McNairy) appears in the suit, and the two then play with the dust, and join hands as the video ends.

In popular culture

In 2009, the song was used with permission as accompaniment to the video "Don't divorce us", released by the Courage Campaign against Proposition 8. The video was viewed over 500,000 times in a week.

On the Radio

"On the Radio" is the first single from Regina Spektor's fourth album, Begin to Hope. The chorus contains references to the song "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses.

As of 2009 the single had sold 116,000 copies in United States.

Music video

An accompanying music video was released which shows Spektor teaching a music class made up of young school children. The video uses stop motion in a few scenes. An alternative video was released in which Spektor sings in a chocolate factory. The video was directed by Matt Lenski.

In popular culture

The television show Grey's Anatomy used the song "On The Radio" in the episode "Damage Case."

Samson

"Samson" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Regina Spektor, from her albums Songs (2002) and Begin to Hope (2006). Despite having never been officially released as a single, it has charted in several countries, and is often considered one of Spektor's greatest songs.

As of 2009 it has sold 143,000 copies in United States and was certified gold by the RIAA on May 15, 2025.

Background and composition

"Samson" was initially recorded as the first track for Spektor's second album Songs, which she recorded in one take on Christmas Day 2001. In 2006, Spektor re-recorded the song for her album Begin to Hope, which, unlike Songs, had a major label backing.

Music video

"Samson" had an accompanying music video, despite not having been released as a single. The video was shot in almost black and white, and revolved around Spektor performing the song on a piano whilst paper designs pan over the camera. Various stop-motion animation styles are seen, primarily involving paper cutouts.

Covers

"Samson" has been performed by the following contestants on reality singing competitions:

All the Rowboats

"All the Rowboats" is the first single from Regina Spektor's sixth album What We Saw from the Cheap Seats. It was first released for streaming on February 27, 2012, and on the following day it was released for digital download.

The song had been occasionally performed by Spektor in concerts since 2005. During concerts, Spektor would emulate a drum machine sound with her microphone.

Music video

A music video was released on YouTube on March 28, 2012. The video begins with Spektor being tied up on a rowboat which is cut off by a clip of a lighthouse. Later she appears on a dock. The video also contains clips of Spektor underwater, running down corridors as well as being crushed by closing walls. It utilizes stop-motion animation to animate the motion of the waves. It was directed by Adria Petty, daughter of musician Tom Petty, and Peter Sluszka.

Eet

"Eet" is a song from Regina Spektor's fifth studio album, Far. It was released as the album's second official single in October 2009.

In Europe it was released as a digital download on November 27, 2009.

Music video

A viral music video directed by Adria Petty was released, prior to the album's release, on May 29, 2009. Filming of the music video took place in east Lancaster, California down the street from Club Ed, a film studio located in the Antelope Valley that has been used for various TV shows, motion pictures, and TV commercials for several decades.

Us

"Us" is the fifth track from American singer Regina Spektor's major label debut Soviet Kitsch. It was officially released as a single in 2006 for her UK compilation album Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories.

The song is notable for its use of a string quartet in addition to Spektor's usual piano and vocals. As of 2009, the single had sold 86,000 copies in the United States.

Music video

This is the first Regina Spektor song to have an accompanying music video. The video used stop motion animation. It shows Spektor climbing into a dark green room and unpacking an assortment of objects from a trunk, including a piano, rug, a globe, and some seeds, which she places on the rug and grows with water. The video contains some strange scenes, such as toy soldiers coming out of Spektor's mouth, and ends with her placing everything (including herself) back into the trunk, which vanishes. The music video is a parody of Georges Méliès's silent film, The Diabolic Tenant (1909), in which a man rents an apartment and furnishes it by unpacking objects from his trunk in the same fashion Spektor does in Us. The video was directed by Adria...