“Criminal” is the most successful single of Apple’s career. So she sat down at the piano, pounded out some C-minor chords in what we can imagine was a defiant, I’ll-show-them-a-goddamned-obvious-single huff and began: While she was polishing off the final lineup of songs for that first album in the recording studio, Apple’s label, Sony Music, asked for a “more obvious” first single. Apple offered an irresistible combination to the pop music industry, including a deep alto voice and jazz-with-a-rock-edge style of songwriting. Much of it was written by the time she was 16 - songs filled with the sort of lyrical and musical depth typical of artists who've lived hard and have many years of professional songwriting behind them.

In 1996, Apple was 18 years old and finishing up her debut album, Tidal. In honor of that (admittedly odd-numbered) birthday, we decided to look back on the controversy surrounding the video for the album's most famous single, 'Criminal.'įiona Apple wrote the biggest hit of her career in 45 minutes.

Nineteen years ago this month, Fiona Apple released Tidal.

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