Photography by M. Sharkey

She first gained notoriety as half of the art-rock duo Dresden Dolls, but this year saw Palmer receive international attention for her ability to raise more than $1.2 million in a month through a Kickstarter campaign. "I've had a slow-growing career, but it's always been very grassroots and stayed very real," she explains. In 2011, Palmer, who is bisexual, married comic book artist Neil Gaiman. "I desperately want to be loved and will cuddle with anyone," she says about their non-monogamous relationship.

Photographed at the Electric Room in the Dream Downtown Hotel in New York City on August 21, 2012

Read: Amanda Palmer Gets Intimate