Pink (singer)

Pink

Alecia Beth Moore (born September 8, 1979), better known by her stage name Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She released her first single "There You Go", on her first album, the R&B-oriented Can't Take Me Home, in 2000 via LaFace Records, which garnered commercial success. Her more pop rock-oriented second studio album, M!ssundaztood, which began a marked shift in the sound of her music, was released in 2001 and was a great success worldwide.

Pink released her third album, Try This, in November 2003, which although less successful commercially than her previous release, still managed to sell around 3 million copies and earned her a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the single "Trouble". Her fourth album, I'm Not Dead, was released in April 2006. The album generated several hit singles, including "Stupid Girls", "U + Ur Hand" and "Who Knew". Both "U + Ur Hand" and "Who Knew" went to No.1 on the pop chart. Her fifth album, Funhouse, was released in late October 2008 and was preceded by her first solo number one on the Billboard Hot 100, "So What". The album notched three other Top 20 hits: "Sober", "Please Don't Leave Me" and "Glitter in the Air". On November 15, 2010, she released her first compilation, Greatest Hits... So Far!!!.

According to Billboard, Pink was rated No.13 on the list of Artists of the Decade and No.1 Pop Song Artist of the Decade (2000–2009). She has also scored ten Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 US hits, including eight as a solo artist, and has won three Grammy Awards, 5 MTV Video Music Awards and 2 Brit Awards. Pink was also voted best recording artist in 2009. The People's Chart, announced through BBC Radio 1, declared Pink as the 11th Most Played Artist on UK Radio of the decade 2000 to 2009. Forbes Magazine in 2010 named Pink the 27th most powerful celebrity, with $44 million earned between June 2009 and June 2010. She has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

Early life

Pink was born on September 8, 1979, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, to Judith Moore (née Kugel), a nurse, and Jim Moore, a Vietnam veteran. Her father is Catholic and her mother is Jewish, and her ancestors emigrated from Ireland, Germany, and Lithuania. Pink grew up in Doylestown, where she attended Kutz Elementary School, Lenape Middle School, and Central Bucks High School West. Her father played guitar and sang songs, and from an early age she aspired to be a rock star. Pink has a brother, Jason Moore (born 1977). In high school, Moore joined her first band, Middleground, the band folded upon losing a battle of the bands competition. Pink developed her voice early in life. Although a healthy baby at birth, she quickly developed asthma that plagued her through her early years. When she was a teenager, she wrote lyrics as an outlet for her feelings, and her mother commented, "Her initial writings were always very introspective. Some of it was very black, and very deep, almost worrisome." She began performing in Philadelphia clubs when she was 14 years old, and went through phases as a skateboarder, hip-hopper and gymnast. Pink quoted,"I was extreme. I went through phases from skateboarder, to hip-hopper, to rave child, to lead singer in a rock band. I did it all, and all at the same time." At 16, together with two other teenage girls, she formed the R&B group Choice. They landed a deal with L.A. Reid and worked with various producers for two years, never releasing a record, before Reid persuaded Moore to go solo. Her stage name "Pink" was coined as a tribute to the character Mr. Pink from the film Reservoir Dogs.

Music career

1995–99: Musical beginnings

In 1995, Alecia Moore joined Choice, an American contemporary R&B girl group, which also included Chrissy Conway and Sharon Flanagan. A copy of their first song, "Key to My Heart", was sent to LaFace Records in Atlanta, Georgia, where L.A. Reid overheard it and arranged for the group to fly there so he could see them perform. After this, he signed them to a record deal; because the girls were under 18, their parents had to co-sign the contract. The group relocated to Atlanta and recorded an album, and "Key to My Heart" appeared on the Kazaam soundtrack for the 1996 film of the same name. The group disbanded in 1998.

1999–04: Can't Take Me Home, M!ssundaztood, and Try This

Main articles: Can't Take Me Home, M!ssundaztood, and Try This

Pink's debut album, Can't Take Me Home, was produced by Babyface, Terence "Tramp-Baby" Abney, She'ksphere, Dallas Austin, The Specialists, and Steve Rhythm, and released in April 2000. It was certified double platinum in the U.S, sold 5 million copies worldwide and produced two U.S. top ten singles: "There You Go" and "Most Girls" (also a number one in Australia). The album's third single, "You Make Me Sick", was a U.S. top 40 hit and UK top ten hit in early 2001 and was featured in the film Save the Last Dance. The song "Split Personality" was featured in the film The Princess Diaries. She was the opening act for 'N Sync on their American tour in the summer of 2000. In 2001, she was a part of "Lady Marmalade" alongside singer Christina Aguilera, rapper Lil' Kim, and singer Mýa for the soundtrack of the film Moulin Rouge!. Produced by hip-hop producers Rockwilder and Missy Elliott, the song topped the charts in countries including New Zealand, the UK, Australia and the U.S., where it became the most successful airplay-only single in history. The success of the single was helped by its music video, which was popular on music channels and won the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year. The song won a Grammy Award – Pink's first – for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, and provided a boost for the four performers' careers. In a VH1 interview, Pink stated she had to fight with Christina Aguilera's manager to sing the high parts in the song.

Tired of being marketed as another cookie cutter pop act and eager to be seen as a more serious songwriter and musician, and to perform the type of music she wanted to, Pink took her sound in a new direction and sought more artistic or creative control during the recording of her second album, M!ssundaztood. She recruited Linda Perry, former singer of 4 Non Blondes (one of Pink's favorites in her teenage years), who said Pink opened up to her: "In the beginning I just said: 'What do you feel?', and she (Pink) would just sit behind the piano and sing." Pink moved into Perry's Los Angeles home where the pair spent several months writing songs for the album. Perry co-wrote and co-produced the album with Dallas Austin and Scott Storch, and according to VH1 Driven, Antonio "LA" Reid of LaFace Records was not initially content with the new music Pink was making. The album, named Missundaztood because of Pink's belief that people had a wrong image of her, was released in November 2001.

Its lead single, "Get the Party Started" (written and produced by Perry), went top five in the U.S. and many other countries, and number one in Australia. At the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, the music video won in the categories of Best Female Video and Best Dance Video. The album's other singles—"Don't Let Me Get Me", the Dallas Austin-produced "Just like a Pill", and "Family Portrait"—were also radio and chart successes, with "Just like a Pill" becoming Pink's first solo UK number-one hit. The singles were substantial hits on Adult Top 40 radio. "Missundaztood" was certified gold or platinum status in more than 20 countries, with worldwide sales of 30 million. It was the second best-selling album in the UK during 2002. "Missundaztood" and "Get the Party Started" earned nominations at the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, respectively. Faith Hill's 2002 album, Cry, features a song co-written by Pink and Perry. In 2002, Pink started a headlining American, European and Australian tour, the Party Tour; later, she became a supporting act for Lenny Kravitz's American tour. In mid-2003, Pink contributed the song "Feel Good Time" to the soundtrack of the film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, in which she had a cameo appearance as a motocross race ramp owner/promoter. "Feel Good Time" was co-written by singer Beck, produced by electronic music artist William Orbit and based on the song "Fresh Garbage" by the band Spirit. It became Pink's first single to miss the top 40 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, although it was a hit in Europe and Australia. During the same period, a song Pink co-wrote with Damon Elliott was released on Mýa's album Moodring.

"Feel Good Time" was included on non-U.S. editions of Pink's third album Try This, which was released on November 11, 2003. Eight of the thirteen tracks were co-written with Tim Armstrong of the band Rancid; Linda Perry was featured on the album as a writer and musician. Though Try This reached the top ten on album charts in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Australia, sales were considerably lower than those of Missundaztood; it went platinum in the U.S. and sold over 5 million copies worldwide, a commercial flop compared to its predecessor. The singles "Trouble" and "God Is a DJ" did not reach the U.S. top 40 but went top ten in other countries, and "Last to Know" was released as a single outside North America. "Trouble" earned Pink her second Grammy Award (for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance) at the 2004 Grammy Awards, and "Feel Good Time" was nominated in the category of Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. She toured extensively on the Try This Tour through Europe and Australia, where the album was better received.

2005–10: I'm Not Dead and Funhouse

Main articles: I'm Not Dead and Funhouse (Pink album)

In 2005, she collaborated with Lisa Marie Presley on the track "Shine" on Presley's second album Now What. Pink took a break to write the songs for her fourth album, I'm Not Dead, which she said she titled as such because "It's about being alive and feisty and not sitting down and shutting up even though people would like you to." Pink worked with producers Max Martin, Billy Mann, Christopher Rojas, Butch Walker, Lukasz Gottwald, and Josh Abraham on the album. The album's release in April 2006 through LaFace Records was a substantial success throughout the world, particularly in Australia. The album reached the top ten in the U.S., the top five in the UK, number one in Germany, and sat at number one in Australia for two non-consecutive weeks, though it was Pink's lowest seller in the U.S. until the success of the single "U + Ur Hand" in early 2007. The album ranked 96th in the USA during 2007.

Lead single "Stupid Girls" was Pink's biggest U.S. hit since 2002 and earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Its music video, in which she parodies celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Paris Hilton, won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video. Subsequent singles "Who Knew" and "U + Ur Hand" were substantial hits in Australia and Europe, and they later became top ten singles in the U.S. in 2007. The non-U.S. singles were "Nobody Knows", a minor hit in the UK, Australia and Germany; "Dear Mr. President", an open letter to the U.S. President George W. Bush (featuring the Indigo Girls) and a number 1 hit in Belgium, a top five hit in Germany, Australia and other countries; "Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)", a UK top 40 and Australian top five entry; and "'Cuz I Can". The album has sold over 1.3 million copies in the U.S., over 700,000 in Australia, and 6 million worldwide. Proving very popular in Australia, with 6 top five singles, and a record-breaking 62 weeks in the top 10; so far the album has gone 10 times platinum. In June 2008, the I'm Not Dead album returned to the top 50 of the Australian ARIA charts and remained there until November 2009. In June 2009 the album returned once again to the Australian top ten album charts in its 142nd week in the national top fifty. It re-entered at No. 10 on the back of her mammoth Funhouse Tour, and as of 2010, has spent 162 weeks in the top 50 of the Australian ARIA albums chart.

Pink performing on the I'm Not Dead summer tour in 2007

In support of the album, Pink embarked on the world I'm Not Dead Tour, for which ticket sales in Australia were particularly high; she sold approximately 307,000 tickets in Australia, giving her the record for the biggest concert attendance for an arena tour by a female artist. One of the London shows on the tour was taped and released as a DVD, Pink: Live from Wembley Arena where she sang Linda Perry's Whats Up?. In 2006, Pink was chosen to sing the theme song for NBC Sunday Night Football, "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night", which is a take on "I Hate Myself for Lovin' You" by Joan Jett. She contributed a cover of Rufus's "Tell Me Something Good" to the soundtrack of the film Happy Feet, and lent her name to PlayStation to promote the PSP, a special pink edition of which was released. Pink collaborated with several other artists in 2006 and 2007, when she opened for Justin Timberlake on the American leg of his FutureSex/LoveShow Tour. She sang on the Indigo Girls album Despite Our Differences. She was featured on India.Arie's song "I Am Not My Hair" from the Lifetime Television film Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy. She wrote a song ("I Will") for Natalia's third album, Everything & More. "Outside of You", another song she co-wrote, was recorded by dance-pop singer Hilary Duff and released on her 2007 album Dignity. Pink recorded a song with Annie Lennox and twenty-two other female acts for Lennox's fourth solo studio album, Songs of Mass Destruction. Titled "Sing", it was written as an anthem for HIV/AIDS, according to Lennox's website. In December 2007, a special edition Pink Box, which comprises her second to fourth albums and the DVD Live in Europe, was released in Australia. It reached the top twenty on the albums chart and was certified Gold, selling over 35,000 units.

Pink performing at a secret London gig to promote the Funhouse album, on November 4, 2008

On August 7, 2008, Pink's single "So What" was leaked online, and radio stations across Australia were quick to give it massive airplay. Within less than 6 hours from the leak, "So What" was voted No.1 on Nova 100 Melbourne and shot to No.1 on the Today Network's national radio Hot30 Countdown. It also shot straight to number 1 on the official Australian and British iTunes single downloads charts. On August 22, Pink announced a new track titled "Crystal Ball". On September 18, 2008, "So What" became the first solo number one of her career on the Billboard Hot 100.

Pink was the guest of honor at the 2008 ARIA Music Awards held in Sydney, Australia, in October 2008, where she sang "So What". On November 3, 2008, "Funhouse" debuted at number one on the ARIA charts, certified two times platinum and selling over 86,000 units in its first week. Pink's "Funhouse" tour sold out all concerts in Australia, and she performed a total of 58 shows around the country between May and August 2009, performing for more than 600,000 Australian fans. The Funhouse Tour started in France on February 24 and continued through Europe until mid-May, with supporting act Raygun. Pink then performed a series of shows in Australia. On November 23, 2008, Pink performed her second single from Funhouse, "Sober" at the American Music Awards. The third single was "Please Don't Leave Me", with a video directed by Dave Meyers. The fourth single was "Funhouse", although "Bad Influence" was released in Australia prior to "Funhouse"'s release as a promotional single for the tour. In May 2009, Pink released a four-CD set of her albums Can't Take Me Home / Missundaztood / Try This / I'm Not Dead, excluding her current album Funhouse. The album peaked at number 7 in the UK Album Chart. In 2009, Pink performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States”.

On September 13, 2009, Pink performed "Sober" while doing a trapeze act at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, where she was nominated for Best Female Video. On January 31, 2010, Pink did another trapeze act in the form of Aerial silks at the 2010 Grammy Awards, this time performing the song "Glitter in the Air". She received a standing ovation. The music of Pink was the theme of the October 4, 2009 episode of Australian Idol.

2010–present: Greatest Hits... So Far!!!

Main article: Greatest Hits... So Far!!!

Pink was a soloist in the remake of the 1985 charity single, "We Are the World". Pink collaborated on the 2010 Herbie Hancock album, The Imagine Project, in which she sang Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up" with John Legend and contributed vocals to John Lennon's "Imagine" with Seal, India.Arie, Jeff Beck, Konono N°1, Oumou Sangare and others. Pink was featured on a track titled "Won't Back Down" for Eminem's 2010 album Recovery. Eminem explained that he included Pink because he "felt like she would smash this record".

On July 15, 2010, Pink fell during one of her aerial tricks during a concert in Nurnberg, Germany, where she fell out of a harness which was supposed to carry her across the crowd. She was rushed off stage and taken to a local hospital but wasn't seriously injured. She was treated by American doctors Chris Lorch and Jeremy Nicholson. Pink moved a total of 3,000,000 concert tickets on her 2009–2010 worldwide tour, according to a statement on behalf of U.K. tour promoter Marshall Arts.

Greatest Hits... So Far!!! is the first compilation album by American recording artist and songwriter Pink. It was released on November 12, 2010, via LaFace Records, celebrating Pink's first decade on the music scene. In the first week of October, Pink's lead single "Raise Your Glass" was released. The song celebrates a decade since Pink's debut in 2000 and is dedicated to her fans who have been supporting her over the years, and peaking in the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her tenth Top 10 hit and her second solo number one hit. It also peaked in Pop Songs and in Adult Pop Songs written by Pink, Max Martin and Shellback who also wrote her second single "Fuckin' Perfect". According to On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Pink is currently not working on a sixth studio album, but she might begin work in 2012.

Influences

Pink has named Madonna and Janis Joplin as two of her biggest musical influences. She stated that "I wanted to do it my way with my career, and I had this arrogant notion that people weren't just interested in my music but me as a person. That was my bit of arrogance, I guess. That's something I learned from Madonna. I was a fan right from the first time I heard 'Holiday'." Of Joplin she expressed: "She was so inspiring by singing blues music when it wasn't culturally acceptable for white women, and she wore her heart on her sleeve. She was so witty and charming and intelligent, but she also battled an ugly-duckling syndrome. I would love to play her in a movie."

Legacy

Pink has been described as an artist who has changed the scope of pop music, but has hardly received recognition for it. Referring to her as a "powerhouse vocalist", Ann Powers of The Chicago Tribune asked, "Why isn't she an even bigger star?" Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone commented: "I think people respond to her sense of independence and dedication. It inspires people ... This is a prolific pop artist who is sometimes famous and successful, sometimes obscure, who nonetheless keeps making her own kind of music. Every few years, the spotlight comes back around to her—but her fans can trust that when the spotlight moves along, Pink will keep on writing Pink songs." Powers adds that her mix of rock-style rebellion, emotional rawness, humor and "infectious" dance beats created "a model for the mashup approach of latter-day divas such as Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and even Rihanna." James Montgomery of MTV describes her as "a fabulously fearless pop artist" who can "out-sing almost anyone out there. She can out-crazy Gaga or Lily. She's the total pop-star package, everything you'd want in a singer/entertainer/icon. And still, she remains oddly off the radar. Such is the price of busting borders, I suppose."

She is also known for writing about 'underdogs' and the victims of bullying and things of that sort. This is most obvious when viewing "Dear Mr. President", "Fuckin' Perfect", and "Raise Your Glass". In "Fuckin' Perfect", she includes subjects like bullying, bad school grades, and extreme weight loss. It also includes a graphic scene involving self-harm. It is acclaimed for its insight into teenage life and the suffering of the everyday person.

Personal life

Family

Pink met professional motocross racer Carey Hart at the 2001 X Games in Philadelphia. Hart subsequently appeared in the video for her 2002 song "Just Like a Pill". Following a brief separation in 2003, Pink proposed to Hart in June 2005 during a Mammoth Lakes motocross race by holding up a "Will you marry me?" sign on his pit board. They married in Costa Rica on January 7, 2006.

After months of speculation, Pink announced in February 2008 that she and Hart had separated. The video for her 2008 hit "So What", in which Hart appears, deals with her separation and pending divorce. By early 2009, the couple, whose divorce had not yet been finalized, had undergone marriage counseling and was attempting a reconciliation. In February 2010, Pink confirmed that she and Hart were back together, and announced the following November that they were expecting their first child. On June 2, 2011, Pink announced via Twitter that she had given birth to a daughter, Willow Sage Hart.

Activism and charity work

Pink is a prominent campaigner for PETA, contributing her voice toward causes such as the protest against KFC. In 2003, she sent a letter to Prince William criticizing him for fox hunting, and in 2006 wrote to Queen Elizabeth II protesting the use of real fur in the bearskins of the Foot Guards and the Honourable Artillery Company. In conjunction with PETA, she criticized the Australian wool industry over its use of mulesing. In January 2007, she stated that she had been misled by PETA about mulesing and that she had not done enough research before lending her name to the campaign. Her campaigning led to a headlining concert called PAW (Party for Animals Worldwide) in Cardiff, Wales on August 21, 2007.

Pink is also involved with several charities, including Human Rights Campaign, ONE Campaign, Prince's Trust, New York Restoration Project, Run for the Cure Foundation, Save the Children, Take Back the Night, UNICEF and World Society for the Protection of Animals. As of May 2008, Pink has been officially recognized as an advocate for the RSPCA in Australia. On February 16, 2009, Pink announced she was donating $250,000 to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal to aid the victims of the bushfires that swept through the Australian state of Victoria earlier that month. Pink stated that she wanted to make "a tangible expression of support".

She is also an advocate for gay rights, she tweeted on June 24, 2011 after the gay marriage became legalized in the state of New York in support of the act, saying "Congratulations, about time!"

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Ski to the Max	Herself
2002	Rollerball	Rock singer
2003	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle	Coal bowl promoter
2007	Catacombs	Carolyn
2009	SpongeBob's Truth or Square	Herself	Cameo
2009	Beverly Hills Chihuahua	Herself
2010	Get Him to the Greek	Herself	Cameo
2011	Happy Feet 2	Gloria

Discography

Main article: Pink discography

• 2000: Can't Take Me Home
• 2001: Missundaztood
• 2003: Try This
• 2006: I'm Not Dead
• 2008: Funhouse

Compilation albums

• 2010: Greatest Hits... So Far!!!

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Pink

Tours

Headlining

• 2002: Party Tour
• 2004: Try This Tour
• 2006–2007: I'm Not Dead Tour
• 2009: Funhouse Tour
• 2010: Funhouse Summer Carnival Tour

As supporting act

• 2001: 'N Sync / No Strings Attached Tour
• 2002: Lenny Kravitz
• 2007: Justin Timberlake / FutureSex/LoveShow

See also

• List of best selling music artists

Further reading

• Frere-Jones, Sasha (November 24, 2008). "Pop Music: Sass and Cadence". The New Yorker. 84 (38): 124–126. Retrieved April 16, 2009.

External links

• Official website
• Pink's channel on YouTube / VEVO
• Pink's channel on YouTube / Sony Music Entertainment
• Pink at IMDb

{{{1}}}