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Alecia Beth Moore (born September 8,
1979), better known by her stage name Pink (often stylized as P!nk), is an
American singer, songwriter and occasional actress who rose to fame in
early 2000 as an R&B singer, but then switched to a more rock and pop rock
sound after her sophomore record.
She released her first single "There You Go" and 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, Missundaztood, which began a marked shift in the sound of her
music, was released in 2001, and was very successful worldwide, and is
currently her best seller.
Pink released her third album, Try This, in November 2003, and her fourth
in April 2006, I'm Not Dead. The latter generated seven hit singles,
including "Stupid Girls", "U + Ur Hand" and "Who Knew". Her fifth album,
Funhouse, was released in late October 2008 and was preceded by her first
solo number one on the Hot 100, "So What". The album hosts Top 20 hits
"Sober" and "Please Don't Leave Me" and Glitter In The Air. Funhouse is
Pink's first album to spawn five worldwide singles.
She has sold more than 10 million albums in the US and over 30 million
records worldwide, and scored eight Top 10 US hits, won two Grammy Awards
and became one of the best known female pop rock acts of the decade.
Pink was born Alecia Moore in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA, the daughter
of Judith Moore, a nurse, and James Moore, Jr., a Vietnam veteran. Her
father is Catholic and her mother Jewish, and her ancestors immigrated
from Ireland, Germany, and Lithuania. Pink grew up in Doylestown, where
she attended Kutz Elementary School, Lenape Middle School, and Central
Bucks West High School. Her father played guitar and sang songs for her,
and from an early age she aspired to be a rock star. Pink has a brother,
Jason Moore (born 1977).
In high school, Pink joined her first band, Middleground, which had an
ongoing rivalry with another local band, The Jetsists. Middleground folded
upon losing a battle of the bands competition to The Jetsists. According
to Pink, her biggest influences are Bette Midler, Janis Joplin, Steven
Tyler, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Billy Joel, Indigo Girls, Don
McLean, 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G.
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, Pink 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. At 16, she joined the R&B Atlanta-based trio Choice, which
included Chrissy Conway of the Christian girl group ZOEgirl.
The group signed with LaFace Records and contributed "Key to My Heart" to
the soundtrack of the 1996 film Kazaam. Choice eventually disbanded after
recording an unreleased album; Pink remained at LaFace as a solo act under
the stage name Pink, which was a nickname given to her because friends say
she would blush when she got embarrassed. Daryl Simmons took her to
recordings where she sang backing vocals for artists such as Diana Ross,
98 Degrees, Kenny Lattimore, and Tevin Campbell.
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 recorded a cover of Labelle's 1975 single "Lady Marmalade"
with Christina Aguilera, rapper Lil' Kim, and 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.
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 creative control during the recording of her second album. 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 wasn't
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 13 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 3 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.
In 2005, she collaborated with her good friend Lisa Marie Presley on the
track "Shine" on Presley's sophomore 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. Even as of June 2008, the I'm
Not Dead album returned to the Australian Top 40 ARIA charts and remained
there in November 2008 where it sits at number 15 on the chart - a total
of 110 weeks in the Australian top 40 to date. In June 2009 the album
returned once again to the Australian top ten album charts in its 142nd
week in the national top fifth. It re-entered at #10 on the back of her
mammoth Funhouse Tour.
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. 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" featured in 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 and
reached the top twenty on the albums chart and was certified Gold, selling
over 35,000 units.
I'm Not Dead was the 2nd highest selling album of the decade in Australia
between 2000 and 2010
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 #1 on Nova 100
Melbourne and shot to #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. The track has also reached number one in
United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Germany.
On October 19, 2008, Pink was the guest of honour at the 2008 ARIA Music
Awards held in Sydney, Australia, 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.
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.
The music of Pink was the theme of the October 4, 2009 episode of
Australian Idol.
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.
P!nk stated that after her Funhouse Summer Carnival Tour she would like to
get back in the studio for a follow-up of Funhouse but it will take a
while to record as she has 'nothing really to say'.
Pink met professional motocross racer Carey Hart at the 2001 X Games in
Philadelphia. Hart had previously been screened in Pink's early music
video clip "Just Like a Pill." In 2005, Pink proposed to Hart during a
Mammoth Lakes, California motocross race by holding up a "Will you marry
me?" sign on his pit board. On the other side was written "I'm Serious!".
They married in Costa Rica on January 7, 2006.
After months of speculation, Pink's publicist, Michele Schweitzer, told
People magazine on February 19, 2008, that the singer and Hart had
separated. "This decision was made by best friends with a huge amount of
love and respect for one another", Schweitzer said. The video for her 2008
hit "So What", in which Hart appears, deals with her separation and
pending divorce.
In March 2009, Carey Hart revealed in an interview for SpeedFreaks that he
and Pink were "dating". Carey has also confirmed on Jason Ellis' Sirius XM
radio show, Chelsea Lately, and The Best Damn Sports Show Period that he
and Pink are attempting to work things out stating: "Sometimes you have to
take a couple of steps back to move forward". Pink has stated that the
couple has gone to marriage counseling and have gotten back together. They
were never legally divorced.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, on February 5th 2010, Pink confirmed
that she and her husband, Carey were back together. She said the
separation taught her not to try to change him and taught her that she
also had to work on herself in order to save her marriage.
Pink, a vegetarian, is a prominent campaigner for PETA, contributing her
voice toward causes such as protesting against KFC. She sent a letter to
Prince William criticizing him for fox hunting and one to Queen Elizabeth
II protesting the use of real fur in the bearskins of the Foot Guards and
the Honourable Artillery Company. In November 2006, Pink mentioned in the
News of the World that she was disgusted with fellow singer Beyoncé for
wearing fur. 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 in Cardiff, Wales, UK, on August 21, 2007 called PAW
(Party for Animals Worldwide). This highlighted her involvement with
animal cruelty problems, as well as her unwavering commitment to
contributing her voice toward such causes. |
