PINK

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Alecia Beth Moore (born September 8, 1979), better known by her stage name P!nk (also written as Pink), is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter who first gained prominence in early January of 2000. She is most often recognized by her unique, unorthodox fashion sense and soulful sound. Named #12 in the UK Music Hall of Fame of the 21st century, her vocal skills have often been compared to that of the late Janis Joplin, whom P!nk cites as one of her idols.

Alecia Beth Moore

Early life

P!nk was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, to James Moore and Judy Jean; she is of Irish, German, and Lithuanian-Jewish heritage.[1] P!nk's Jewish ancestry comes from her mother's side,[2]; P!nk herself does not adhere to any organized religion, although she considers herself Jewish.[3] Her father played guitar and sang songs for young Alecia, who aspired from an early age to be a rock star. After her parents divorced when she was only 7 years old, she started experimenting with drugs. This continued until Thanksgiving of 1995, when she was saved by a prositute who turned out to be a former doctor, addicted to cocaine. While in high school, P!nk joined her "first" official band, Middleground, but the band never took off. She performed in Philadelphia clubs until she was given the opportunity to fly to Atlanta and join an R&B trio called Choice, who recorded some songs and released Key To My Heart on the soundtrack to the movie Kazaam. When Choice performed in front of LaFace's executives, L.A. Reid was so impressed with Alecia that he offered her a record deal as a solo artist. She accepted the offer and began her career with the stage name P!nk. She has explained the origin of the stage name "Pink" or "P!nk" in three different versions. The lighter version claims that she had her pants pulled down by a boy at a YMCA summer camp when she was a teenager, and her face turned bright pink out of embarrassment. The explicit version claims that a friend told her that her pubic region was bright pink. She has also said that all of her friends said she acted just like Mr. Pink, a character in the film Reservoir Dogs so she wanted to call herself that.

Career

Can't Take Me Home

P!nk began her career as an R&B artist, signed to the predominantly urban label LaFace Records. She has since complained that because she chose to relinquish creative control to her record label, she did not like the type of music she made at this time or her image, which included bright pink hair. Her debut album, Can't Take Me Home was released on April 4, 2000. A substantial success, it went double platinum, and spun off two top 10 singles: "There You Go" and "Most Girls". The album's third single, "You Mke Me Sick", was released towards the end of 2000 and also became a smaller pop hit in early 2001 (#33 in February of 2001), thanks in part to being featured in the movie Save The Last Dance. "You Make Me Sick", however, was largely panned by music critics worldwide, most of whom were unimpressed by it's blatantly chauvinistic - and somewhat nonsensical - lyrics, and many believed (wrongly, as it turned out) that that the lights were about to go out on P!nk's career, especially as the single had flopped in most countries outside of the United States.

Can't Take Me Home 2000            M!ssundaztood 2001       

In spring of 2001, P!nk teamed up with rapper Lil' Kim, R&B singer Mya, and pop music singer Christina Aguilera on a remake of LaBelle's 1975 hit "Lady Marmalade". The track was produced by hip-hop producers Rockwilder and Missy Elliott and was featured in Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge!. The song's music video featured the four singers dressed in underwear and heavy makeup, portraying turn-of-the-20th century courtesans. The video was immensely popular on music centered television channels and adult top 40 radio. The song went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award—P!nk's first—for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. The song also topped the charts in Australia with the soundtrack being the best selling album of 2001 in that country.

M!ssundaztood

Tired of being marketed as another cookie-cutter pop act, and eager to become a more serious songwriter and musician, P!nk took her sound in a new direction and sought more creative control during the recording of her second album. She recruited former 4 Non Blondes vocalist Linda Perry, and together they co-wrote and co-produced most of the tracks on Missundaztood, released on November 20, 2001.

Its lead-off single "Get the Party Started", written and produced by Perry, went top five in the U.S., while topping the charts in many countries. It was narrowly denied the #1 spot in the UK due to the posthumous release of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord". The album's other singles, "Don't Let Me Get Me", "Just Like a Pill", and "Family Portrait" were also radio and chart successes. "Just Like a Pill", produced by Dallas Austin, finally gained P!nk her first solo UK #1 in September 2002 and as a result, album sales of M!ssundaztood increased dramatically. Uptempo dance remixes of these more rock-oriented songs allowed them to become crossover hits on U.S. rhythmic radio and in the clubs, and the less R&B, more alternative rock sound of M!ssundazstood helped all four singles to become modest hits at adult top 40 radio also. The album's tracks "18 Wheeler" and "Eventually" (the first song P!nk wrote with Perry) were rumored as fifth singles; however, following sales that exceeded all expectations, P!nk took a short hiatus.

M!ssundaztood was the second-best-selling album in the UK during 2002, and P!nk was the best-selling female artist globally. The album has sold over 5 million copies in the U.S. to date.

In the summer of 2003, P!nk released a single from Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, "Feel Good Time". The track, produced by electronic music artist William Orbit and based on the song "Fresh Garbage" by 60's band Spirit, peaked in the 60's on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 Singles chart. She also had a small cameo in the movie as a dirt bike race promoter.

    Try This 2003                           I'm Not Dead 2006

Try This

P!nk's third album Try This was released on November 11, 2003. Eight of the thirteen tracks were co-written with Tim Armstrong of punk band Rancid. Try This reached the Top 10 on album charts in the U.S., Canada, UK and Australia in 2003. Though its singles "Trouble" and "God Is a DJ" didn't do as well in her home country as her previous singles, "Trouble" earned P!nk her second Grammy award in 2003. However, the singles were largely successful in Europe, especially Britain, and Australia, prompting her to release a third non-U.S. single, "Last to Know". Due to the album's popularity, P!nk toured extensively throughout Europe, but made no plans for a U.S. tour.

I'm Not Dead

P!nk's fourth album, I'm Not Dead was released in April 2006 and marks her return to the LaFace record label. The first single, "Stupid Girls," was released to radio by the end of January, and is currently available on iTunes. 'Stupid Girls' did a good job as a 'Lead Single' by giving P!nk her first top 20 single since Family Portrait, P!nk made videos for "U + Ur Hand" and "Stupid Girls" but decided to release the latter first. The CD had started causing controversy before it was even released with the song "Dear Mr. President" which is thought to be an open letter to President George W. Bush. The CD was released 31 March in some parts of Europe (those which release albums on Fridays, as opposed to Mondays) 3 April and 4 April in the U.S. and Canada. This album was released exactly 6 years to the day of P!nk's first album Can't Take Me Home.

The first single "Stupid Girls" was nominated and won for Best Pop Video on MTV VMA's 2006.

Track two of the album, "Who Knew," was released as the second single from the album on May 29, 2006 and was voted #1 on TRL Germany 20 times, allowing P!nk to earn the "Golden Tape". Despite its worldwide success, "Who Knew" flopped in the U.S., peaking at a disappointing #118 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Pink announced the follow up single to "Who Knew": track nine of the album "U + Ur Hand", to be released on August 28th in Europe and October 16th in the U.S. The video for "U + Ur Hand" was released in Canada on July 18th 2006.

Despite popular belief that "Dear Mr. President" would be released as a single, during a promotional visit to Australia, Pink appeared on the TV show Rove Live and said that the track would never be released commercially, despite unexpected radio airplay in some markets. Pink also mentioned during a radio interview in Seattle on Kiss 106.1 that she would not release "Dear Mr. President" as a single because she didn't want people to think it was a publicity stunt.

Pink: The Best Pink

Pink is reportedly releasing a greatest hits album in 2006 which AOL MUSIC and MTV have both written about. The album is under the Warner Brothers Records label and Warner Music Group. MTV reports it will be released on September 11, 2006. No word on wether ot not the remake of the Joan Jett song "I Hate Myself For Loving You" that she uses as the theme for NBC Sunday Night Football, retitled "Waiting All Day For Sunday Night" is on the album.

Discography

Singles

Official DVDs

• 2006: Live In Europe - Complete video of Try This Tour concert in Europe - #2 Austria - #3 Australia

Awards and Nominations