FEATURED ARTIST
P!NK
Pink is often regarded as the “Pop Royalty” for her distinctive raspy voice and acrobatic stage presence, Pink has sold over 135 million records worldwide (60 million albums and 75 million singles), making her one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Her accolades include three Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards, a Daytime Emmy Award and seven MTV Video Music Awards, including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. In 2009, Billboard named Pink the Pop Songs Artist of the Decade. Pink was also the second most-played female solo artist in the United Kingdom during the 2000s decade, behind only Madonna. VH1 ranked her at number ten on their list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music, while Billboard awarded her the Woman of the Year award in 2013. At the 63rd annual BMI Pop Awards, she received the BMI President’s Award for «her outstanding achievement in songwriting and global impact on pop culture and the entertainment industry.»
SONGS IN ROTATION:
Influences
Pink has named Madonna and Janis Joplin as her biggest musical influences. In a 2000 interview with MTV, Pink said that during her childhood she used to think that she was Madonna’s daughter, saying: «I’ve always been the type of person that followed Madonna like a lost puppy. I didn’t speak to my mother for a year, because I was sure she adopted me.» She stated, «Madonna has always been an inspiration for me… I was a fan right from the first time I heard ‘Holiday’.»
Pink also won her first talent show singing Madonna’s «Oh Father». Of Janis Joplin, Pink said «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.» In a tribute performance on her Try This Tour, Pink called Joplin «a woman who inspired me when everyone else … didn’t!»
Legacy
Pink has been credited for breaking boundaries and pushing the envelope throughout her career. She is regarded as the «most trailblazing artist» of her pop generation. Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times says, «Pink stood up for her music, broke the music industry’s mold and scored a breakout hit, challenging a school of teen singers to find their own sounds as well.» He adds, «[Pink] also started a race among other teen pop stars like Christina Aguilera to add substance to their own sound.» Ann Powers refers to her as a «powerhouse vocalist», stating her mix of rebellion, emotional rawness, humor, and «infectious» dance beats created «a model for the mashup approach of latter-day divas such as Katy Perry, Kesha, and Rihanna.»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.»
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». Entertainment Weekly said: «She essentially invented the whole modern wave of Pop Diva Domination: You can draw a straight line from «Get This Party Started» to Katy Perry, Kesha, pre-messianic Lady Gaga, and post-weird Rihanna.»Glamour Magazine wrote: «When Pennsylvania-born Alecia Moore debuted in 2000, pop was dominated by long-locked blonds like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson. Pink changed the game. Without her, the last 13 years of big-voiced, tough chick music is hard to imagine.
DID YOU KNOW?
She married the motocross rider Carey Hart on January 7, 2006, in Costa Rica. They met in 2001, and she proposed to him at a motocross race by holding up a sign reading «Will you marry me?» as he rode by. They separated in February of 2008, but got back together about a year later.
In Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 film Reservoir Dogs, Steve Buscemi’s character is «Mr. Pink,» which convinced Alecia Moore to use her childhood nickname as her performing name. She recalled to Q magazine: «I actually ran into Steve Buscemi on the street in New York before my first album came out. I had these big f—ing Elton John glasses on, pink hair and carried a Pink Panther toy. I went ‘Steve! Mr Pink! I’m Pink! Because of you! I’m going to have an album and you’re going to know who I am!’ And he was like ‘What the f–k, lady?’ and just ran away from me. I’ve never met him since. He was scared s—liss of me. Sorry Steve!»
Pink refuses to mime in her live appearances. She even refused to lip sync when she sang «Glitter In The Air» at the 2010 Grammys while performing death-defying aerial acrobatics. «I’m actually better at singing upside down than I am right side up,» she said after her performance. «I’m like nervous when I have to look at people, and then I’m upside down and I’m doing my thing and I’m like, ‘This is nothing!'»
Before becoming an international pop star, Pink used to flip burgers at McDonald’s. She told Food and Wine her fast food job gave her financial independence, «It was important to my family that I make my own money. I was a drive-through girl at McDonald’s. I had a Janet Jackson microphone – I had power.»
