When Pink first hit the airwaves in 2000, a whole generation of angry young women rejoiced. It had been a rough year for these women. Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, who were then but virginal schoolgirl-sweet pop princesses, had been dominating the airwaves for months with ultra-perky, bubble-gum sons like “Sometimes” and “What a Girl Wants.” These songs contained simplistic, optimistic discussions of love that simply didn’t match the complex emotions female radio listeners were experiencing as they plunged into the complex depths of early adult love. Oops, I Did it Again hardly summarized the feeling of finding that yet another of your new potential boyfriends had decided to bed your best friend. Where in pop music was the pith? Where was the rage? Where was the voice of pissed off young women who were growing increasingly pessimistic about love? The voice was there—it was just still in production. But, in April 2000, out it came, and a generation of women scorned suddenly had cause for celebration. “There you go, looking pitiful,” they sang to one another in nightclubs, snapping their fingers at one another in “don’t go there” fashion, practicing the “talk to the hand” attitude they’d take on should their ex ever come crawling back. At last, they had a voice of their own. That voice was Pink, aka Alecia Beth Moore, a new singer-songwriter who’d exploded on to the pop scene to instant success. In a time when blonde pop princesses reigned, Pink was a refreshing change not only from the overly optimistic song lyrics, but from the bleached blonde heads. True to her name, Pink’s short ‘do was pink. When she sang, she scowled; she glowered at the camera and all but gave it the finger. You wouldn’t know from looking at pissed-off pink that her childhood ambition had just come true. Pink’s love for music started at an early age, when her dad, a Vietnam vet, used to sing and play songs for her on his guitar. Pink decided early on that she wanted to sing, and was performing in Philadelphia clubs by the age of fourteen. At sixteen, she joined Atlanta girl group Choice, recorded a song for the movie Kazaam, and recorded an unreleased album for Babyface’s LaFace Records. The group dissolved, but Babyface kept Pink around. She scored numerous backup singing gigs for notable artists like Diana Ross and 98 Degrees, and eventually earned a top 20 solo hit in the U.K. called Gonna Make Ya Move (Don’t Stop). Pink’s first North American hit was the angry There You Go, the year 2000’s answer to “I Will Survive” and the first single off her debut album Can’t Take Me Home. People did take this album home, and it sold over four million copies. Other hit singles included Most Girls and the even angrier You Make Me Sick. Fans just loved her—give me pink, they seemed to be cheering. Ironically, the one person who didn’t love pink the singer was pink the singer herself. Pink had allowed her label to control both her album and her image, right down to her pink hair. For her next release, M!zzundastood, Pink took matters into her own (and producer Linda Perry of Four Non-Blondes’) hands. As the title suggested, music artist pink felt m!zzundastood, and wanted her fans to know the real her. She achieved this goal through blonder hair and pithier songs like “Don’t Let Me Get Me” (where she confessed: “L.A. told me you’ll be a big star/ All you have to change is everything you are”) and the ultra-bitter Just Like a Pill, which caused the name pink just like a pill to appear on many a hit music chart. In fact, pink just like a pill appeared in the number one slot in the U.K. Other hit singles off this release included Family Portrait, a touching song which divorced kids across the U.S. have adopted as a personal anthem, and the upbeat (but slightly annoying) Get This Party Started, which seems to be Pink’s most-played song to date. All in all, M!zzundastood transformed pink the singer into pink the artist. Pink also shared a musical hit with some of the very pop divas she was trying not to be lumped in with. She, Mya, Christina Aguilera and Lil’ Kim teamed up for a rendition of Lady Marmalade, one of the best-loved songs on the
Moulin Rouge soundtrack. By album number three, things had started to go downhill for pink. It seemed that pink the artist was no longer pink the bestseller. No one seemed overly attached to her new songs, the slightly repetitive Trouble or the forgettable God is a DJ. Pink bounced back, however, with her fourth album. Once again, Pink employed her successful trick of giving the album a blunt, telling title: in this case, “I’m not Dead.” And dead she wasn’t. First single Stupid Girl was a hit, and viewers couldn’t get enough of its video, in which pink employed another old trick: dissing famous blondes. (Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan reportedly weren’t too impressed with the video.) She followed up with songs “Who Knew” and the sarcastic “U + Ur hand.” Europe was treated to a few singles the American audience wasn’t, such as the beautiful ballad Nobody Knows, and the tongue-in-cheek dear mr. president. Web crawlers are constantly on the lookout for pink dear mr. president lyrics; the song is an open letter to George W. Bush and, while a hit in Germany and other European countries, the North American radio-listening public has yet to be treated to its wisdom. Some interesting pink the singer trivia includes the fact that she has real diamonds attached to her teeth; she has a dog called Fucquerer (you work out the pronunciation); and she proposed to her now-husband Carey Hart by holding up a sign in the audience during one of his motocross races. She is also an anti-animal cruelty activist. Pink the artist has, over time, proven herself as much more than just the angry girl with pink hair. Her songs cover a wide range of topics, from loneliness, to death, to post-rejection masturbation. With a repertoire as diverse as this, it’s pretty safe to say that pink the singer can continue to look forward to a loyal and ever-increasing fan base.
