P!nk

Emerging near the close of the 1990s amid a wave of youthful acts favoring accessible rhythm-and-blues material, vocalist and composer P!nk soon forged a distinct path, merging polished pop songwriting with forceful vocals shaped by rock energy into a formula that anchored her among the Top Ten across multiple decades. Moving from the quintuple-platinum M!ssundaztood of 2001 into the Grammy-winning Try This of 2003, she gradually distanced herself from her opening rhythm-and-blues phase by partnering with songwriters Linda Perry, Tim Armstrong of Rancid, and Butch Walker, lending her energetic pop anthems a sharper rock contour. Nominated more than a dozen times for Grammy Awards, she claimed Best Pop Collaboration in 2002 through the hit cover of “Lady Marmalade” and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 2004 with “Trouble.” An Emmy arrived in 2016 for “Today’s the Day,” the theme composed for The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In 2019 she delivered Hurts 2B Human, an album that, like the two preceding releases, topped the Billboard 200. After the 2021 documentary and concert compilation All I Know So Far, she unveiled her ninth studio album, Trustfall, in 2023. Armed with repeated number-one singles and global album sales reaching the millions, P!nk stands among the most commercially dominant pop performers worldwide.

Born Alecia Beth Moore on September 8, 1979, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, P!nk acquired her nickname during childhood, long before she colored her hair to match it. Raised in a household filled with music, she became a fixture on the Philadelphia club circuit by age 13, initially performing as a dancer and later serving as a backing vocalist for the local hip-hop ensemble Schoolz of Thought. At 14 she started composing her own material; that same year a local DJ at Club Fever began bringing her onstage each Friday to perform a song.

An MCA Records executive noticed her during one such evening and invited her to audition for the rhythm-and-blues group Basic Instinct. Although her robust vocals secured the position, the ensemble dissolved shortly afterward. She was soon enlisted for a female rhythm-and-blues trio named Choice, which secured a contract with L.A. Reid and Babyface’s LaFace label after submitting a strong demo; the act nevertheless disbanded over disagreements about musical direction. While Choice was still recording, producer Daryl Simmons requested that P!nk compose a bridge for the track “Just to Be Loving You.” Pleased by the outcome, she revived her songwriting focus, and an equally impressed L.A. Reid promptly offered her a solo agreement with LaFace.

P!nk crafted her first solo project, Can’t Take Me Home, alongside assorted songwriting collaborators and producers working in dance-pop and rhythm-and-blues styles. Issued in 2000, the album achieved double-platinum status and yielded three Top Ten singles: “There U Go,” “Most Girls,” and “You Make Me Sick.” That summer she supported *N Sync on tour, yet she soon grew weary of being categorized strictly as a teen act despite her bold and direct personality. While preparing her follow-up record, she joined the remake of Patti LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade” for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack alongside vocal powerhouses Christina Aguilera, Mya, and Lil’ Kim. The Grammy-winning song became a major success, reaching number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom and broadening P!nk’s listener base.

Near year’s end she released the single “Get the Party Started,” which rose into the Top Five and proved her most pervasive hit at the time. The accompanying sophomore album, M!ssundaztood, quickly attained double-platinum certification; it displayed a more intimate perspective and varied sonic palette, bolstered by substantial input from former 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry, who helped add rock drive to P!nk’s sound, further reinforced by guest spots from Steven Tyler and Richie Sambora. M!ssundaztood also drew favorable critical attention, and its second single, “Don’t Let Me Get Me,” quickly became another swift Top Ten entry.

P!nk next released Try This in November 2003. The record advanced her shift toward rock-leaning material, partly through songwriting work with Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong across eight tracks. The lead single “Trouble” entered the upper reaches of Billboard’s Top 40 and earned P!nk a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. On the personal side, she married motocross racer Carey Hart—whom she had first encountered at the 2001 X Games—on January 7, 2006, in Costa Rica.

Her subsequent album, I’m Not Dead, surfaced that April; its opening single “Stupid Girls” quickly became a hit, while “Who Knew” and “U + Ur Hand” both reached the Top Ten. I’m Not Dead attained platinum standing in multiple territories and heightened anticipation for the follow-up, Funhouse, which appeared in October 2008. “So What,” the album’s first single, marked her initial number-one hit since “Lady Marmalade.” Another single, the double-platinum “Please Don’t Leave Me,” followed in 2009. These successes were gathered on the 2010 collection Greatest Hits…So Far!!!, which included the previously unreleased single “Raise Your Glass,” an uplifting dance track that delivered another number-one placement and later received quintuple-platinum certification. Around the time of that release, P!nk disclosed that she and her husband were expecting their first child.

In September 2012 she issued her sixth studio album, The Truth About Love. Crafted with production assistance from Greg Kurstin, Butch Walker, Max Martin, Dan Wilson, and additional contributors, it became her first Billboard 200 number-one album and reached platinum status in six countries. The singles “Blow Me (One Last Kiss),” “Try,” and “Just Give Me a Reason” all entered the U.S. Top Ten, with the last, a duet featuring Fun.’s Nate Ruess, becoming her fourth American number-one hit. She undertook a year-long tour—ranked the third highest-grossing of 2013 by Billboard—spanning Australia, Europe, and North America, and at the close of 2013 Billboard named her Woman of the Year.

Stepping away briefly from solo endeavors, P!nk collaborated with City and Colour vocalist Dallas Green on the acoustic project You+Me. Their debut album, Rose Ave., arrived in October 2014. It debuted at the summit of the Billboard folk chart and entered the Billboard 200 Top Five. The next year she composed a fresh theme titled “Today’s the Day” for The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which earned her an Emmy. She also contributed the new song “Just Like Fire” to the 2016 film Alice Through the Looking Glass. P!nk returned in August 2017 with the socially charged single “What About Us,” the lead track from Beautiful Trauma, released in October. Upon arrival the album topped the Billboard 200—her second consecutive number-one—while both “What About Us” and Beautiful Trauma received Grammy nominations. Launching her seventh world tour in early 2018, she remained on the road through the following year, additionally contributing to Elton John’s Revamp & Restoration project and the compilation The Greatest Showman: Reimagined.

In April 2019 P!nk released Hurts 2B Human, her third consecutive Billboard 200-topping album. She partnered with Keith Urban the next year on the single “One Too Many,” and in 2021 she issued “Cover Me in Sunshine,” a duet with her daughter Willow Sage Hart. That track appeared on All I Know So Far, a live companion to the documentary of the same name, recorded primarily at London’s Wembley Stadium in June 2019. The radio hit “All I Know So Far” later earned a Grammy nomination. In July 2022 she released the punk-tinged women’s-rights single “Irrelevant” in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. At the close of 2022 P!nk unveiled “Never Gonna Not Dance Again” ahead of her ninth studio album, Trustfall, which arrived in early 2023. The anthemic collection peaked at number two on the U.S. pop chart and featured production by Fred Again, Max Martin, and Shellback, together with appearances by the Lumineers, First Aid Kit, and Chris Stapleton. “Dreaming,” a collaboration involving P!nk, Sting, and Marshmello, surfaced in October and, alongside “All Out of Fight,” supported the Tour Deluxe Edition of Trustfall released in December.