Things You Might Not Know About Singer ‘Pink’

Pink (also known as P!nk) is a Grammy Award winning singer, actress, songwriter and dancer. She’s been breaking down barriers in the industry since her debut solo album back in 2000 and she’s proved to be an influential artist ever since. Pink has released many hit songs in her career from party anthems like “Get the Party Started” and “Raise Your Glass” to more emotional ballads like “Try” and “Just Give Me a Reason.” Pink is definitely a breath of fresh air in an industry that is all about conforming to the masses. She’s not afraid to break the mold and stand out, voice her opinions or do something different — this is also one of the reasons she’s been so successful in gaining an audience. In honor of her upcoming 38th birthday, here’s a look at 10 things you probably didn’t know about Pink!

10. Rebellious Child

Firstly, her real name is Alecia Beth Moore. Born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Pink grew up in a broken home. Her parents, Jim and Judy Moore divorced when she was only 3-years-old and it sparked a rebellious streak in her that never really went away. Growing up she recalls not being allowed to go to some of her friends houses because she was a ‘bad influence.’ “I was never allowed to go over to any of my friends’ houses when I was little, because I was a bad influence. None of their parents liked me and my own parents were scared to death of me – and for me.” She’s also said in an interview with The Daily Mail back in 2006 that she never felt like she fit in and all she ever wanted as a kid was just “get the hell out of that town and get on with my life.”

2

9. Troubled Teen

Pink admits that she grew up a little too fast. She got into drugs and the club scene at an extremely young age. “I think the timeline goes like this, started smoking at 9, started smoking weed when I was about 11, started dropping acid when I was about 12, when I was 13 I started getting into dust, Ecstasy, crystal, nitrus — I mean you name it all the club drugs. I started having parties and I started selling as well. I realized that I would have a side project if I turned my mom’s house into a K house while she was at work,” she said. By the age of 13 she was a regular in the Philadelphia club scene which meant she was drinking, doing drugs and overall just heavily partying before she was even 16-years-old. Things took a turn for the absolute worse when she almost died of an overdose at 15. She had taken crystal meth, angel dust, ecstasy, cocaine and marijuana. She was arrested for petty theft and trespassing. She dropped out of high school and eventually earned her G.E.D. in 1998. She also tried her hand at a post secondary education at Moore College of Art and Design, but dropped out after only a year of attendance.

3

8. Musical Success

After taking singing lessons since she was 9-years-old, Pink got an early start to her career in the music industry. She wrote her first song when she was 14; at 15 she was singing backup and dancing; and at 16 she got her first record deal. She signed with Antonio “L.A.” Reid from LaFace Records as a female R&B/pop trio group called Choice. After two years together and not much success as a girl group, Choice broke up and Pink decided to go solo. She chose the stage name “Pink” and began working as a solo artist. At 20 she released her debut album, Can’t Take Me Home and sold a whopping 3 million records. Despite the success of the album, Pink later admitted, “There was no blood, sweat or tears on my first album – and no emotional exchange between me and the musicians.” She won a Grammy Award the following year for her collaboration with Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim and Mya on the remake of “Lady Marmalade” for the movie-musical, Moulin Rouge. Her career continued to rise with the success of her second solo album, Missundaztood, which sold 10 million copies and established her as a pop-rock artist.

4

7. Relationship with Carey Hart

Pink’s on-and-off-again relationship with motorcross racer, Carey Hart, was solidified on January 7, 2006 when the two got married on a beach in Costa Rica. Not surprisingly, their engagement wasn’t exactly traditional! Pink was the one who popped the question to Carey. She made the grand gesture back in 2005 at one of his races when she held up a sign in the crowd that said, “Will you marry me?” She quickly followed up with another sign that said, “I’m serious!” He of course quickly accepted. But only two years after they exchanged nuptials, Pink announced she was separating from Hart. She wrote on her website, “The most important thing for you all to know is that Carey and I love each other so, so much…We are best friends, and we will continue to be.” They maintained a close relationship and he even appeared in the music video for her hit single, “So What.” The break up didn’t last long because the happy couple were spotted ringing in the year 2009 together and shortly after announced their reconciliation and renewed their vows. Prior to dating Hart she had a brief relationship with Motley Crue drummer, Tommy Lee.

5

6. Willow Sage Hart

Pink gave birth to her first child, Willow Sage Hart on June 2, 2011. “We are ecstatic to welcome our new beautiful healthy happy baby girl, Willow Sage Hart. She’s beautiful just like her daddy,” Pink tweeted. She chose the name Willow because it’s her favorite tree and is known to be the most flexible in nature and able to withstand nearly anything. When she finally announced her pregnancy after months of speculation, Pink revealed that the reason she kept her pregnancy mum was that she’d had a miscarriage prior to getting pregnant for the second time. She told Ellen on The Ellen Degeneres Show, “I didn’t want to talk about it because I was just really nervous and I have had a miscarriage before so if I was gonna talk about it with anyone it was gonna be you.” She also said that this time around her pregnancy was different. “I worked for it…It was not an ‘oops.'”

6

5. Sticking Up to Body Shamers

In April 2015 she attended a cancer research benefit in a low-cut black dress. After photos from the event went public, she was viciously attacked for her appearance. Internet trolls slammed Pink for “gaining weight.” Luckily, Pink knows how to defend herself and she’s not afraid to voice her opinions. She fired back on Twitter and wrote, “I can see that some of you are concerned about me from your comments about my weight…I attended to support my dear friend Dr. Maggie DiNome. She was given the Duke Award for her tireless efforts and stellar contributions to the eradication of cancer. But unfortunately, my weight seems much more important to some of you. While I admit that dress didn’t photograph as well as it did in my kitchen, I will also admit that I felt very pretty. In fact, I feel beautiful. So, my good and concerned peoples, please don’t worry about me. I’m not worried about me. And I’m not worried about you either…I am perfectly fine, perfectly happy, and my healthy, voluptuous and crazy strong body is having some much deserved time off. Thanks for your concern. Love cheesecake.” She’s also taken a public stance against bullying and said, “I don’t take well to bullying. I never have. I’m not a person that will be bullied. I’m not a person that will stand by watching other people bullied.”

7

4. Her Tattoos

Pink is covered head to toe in tattoos and definitely isn’t afraid to step outside the boundaries with her appearances — she’s all about going against the stereotypes society places on women — and we commend her for it! She has more than 20 tattoos and claims each one has a special meaning behind it. One of her most sacred tattoos is that of her deceased bulldog Elvis. A gift from Lisa Marie Presley, the pooch died in 2007 after he drowned in her pool. She had the dogs face tattooed on her arm along with the quote, ‘A time to weep, a time to mourn, sleep in peace.’ She also has a bow on the back of each thigh, dog tags around her right ankle for her brother and father, as well as “Mr. Pink” on her left inner thigh.

8

3. The Story Behind her Stage Name

There are many different stories about how Pink got her stage name, but the two that stick the most are that it’s either derived from the Quentin Tarantino character, Mr. Pink from the 1992 film, Reservoir Dogs, and that she used the stereotypical feminine color as a way to reclaim power since she has always been a tomboy and “token white girl.” She had the nickname prior to becoming a singer, but adopted it wholeheartedly when she started becoming famous. “The name came from a lot of different places, it’s been following me my whole life. The first time was actually not very nice. This kid I had a crush on, Devon, I went to the YMCA as a summer camp and this kid pulled my pants down in front of everybody at this auditorium cause we had gone swimming and I swam in my underwear cause I didn’t have a bathing suit and I was like, ‘Oh there’s only one thing left in the day, I just won’t put my underwear back on.’ And he pulled my pants down in front of everybody and I totally blushed and my butt cheeks were pink and he was like, ‘Yeah, Pink!’ And everyone made fun of me and I ran home crying. I lived it down. That was when I was like eight. And then I lived it down and when the Reservoir Dogs movie came out, the Quentin Tarantino, Mr. Pink is like the smart, sassy, smarta– kind of guy with the attitude, and me and all my friends were sitting around and we kind of all just dubbed each other. And I told them the story and they were like, ‘see you are Pink!'”

9

2. Pink’s Dad

Even though Pink had a troubled childhood and was badly bruised from her parents divorce, she has a great relationship with her mother and father. Her dad is a Vietnam war veteran who was trained in guerrilla warfare tactics. Pink has said that her dad used to keep rocket launchers in their family garage and once got kicked out of the American Music Awards after he got in a fight with a security guard. On another occasion he almost got into a fight with a different guard at her first album release party. Apparently he doesn’t like security guards or anyone messing with his daughter! “He had this big, big, solid bear of a man on his knees whimpering, so we can’t really travel together,” said Pink during an interview with Conan O’Brien back in 2008. It seems Pink gets her musical abilities from him as he’s a singer and guitar player too. Pink has even brought him up on stage with her!

10

1. Pink vs. Christina Aguilera

Despite working together on the remake of “Lady Marmalade” in 2001 and winning a Grammy Award together, Pink and Christina Aguilera didn’t get along. Pink was turned off by her “diva” attitude. Pink talked about her first impression of the pop singer during her Behind the Music and said. “[Her manager] walked in and he didn’t say hi to any of us and said…’What’s the most singing part? Christina’s gonna take that part.’ And I stood up and said, ‘Hi! How are you? So nice of you to introduce yourself, I’m Pink. She will not be taking that part. I think that’s what the f-cking meeting is about.'” Things were made even worse between the two when Agruilera began working with Pink’s good friend, songwriter Linda Perry, for her single “Beautiful.” Pink was almost like a jealous girlfriend because she felt like Aguilera was stealing Perry away and copying the work she did with Perry on the album Missundaztood. “I took it really personally when she started working with other artists, particularly artists that I didn’t like…I don’t think imitation is the highest form of flattery, I think it’s annoying,” said Pink. It’s seems they’ve since made amends because Pink appeared as a mentor on The Voice last season and worked alongside Aguilera.