Alecia Beth Moore (born on September 8, 1979[1]), known professionally as Pink (often stylized as P!nk), is a two-time Grammy-winning American singer-songwriter who gained prominence in 2000.
Pink released her first record, the R&B-oriented Can't Take Me Home, in 2000 via LaFace Records. Her pop rock-based second studio album, M!ssundaztood, was released in 2001 and is her biggest seller to date. Her third album, 2003's Try This, failed to match the success of M!ssundaztood. After taking a break, Pink released her fourth studio album, I'm Not Dead (2006), which was successful worldwide. Pink has so far sold over 23 million albums worldwide, and has her next album scheduled to come out in October of the year 2008.
P!nk was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, a very traditional suburban town, to Vietnam veteran Jim Moore and nurse Judy Kugel. She is of German and Irish ancestry on her father's side, and is Lithuanian-Jewish on her mother's side.[2][3] P!nk has identified herself as a "Irish-German-Lithuanian-Jew"[4].[5] She grew up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where she attended Central Bucks West High School. Her father played guitar and sang songs for her, and from an early age she aspired to be a rock star. When in high school, P!nk joined her first band called Middleground, which never gained popularity beyond local status. According to P!nk, her biggest influences are Janis Joplin, Steven Tyler, Bad Religion, Mary J. Blige, Bob Marley, Billy Joel, Indigo Girls, Don McLean, 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G..[6]
P!nk developed her voice early in life.[7] Although a healthy baby at birth, she quickly developed asthma that plagued her through her early years.[8] When she was a young teenager, P!nk wrote lyrics as an outlet for her feelings, and her mother commented, "Her initial writings were always very introspective. Some of it was very black, and very deep, almost worrisome."[8] She began performing in Philadelphia clubs when she was fourteen years old. At sixteen, she joined the R&B Atlanta-based trio Choice, which included Chrissy Conway of the Christian girl group ZOEgirl. The group signed with LaFace Records and contributed "Key to My Heart" to the soundtrack of the 1996 film Kazaam. Choice eventually disbanded after recording an unreleased album; P!nk remained at LaFace as a solo act under the stage name P!nk. Daryl Simmons took her to recordings where she sang backing vocals for artists such as Diana Ross, 98 Degrees, Kenny Lattimore and Tevin Campbell.