PINK - Seeing Red

Revealing more than ever

Pink has stated that her fifth studio album, Funhouse, is her most revealing yet. Released in October 2008, it scored her first ever number one single on the U.S. Billboard Chart. Although it is not being billed as a heartbreak album, some of the songs deal with the separation from her husband, motocross star Carey Hart. They were married in 2006, after Pink proposed to him during one of his races. She had a marker pen and scribbled, “Will you marry me?” on a board and held it up in front of the grandstands. They split up in 2008. “I guess I just lost my husband,” begins her chart-topping single, “So what? I’m still a rock star!” Despite the separation Hart still appeared in the song’s video, where both are seen apparently making fun of their relationship.

Elsewhere on the album she appears painfully honest about her emotions. “It’s like letting down the armor and admitting I’m human. I’m a girl. We all want to be loved and love. That’s all we want,” she explained on her official website. “‘Please Don’t Leave Me’ is also kind of funny though. It’s like, ‘Okay, I’m an a**hole, but love me anyway.’ I’m trying to be better. We’re all a work in progress.”

Despite the bitterness and the anger the couple still remained great friends. They never divorced and were often seen out together, and in May of this year the singer revealed in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres that they are back together and dating again. Which must make it kind of curious when he’s in the audience watching her belt out lines like, “I got my rock moves and I don’t need you/And guess what I’m havin’ more fun.”

Pop powerhouse

The Funhouse world tour to support the album is her most successful yet. In Australia she played 56 dates in four months, breaking most of the country’s touring records. More than 600,000 fans flocked to see the pop powerhouse—an even more impressive figure when you bear in mind that Australia has a population of 22 million. According to figures posted by Pollstar Worldwide Tours, the tour grossed $50.8 million for the first half of 2009. She kicked off the North American leg of her sell-out show in Seattle on September 15, and the tour includes stops in Los Angeles, Toronto, Boston, and New York. It is by far the most physically demanding show that she has ever been involved in, and includes singing a song upside down on a trapeze, 65 feet above the stage. She continually makes the point that she does not lip sync like other artists, nor does she rely on the backing vocalists to bolster her sound, even when performing gravity-defying feats.

Role modeling

In her own words, Pink’s ambition from a young age was “to be famous and piss people off.” She has achieved both. Initially her anger was directed at the whole world, but these days it is more focused and directed. She wants to inspire people to be individuals and stand up for what they believe in, and be who they are. “I wouldn’t advise anyone to take the path I’ve chosen but as far being a strong woman, and being assertive and being ambitious and being a fighter and being comfortable in my own body and not society’s idea of beautiful then absolutely, I’ll carry that torch,” she told one interviewer. “But as far as being perfect, heck no, I’m not perfect.”

Every week Pink receives thousands of letters and e-mails from women who let her know how she has helped them, whether they’ve been inspired to go to the gym, be a strong female, or come out. But the most powerful and touching messages, and the ones that mean the most to her, are from young girls and women who write to say “‘You make me want to be like me’, instead of ‘I want to be like you.’” –P.A.