[crumoursegemo]

So, can we all talk about P!nk?


I'm curious where people stand. I feel like she's one of the most universally accepted pop stars, but not really one of the most popular, if that makes sense. You don't often hear her name when you're listing the most exciting, creative, sexiest, etc pop stars. However, she truly is all of those things.

From an MTV article:

Think about it. She is a fabulously fearless pop artist, as comfortable taking on George W. Bush as she is hanging like a bat from the rafters of Radio City. She is clever and funny and unflinching, willing to take her (oft volatile) personal life and turn it into grist for hit singles. She is a deceptively good singer, something she is rarely given credit for (check "Just Like a Pill" or "God Is a DJ" or the chorus of "Sober" for proof). She recorded a Beck song and wrote tunes with Rancid's Tim Armstrong. She has tons of tattoos and used to wear her hair like Wendy O. Williams from the Plasmatics. She has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, landed countless Billboard hits, and her Funhouse tour is currently the ninth highest-grossing jaunt of the year.

And yet, if you were to make a list of the biggest pop stars, Pink probably wouldn't even crack the top five.
I'm just so curious why people seem to forget she exists sometimes. She takes, at most 2 years between albums, and seems to have a renaissance of popularity when she releases something new.

P!nk's music spans genres more so than any of her contemporaries. Her debut was very much the pop/R&B that was central in the late 90s-early 00s. Then with her sophomore album, she really established herself as a "pop star" and ushered in the pop-rock wave that artists like Kelly Clarkson rode with some of their bigger hits. Vocally, I think perhaps the only two to surpass her in terms of technique and power would be Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson, with the former being more of an acquired taste. I've never heard P!nk fumble during a live performance, and her studio tracks have such a nice range to them.

In Australia, and maybe posters from there can confirm, she's huge. I think her Funhouse tour was one of the highest grossing ever? Or something? Regardless, she finds success in the US and Europe but Australia seems to be where she's the most revered.

Her new single "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" is out next month, with an album to follow. I expect the same type of cycle - hit singles, hit tour, then she goes back to doing her thing. Perhaps it's her lack of desire to be a super-celebrity in addition to a musician that keeps her off people's radar, but it seems to be working? I think in 50 years, it could be P!nk who outlasts them all.