When it comes to Grammy-winning singer/songwriter P!nk, Rolling Stone critic Robert Sheffield has said it best:

This is a prolific pop artist who is sometimes famous and successful, sometimes obscure, who nonetheless keeps making her own kind of music. Every few years, the spotlight comes back around to her — but her fans can trust that when the spotlight moves along, Pink will keep on writing Pink songs.

P!nk is a global superstar. This much is obvious. She has broken touring records in Australia more than once, she has gone platinum with her records in just about every country with a flag, and when she returned home to the U.S. after a mammoth two-year world tour, she topped the Billboard Pop Songs chart with two consecutive singles from her greatest hits compilation CD with almost zero promotion.

P!nk has won two Grammys, collaborated with Eminem and John Legend, written for Adam Lambert, contributed her vocals to several motion picture soundtracks, toured the world several times over, and yet remains a self-confessed ‘underdog’.

Like the Rolling Stone critic says, the spotlight comes back around her way every few years. For example, in 2006 she released ‘Stupid Girls’, a song which along with its accompanying music video satirised vain celebrity culture, and which led to P!nk appearing on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ to discuss the representation of women in the media.

Then, in 2008 she underwent a high-profile separation from her husband Carey Hart, resulting in the song ‘So What’ becoming the first U.S. Hot 100 single of her career. In late 2010, P!nk announced her pregnancy and she quickly became a target of tabloid fascination, with the singer revealing in November that “there was a $250,000 bounty on her [daughter Willow's] head for the first photo“.

Yet, aside from these few-and-far-between events, P!nk has maintained a relatively low profile since her debut record was released in early 2000.

The likely reason for this can be explained by P!nk herself, who was once quoted as saying:

Instead of going and becoming a cover girl and endorsement girl and popular girl and having #1s, I kind of just hit the road and pounded the pavement … and became a touring artist … You don’t have to be popular when you’re a touring artist, you just have to be good.

And so, P!nk has maintained a successful career and transitioned into a well-respected artist in her own right, as well as an acknowledged humanitarian. At the Human Rights Campaign’s National Dinner in 2010, P!nk was presented with the Ally for Equality award for her work with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), her advocation for marriage equality, and for many other organisations which she actively supports.

Meanwhile, at this year’s Grammy Awards, MTV reported that a replay of P!nk’s aerial performance of ‘Glitter in the Air’ at the 2010 ceremony “captivated the audience so much that when they cut back to the show, the entire crowd groaned.”

After the actual performance two years earlier, P!nk received a standing ovation from the entire audience which included Celine Dion, Sheryl Crow, Rihanna, and Jon Bon Jovi, while the song – which was never intended to be a single – charted at number 18 on the Hot 100 based on the strength of the Grammy performance alone.

This year, P!nk is back in the studio recording her sixth album and is reportedly working with Dan Wilson, who worked heavily on Adele’s record-breaking LP ’21′. She also has a film role coming up in the ensemble comedy ‘Thanks for Sharing’, which stars Mark Ruffalo and Gwyneth Paltrow, and she was rumoured to have been wooed by ‘The X Factor USA’ chiefs to join its judging panel.

All of these developments would point toward the spotlight once again coming back around to her as Rolling Stone predicted it would, yet, it would seem that P!nk has never been in a stronger nor more established position in her career as she finds herself right now. It is for this reason then that P!nk, in her 13th year in the business, is one of the most important and relevant solo performers of her generation.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.pinkspage.com

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P!nk has announced that she has began recording on her sixth studio album, the follow-up to 2008′s ‘Funhouse’. The 32-year old singer/songwriter has taken a brief hiatus from the music scene while she started a family with her husband Carey Hart.

The couple, whose on/off relationship has been the subject of some of P!nk’s biggest hits, welcomed a daughter last June and have stayed largely out of the limelight in the months since. However, P!nk now appears to be focusing on her career and on reclaiming her title as one of the world’s biggest touring artists with the release of her first studio album in 4 years.

Her return to the music studio has been eagerly anticipated by her fans, as the four-year period since the release of ‘Funhouse’ marks the longest gap between studio albums in P!nk’s 12-year career. Few details are known about the album, expected to be released later this year, although hit maker Dan Wilson confirmed on Twitter that he has been in the studio writing songs with P!nk in recent weeks.

Wilson most notably collaborated with Adele on her multi-platinum LP ’21′, co-writing two tracks – including the Grammy-winning ‘Someone Like You – and has also written songs for such artists as Keith Urban and The Dixie Chicks.

For P!nk, a partnership with Wilson would mark a departure from her last two studio albums, on which she collaborated primarily with pop guru Max Martin (Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, and Katy Perry), country songwriter Billy Mann (Mary J. Blige, Sting, and Celine Dion), and rocker Butch Walker (Fall Out Boy, Avril Lavigne, and The Donnas).

Since releasing her first studio album, ‘Can’t Take Me Home’, P!nk has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has made a name for herself as a a must-see live performer. ‘The Funhouse Tour’ spanned 10 months and broke several records in Australia, and was then followed up with P!nk’s first ever stadium tour, playing at over 30 outdoor venues across Europe in the summer of 2010.

Following the success of the ‘Funhouse’ era, P!nk was ranked #27 on Forbes’ 2010 Celebrity 100 List with earnings of $44 million from the previous 12 months. She capitalised on this career momentum by releasing a compilation CD, titled ‘Greatest Hits … So Far!!!” to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of her debut album.

The compilation featured all of her major hits from the previous decade, as well as three new songs, the first of which – ‘Raise Your Glass’ – topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the second – ‘Perfect’ – garnered P!nk her 11th Grammy nomination.

Despite a brief hiatus from the entertainment industry during her pregnancy, P!nk kept her name in the headlines with a starring role in the 2011 animated feature ‘Happy Feet Two,’ for which she also provided the soundtrack single ‘Bridge of Light’.

Around the same time, P!nk filmed a role in the upcoming drama/comedy film ‘Thanks For Sharing’, co-starring Mark Ruffalo and Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow, and paid $5,000 to fund life-saving surgery for a stray dog after learning of the story in late last December.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.pinkspage.com

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Glee has been a television and cultural phenomenon since its debut in 2009. Centring around a high school glee club in the fictional town of Lima, Ohio, the series has made household names of its stars Lea Michele, Jane Lynch and Matthew Morrison. The cast’s musical recordings have broken chart and touring records, while the producers have launched a successful companion reality series entitled “The Glee Project”, which seeks to find new singers for the mother series.

However, now in its third season, Glee is facing a number of challenges both on and offscreen, the latest of which is the announcement that this summer will not see the cast embark on a US and UK tour, one which proved to be one of the most successful tours of 2011. While FOX insists that the absence of a tour this year is simply a way of giving give the cast a break after three years of continuous work, the decision comes as the latest in a line of challenges which the show has had to face in recent times.

Firstly, the show has experienced a steady ratings decline during this season. In its last airing on February 14, Glee garnered 6.99 million viewers, down 24% from its season premiere on September 20. More worrying, on a year-to-year scale this marked a 34% decline from the 10.53 million it attracted on February 15, 2010.

This comes in spite of high-profile tributes to West Side Story, Michael Jasckson, and a well-publicised episode depicting several major characters losing their virginities. The series has even started being beaten in the coveted 18-49 demographic by new comedy series New Girl, which airs straight after Glee on FOX’s Tuesday night line-up.

Secondly, the show has come under intense scrutiny over the long-term futures of its stars Lea Michele, Corey Monteith, Dianna Agron and Chris Colfer, among others, as their characters approach graduation. At first, reports surfaced that several of the departing characters would be spun-off into their own series set in New York, depicting them attending a performing arts school, with even Colfer releasing a statement indicating his probable departure at the end of season three.

However, those rumours were later dismissed by show runner Ryan Murphy, but confusion remains over how exactly the stars would continue to figure into the show’s storylines once their characters have graduated.

Thirdly, Glee’s attempt to segue onto the big-screen got off to a lukewarm start when ‘Glee: The 3D Concert Movie‘ failed to perform as well as expected, grossing just $18 million at the box office. The movie opened to mixed critical reviews, and its failure marked the first significant sign of the franchise’s vulnerability after just two years of production.

Finally, but perhaps not surprisingly, the series has gone out of fashion with major award voters. Despite winning three Emmys for its freshman season, that tally decreased to one for its sophomore season, and the show walked away empty-handed at both this year’s Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

This is not surprising as Glee has been accused repeatedly of uneven storytelling and relying too heavily on stunt casting, with the last 12 months featuring appearances by Gwyneth Paltrow, Ricky Martin, Britney Spears and John Stamos. Add that to the fifteen actors already comprising the main cast, and the criticism begins to take on merit.

Ratings-wise, Glee has never been the number one show on television – it has yet to rank in the top 30 for a whole season – but its online presence, chart records and critical buzz have ensured it a prime spot on FOX’s broadcast schedule. Yet, facing a continuing ratings decline, the potential loss of its stars and dwindling industry support; FOX’s former powerhouse may be in need of some significant revamping if it hopes to stick to the same formula and with the same cast members for its as-yet-unconfirmed fourth season.

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Coldplay’s fifth studio album, “Mylo Xyloto,” is the group’s third album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart.  Coldplay’s previous two albums, “Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends” in 2008 and “X&Y” in 2005, both debuted at No.1. Their single, “Princess Of China,” which features Rihanna also made a debut this week at No. 20 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The album’s sales were significantly less compared to the previous two albums which debuted on the chart with 721,000 and 737,000 albums sold. According to Nielsen SoundScan, “Mylo Xyloto” is the third biggest debut this year, selling 447,000 physical and digital copies.

Only Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne have managed to sell more in one week this year. Gaga’s “Born this Way” sold 1.1 million albums, and Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter IV” sold 964,000. Kelly Clarkson’s new album, “Stronger,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 200 and sold 163,000 copies.

This is the American Idol winner’s fifth studio effort as she stands as the most successful artist to come out of the popular show. The Canadian singer, Michael Buble, finds success in his holiday album, “Christmas,” which sold 141,000 copies and debuted at No. 3 behind Coldplay and Kelly Clarkson.

Rihanna had a big week, too, as her new single, “We Found Love” in which she collaborated with the Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Rihanna takes the crown from Adele’s “Someone Like You” who held the No. 1 spot for four weeks in a row.

This marks the Barbadian’s eleventh No. 1 ranking on the chart since her career began in 2005. She now ties with Whitney Houston, but surpassed Stevie Wonder and Janet Jackson, both of whom had 10 No. 1 hits. Her sixth album titled “Talk That Talk” is due to be released later this month, just a year after the release of her successful fifth album “Loud.”

Justin Bieber’s holiday album, “Mistletoe,” is set to debut at No. 1 next week, though the single of the same name dropped in rank from 11 to 73 in just one week on the Billboard Hot 100. In the meantime, a young woman by the name of Mariah Yeater hit the Canadian singer with a paternity suit claiming they had a sexual encounter after a concert last year in Los Angeles.

A California court will have a hearing next month, but Island Def Jam records have publicly denied the accusation and stated they will do everything they can to protect the young singer.

Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

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