Daily Democrat (Woodland)

Pink discusses Tina Turner, Jann Wenner

- By Mikael Wood Los Angeles Times

One of pop music's biggest voices, Pink, 44, has been making eclectic (if reliably hitfilled) LPs since 2000.

Pink is on the phone between tour dates, two stadium gigs in her hometown of Philadelph­ia behind her and one coming up in a few days in Nashville, Tennessee, which brings a question to mind: Would she ever make a country record?

“Oh, I've made country records,” the singer replies, pointing to duets with Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney, the last of which went to No. 1 on country radio in 2016. But what about an album-length immersion — maybe a Dolly-and-PorterWagg­oner-style set with Stapleton?

“Nah,” she says with a laugh. “I don't do whole albums of anything.”

That much is true: One of pop music's biggest voices, Pink, 44, has been making eclectic (if reliably hitfilled) LPs since 2000, veering among slick R&B jams, crunchy pop-rock bangers, rootsy acoustic numbers and sweeping power ballads with a message of self-empowermen­t that somehow never feels sappy. Her latest, “Trustfall,” extends the streak: After “Kids in Love,” a campfire-ish tune featuring Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit, Pink moves directly into the roller-disco-ready “Never Gonna Not Dance Again,” which she cut with the veteran Top 40 maestro Max Martin.

What holds it all together is Pink's singing — as technicall­y assured as it is bleeding with emotion — and her friendly yet unvarnishe­d personalit­y. It's a combinatio­n that has helped the singer (born Alecia Moore) land 36 songs on Billboard's Hot 100, including “Get the Party Started,” “Who Knew,” “So What,” “Raise Your Glass,” “Try,” “What About Us” and “Just Give Me a Reason.”

Pink, who's married to former motocross racer Carey Hart — with whom she has a 12-year-old daughter, Willow, and a 6-year-old son, Jameson — is on the road in North America through November. These are excerpts from our conversati­on.

Q This year has been huge for live music. Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, Metallica: So many acts are out playing to people who seem totally amped to finally be back at a concert. But touring has been the centerpiec­e of your career for ages. How'd you learn that was the lane for you?

A My manager, Roger Davies, taught me that. He manages, or managed, Tina Turner, Cher, Janet Jackson, Sade, Joe Cocker and myself, and they're all live acts. I've been pounding the pavement for 25 years because that's the arena I belong in. Or that's the stadium I belong in, I should say.

Q You think you're a better live performer than a record-maker?

A One hundred percent. Because live is messy. It's life, it's gritty, it's authentic — it's unrehearse­d. I mean, we rehearse to a certain extent for safety. But you never know what's gonna happen. And I'm never in my head. The second I step onstage, I'm in my heart, I'm in my body. There's no other place that I operate — as a Virgo, as a mother, as the most responsibl­e person I know — like the stage. It's where I live.

Q Does it ever feel hard to live up to the reputation you've built as a performer?

A It's a gift. I love setting the bar higher and higher and higher. But I come from a Broadway, theatrical, rock `n' roll background. So, for me, you can do all that s—, and maybe people expect it. But you gotta be able to break it down and make it about the music. It's about the lyrics and the song. That's why I have a rock band and why I always have an acoustic section in the show.

Q What do you do now to stay in shape that you didn't have to do 15 years ago?

A Every morning I wake up and say thank you to my body. I didn't used to do that. I do yoga, I do high-intensity interval training, I do circuits. And I do cold plunges after the show.

Q

A cold plunge sounds awful.

A

Oh, it's horrible. What's not horrible is how good you feel after. It's anti-inflammato­ry, it's good for stress. But, yeah, it sucks. And I just bought one.

Q Do you ever get scared when you're soaring above the audience?

A Absolutely. That's why I started doing it — because I'm afraid of heights, and I don't want to be afraid. I've been in some situations that don't feel good. I wonder every night if my bungees are gonna work. But it's a cool way to go if they don't.

Q Your daughter has done aerial stuff with you. But are your kids ever like, “Mommy, don't do it!”

A Maybe my son a little bit, but he's just little. They've got Carey Hart blood in them. I mean, he's worse.

Q

Would you ever do a Vegas residency?

A

When I do Vegas, it'll be the best show Vegas ever saw.

Q

Why haven't you done it yet?

A

My kids are still young enough to join me on the road. Vegas is something I can do when they don't want to be with me anymore. Willow's getting close.

 ?? STEVEN M. FALK — THE PHILADELPH­IA INQUIRER ?? Pink performs at Citizens Bank Park on Sept. 18in Philadelph­ia. “I wonder every night if my bungees are gonna work,” Pink says of her high-flying live show, “but it's a cool way to go if they don't.”
STEVEN M. FALK — THE PHILADELPH­IA INQUIRER Pink performs at Citizens Bank Park on Sept. 18in Philadelph­ia. “I wonder every night if my bungees are gonna work,” Pink says of her high-flying live show, “but it's a cool way to go if they don't.”

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