Random Diva Tribute: Pink

Like other random diva honoree Alicia Keys, I feel that Pink, a.k.a Alecia Moore (aww...Alica Keys and Alecia Moore...Alicia twins unite! But I digress),  has been both consistently good and consistently underrated in the decade and two cents she's been making music.

Why this is the case I don't know. But let's break this down into pure diva terms: If Madonna is the "mother" of all current female stars (don't be mad Janatics....Ms. Jackson is definitely the auntie or the fab younger sister!), then her DNA is popping up in one way or another in every pop starlet currently on the scene.

As it stands Lady Gaga inherited Madge's arty/avant garde side, Katy Perry's got the cute cheekiness, Rihanna the kinky raunch factor, Beyonce the glamour goddess and Britney the enduring mainstream appeal (chile if someone can shave their head, sleepwalk through a performance now immortalized online,  attack paparazzi with an umbrella and still have hit records and sold out shows, they got to have something that resonates with the public). I'd argue that Christina Aguilera  has a mix of M's arty side (remember the Fighter video?) raunch and glamour, but with her pipes I consider her a part of the vocal diva tradition. You know, Whitney, Mariah and the like.

But if anyone inherited Madonna's attitude and wise-ass swagger, it's Pink. "U+ Ur Hand," "There U Go" "Stupid Girls,"  "Mr. President," "So What"--baby, Pink ain't scared nothing or nobody, m'kay? Not to mention her voice, all raspy, strong and full of life, is the perfect compliment to whatever genre she sings. If you're in a flip-a-middle finger-to-the-world mood, (minus the self-destructive nihilism:) Pink's your gal.  She can also turn from raising hell to heart-on-the-sleeve intimate on a dime with cuts like "Family Portrait," "Just Like A Pill," "Sober,"  and "Glitter In The Air." Whatever she's feeling at the moment, she's not afraid to explore it.

And like Ms. Ciccone, she's also fearless in reinventing her sound, from R&B to rock, dance, or acoustic folk. Who else would have hired Linda Perry, who had one hit back in '92, or Rancid's Tim Armstrong to produce entire albums for them? Or explicitly call out other celebs for shallow, asinine behavior? Maybe that's why she's not automatically mentioned in the same breath as the other divas. She does what whatever she wants, regardless of what's selling and who's more popular at the moment. While the aforementioned Perry, Aguilera, and Rihanna amped up the weirdness in the wake of Gaga, Pink stayed in her own lane.

Or perhaps it's because Pink's persona, while clearly influenced by the Material Girl, is in the mold of Pat Benatar (I say Pat because Pink's sound isn't quite gutta enough to be compared to the likes of Joan Jett or Courtney Love. Debate me if you must!). If you don't know about Mama Pat, look her up on YouTube.  But in the meantime, raise your glass, kick back and get into some of Pink's hits below.