The Rise of the Creative Class - Highlights: From the 2003-2004 Rocc World Tour, , Richard Florida Creativity Group, 2005, , . DOWNLOAD HERE , , , , . Barenaked Ladies' The Yellow Tape goes platinum in Canada. It is the first indie release in Canada to ever do this. Sales are partly fueled by controversy regarding Toronto mayor June Rowlands banning the group from playing a show at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto because she thought the name "Barenaked Ladies" objectified women. Alternative rock fully breaks into the American mainstream consciousness, as albums and singles by bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alice in Chains, Toad the Wet Sprocket, R.E.M., Soul Asylum, The Cure, and Nine Inch Nails reach the Top 40 of the Billboard charts. The Smashing Pumpkins announce their breakup, indicating that "Machina" was intended as their final album during production, and play a farewell concert on December 2. They release Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music for free to music downloaders on the internet after feuds between Billy Corgan and Virgin Music emerged. The surviving members of Alice in Chains reform to play their first concert in nine years at a Tsunami benefit concert with former Damageplan vocalist Pat Lachman. The band launches a world tour with William Duvall taking the vocal spot, while many guests vocalists perform at various shows, including Maynard James Keenan, Billy Corgan and Phil Anselmo. Alecia Beth Moore (born September 8, 1979[4]), better known by her stage name Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Originally a member of the girl group Choice, she began her solo career with the 2000 single "There You Go" which was also included in her debut album, Can't Take Me Home, released later that year. The R&B album went on to be certified double-platinum in the United States. She gained further recognition upon collaborating with Lil' Kim, Christina Aguilera and Mýa for a cover of "Lady Marmalade" for the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack. That cover earned Pink her first Grammy Award (for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals) as well as her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. Although she originally faced opposition from her record label, Pink aimed to make her second album more personal and more pop rock-oriented. The product, 2001's Missundaztood, proved to be her most successful album to date, with sales in excess of 12 million copies. The album's biggest singles, "Get the Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me", and "Just Like a Pill", all charted in the top ten in the US and the UK, with the latter becoming her first UK-number one. In November 2003, Pink released her third album, Try This, preceded by the single "Trouble". Although not her most successful album, Try This earned Pink her first solo Grammy Award, for best female rock vocal performance. After a short hiatus, her fourth studio album, I'm Not Dead, was released in April 2006. With the help of successful singles "Stupid Girls", "Who Knew", and "U + Ur Hand", I'm Not Dead marked a revival in Pink's popularity, both in the US and worldwide. Pink's fifth album, Funhouse, was released in late 2008 and was preceded by her first solo number one on the Billboard Hot 100, "So What". The album was certified double-platinum in the US and prompted Pink to go on the record-breaking Funhouse Tour. Her first compilation album, Greatest Hits... So Far!!!, was released in November 2010 and produced two chart-topping singles, "Raise Your Glass" and "Fuckin' Perfect". Her latest album, The Truth About Love, was released in 2012 and became her first number one album in the United States. The album's three singles, "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)", "Try", and "Just Give Me a Reason", all reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, with "Just Give Me a Reason" becoming her 4th number-one single. Pink has become one of the most successful artists of her generation, having sold over 110 million records worldwide as of 2012.[5][6] Her career accolades include three Grammy Awards, a Brit Award, and six MTV Video Music Awards. Additionally, Pink has had 19 top-twenty hits on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2009, Billboard magazine named Pink the #1 pop musician of the decade,[7] and in 2012 VH1 named Pink #10 on their list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music.[8] Her net worth as of April 2013 is estimated to be around $70 million, making her one of the most commercially successful artists of her generation.[9] Alecia Moore was born on September 8, 1979, in Abington, Pennsylvania, to Judith (née Kugel),[10][11] a nurse, and Jim Moore, a Vietnam veteran.[4][12][13] Her father is Catholic and her mother is Jewish. Pink has ancestors who emigrated from Ireland, Germany, and Lithuania.[14][15] Although a healthy baby at birth, she quickly developed asthma that plagued her through her early years.[16] Pink grew up in Doylestown, where she attended Kutz Elementary School, Lenape Middle School, and Central Bucks High School West. Her father played guitar and sang songs, thus inspiring Pink from an early age to be a pop star. She was also a gymnast for eight years; she stated in an interview that her first dream was to be an Olympic gymnast. When she was just a toddler, her parents began having marital problems, and before she was ten her parents had divorced.[17] Pink said in a VH1 special: "My household was World War III. My parents hated each other. I mean I knew what divorce was and what it meant before I really knew what marriage meant".[citation needed] Pink developed her voice early in life. In high school, Pink joined her first band, Middleground, but it disbanded upon losing a battle of the bands competition. As a teenager, she wrote lyrics as an outlet for her feelings, and her mother commented, "Her initial writings were always very introspective. Some of it was very black, and very deep, almost worrisome."[16] She began performing in Philadelphia clubs when she was 14. She adopted her stagename, "Pink", around this time. She had had that nickname for quite some time by that point, and initially it had been "a mean thing".[18] Pink has said, "I was extreme. I went through phases from skateboarder, to hip-hopper, to rave child, to lead singer in a band. I did it all, and all at the same time." At 14, she was convinced to audition to become a member of the all-female group Basic Instinct, and earned a spot in the lineup. Ultimately, the group disbanded without releasing any material.[19] At 16, Pink and two other teenage girls, Stephanie Galligan[20] and Chrissy Conway, formed the R&B group Choice. A copy of their first song, "Key to My Heart", was sent to LaFace Records in Atlanta, Georgia, where L.A. Reid overheard it and arranged for the group to fly there so he could see them perform. After that, he signed them to a record deal. Since the three girls were under 18 at the time, their parents had to cosign the contract. The group relocated to Atlanta and recorded an album, which was never released, and "Key to My Heart" appeared on the soundtrack to the 1996 film Kazaam. During a Christmas party, Reid gave Pink an ultimatum: go solo or go home. Choice disbanded in 1998. Pink went on to tour with pop band 'N Sync throughout the Summer of 2000 in North America, as the opening act for their No Strings Attached Tour.[46] She performed in over 20 different shows during the tours run throughout North America, along with Sisqo.[47] The tour was financially successful, grossing over $70 million by the time of its completion. Pink apparently met the band during an awards show in mid-2000, and engaged band member Joey Fatone in a conversation about hair dye.[48] The conversation eventually led to Pink touring with the band. In 2001, Pink, alongside singers Christina Aguilera and Mýa as well as rapper Lil' Kim, performed a cover of "Lady Marmalade" for the soundtrack of the film Moulin Rouge!. Produced by hip-hop producers Rockwilder and Missy Elliott, the song topped the charts in countries like New Zealand, the UK, Australia,[citation needed] and the US. In the US it became the most successful airplay-only single in history, as well as Pink's first #1 single.[49] The success of the single was helped by its music video, which was popular on music channels[50] and won the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year.[51] The song won Pink's first Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, and provided a boost for the four performers' careers. In a VH1 interview, Pink stated she had to fight with Christina Aguilera's manager to sing the high parts in the song. Tired of being marketed as another cookie cutter pop act, as well as eager both to be seen as a more serious songwriter and musician and to perform the type of music she wanted to, Pink took her sound in a new direction and sought more artistic or creative control during the recording of her second album, Missundaztood (stylized as M!Ssundaztood).[52] She recruited Linda Perry, former singer of 4 Non Blondes (one of Pink's favorite groups in her teenage years),[53] who said that Pink opened up to her: "In the beginning I just said: 'What do you feel?', and [Pink] would just sit behind the piano and sing." Pink moved into Perry's Los Angeles home where the pair spent several months writing songs for the album.[54] Perry co-wrote and co-produced the album with Dallas Austin and Scott Storch, and according to VH1's Driven program, Antonio "LA" Reid of LaFace Records was not initially content with the new music Pink was making.