Having been imbued since her birth with her parent's enthusiasm for the folk and soul music of the 60s and 70s, Pink (born Alecia Moore) acquired musical ambitions of her own at an early age. Her development as a performer followed an erratic course and encompassed a variety of styles: singing in all-black gospel choirs, fronting a local punk band, and providing back-up vocals for the rap group Schools of Thought - all by the age of 14. After one of her weekly guest appearances at Club Fever, she attracted the attention of a representative from MCA Records and was subsequently drafted into the otherwise all-black vocal act Basic Instnct. Her melanin deficiency became an issue with her bandmates, however, and before long she moved on to Choice, an R&B group who managed to arrange a recording deal with the LaFace label. In the meantime, Pink had dropped out of school and was supporting herself with the usual minimum-wage fast-food jobs.

Choice would dissolve before releasing any albums, but LaFace kept Pink on its roster as a solo artist. Under the direction of producer L. A. Reid she began work on her debut effort, Can't Take Me Home, which finally surfaced in 2000 after she had turned 19. A pastiche of popular styles, the album quickly achieved double-platinum status and launched three top ten singles, including the fiesty chick anthem Most Girls. Her popularity was to be boosted even further with her participation the following year in the film Moulin Rouge, performing a remake of the Labelle song Lady Marmalade alongside Missy Elliott, Christina Aguilera and Mya. The song would earn the young singer both her first number one single and her first Grammy award.