Names and faces

Thursday, December 12, 2013

While she’s excited that her ballad “Just Give Me a Reason” is nominated for the song-of the-year Grammy, Pink says she believes her husband deserves some credit for its success. The track, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks, is about holding on to a troubled relationship. “It means everything because it’s a conversation between lovers fighting the good fight, and that’s been our life,” Pink said in an interview Tuesday, standing next to her motorcycle racer husband, Carey Hart. “Our family is everything to us.” The 34-year-old often details their rocky relationship in her music. “At the end of the day I crawl onto his lap and complain, so if someone wants to award me for that, they should give him the award,” she said. Pink was in great spirits Tuesday in New York City, where Billboard named the pop star its woman of the year. “It’s been a long road,” she said. “It’s been a roller coaster, and I’m on board for the rises and the falls of it all.” Pink’s successful year includes a top-grossing international tour and awards, an MTV Video Music Award among them. The Truth About Love, her sixth album released last year, has sold 1.8 million units.

The fans of country music love Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line, and they proved it again Tuesday during the American Country Awards. Bryan was named artist of the year and Florida Georgia Line was the top winner, with six trophies, including new artist and single of the year for the “Cruise” remix with Nelly. Blake Shelton was next with four awards, including album of the year for Based on a True Story … . The “ Highway Don’t Care” team-up of Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban continued to rake in trophies, winning three, including song of the year. Bryan also won touring artist of the year along with the night’s top honor, and his three wins give him 12 American Country awards in the show’s four-year history. The win comes about eight months after the Academy of Country Music also gave him its top award.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 12/12/2013