Since 2000, Pink has been a genre-jumping musical force, toggling among dance-pop, rock, Americana and synth-punk with powerhouse vocals, a fearless performance personality, an inexhaustible ear for hooks and a high-flying aerialist act. Now on the road supporting her ninth studio album, last year’s “Trustfall,†Pink kicks off the final U.S. leg of her "Summer Carnival Tour" at the Dome in St. Louis (with opening act Sheryl Crow) on Aug 10. In anticipation, we’ve ranked the 20 greatest Pink songs of all time — the pinnacle of Pink’s party tracks and piano anthems, the best of her bangers and ballads.
20. “Raise Your Glass†(2010)
Lime-green might be the new pink, but 14 years before our current brat summer, Pink dropped “Raise Your Glass,†a #yolo toast to getting loud, crashing parties and being wrong in all the right ways. A bonus track from “Greatest Hits…So Far!!!,†“Raise Your Glass†is a full-tilt pop-rock anthem that finds Pink speaking for underdogs everywhere who insist on doing it for the plot.
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19. “Try†(2012)
A midtempo ’80s-influenced slow-builder from “The Truth About Love,†“Try†became Pink’s 13th Top 10 hit. Over a carnal pulse, Pink asks a series of rhetorical questions about getting burned by love, and the only answers are Pink’s own bruised vocals on the refrain. She cites the video as her all-time favorite, and her domestic-inferno acro-dance performance of “Try†at the 2012 American Music Award was a career highlight.
18. “Our Song†(2023)
A piano-’n’-Pink beauty, “Our Song†is a quiet non-single highlight deep on side two of “Trustfall,†slow-dancing among the album’s disco rave-ups and folk-pop anthems. On “Our Song†(no, Swifties, not that one) Pink pushes her voice to the limit while chronicling one of her favorite topics, the breakdown of a love affair: On a song about a song, she and her lover “don’t even know the words to it anymore.â€
17. “Beautiful Trauma†(2017)
Pink's seventh album's title song, co-written and produced by Jack Antonoff, musically mimics the oxymoron in the song’s title and lyrics. It's a depiction of a chaotic relationship of emotional highs and violent lows. “You punched a hole in the wall, and I framed it,†she sings as delicate piano-backed verses do battle with thumping electro-rock choruses on a sizzling shape-shifting track.
16. “Heartbreak Down†(2010)
If we’ve learned anything about Pink over the years, it’s that she has gotten heartbreak down. She has also mastered the art of big, round anthemic choruses. She combines both of those specialities in this soaring bonus cut from her 2010 greatest hits collection. Co-written with Butch Walker, “Heartbreak Down†finds Pink in full-throated pop-rock mode, scraping the silver at the top of her range.
15. “Please Don’t Leave Me†(2009)
Co-written and produced by Max Martin, “Please Don’t Leave Me†is another study in contrasts as Pink mixes resolve with vulnerability. Built around a snappy electric-guitar figure, the third single from 2008’s “Funhouse†is an easygoing rocker and a tonal shift from Pink’s famous kiss-off tracks. The controversially violent video flashed Pink’s penchant for dark humor, but the song itself highlights Pink’s husky alto at its most vocally vulnerable.
14. “Love Me Anyway†(2019)
A gorgeous ballad from "Hurts 2B Human," “Love Me Anyway†proves again that Pink is a brilliant duet singer, as she and Chris Stapleton’s voices intertwine on this weeper that crossed over to the country charts. Pink has always been underrated as a pure vocalist, and her aching vibrato pairs perfectly with Stapleton’s. The two joined forces again last year on “Just Say I’m Sorry†from “Trustfall.â€
13. “Trustfall†(2023)
Carried by a punching EDM beat from house producer Fred Again, the second single and title track from last year’s “Trustfall†is a Robyn-style synth-pop broiler that embraces the Pink-ian traditions of taking chances, reaching vocal ecstasy and flying on a wire above the crowd. Lauded as a sonic departure for Pink, the track landed on five different Billboard charts.
12. “Sober†(2008)
Backed by a spiky guitar riff and walloping drums, the Grammy-nominated “Sober†finds Pink exploring the dark flipside to her party-all-night persona. Through a thick wash of guitars and synths, Pink’s vocals are pushed way up front at their raspiest and most expressive. The breakdown in the bridge finds aural space to illustrate the contradictions of the fast life: “It’s so good ‘til it goes bad.â€
11. “Just Give Me a Reason†(2012)
Pink’s all-time biggest hit (three weeks at No. 1 in 2013) is this duet with Nate Ruess from the now-defunct band Fun. Say what you will about Ruess’ blatting vocals, the song grabs hard by building a simple piano composition into a skyrocketing singalong melody in the chorus. The pop ballad is a sweet bent-not-broken departure from Pink’s typical catalog of heartsick weepers.
10. “Just Like a Pill†(2002)
A muscular pop-rock smash from Pink’s breakthrough “Missundaztood†in which she establishes her rock voice on quavering verses and leathery choruses. Through a lover-as-bad-medicine simile, Pink challenged both her record label and audience’s expectations with a tough new edge, and she challenged radio censors with provocative lyrics about drug abuse and by rhyming “itch†with a descriptor for an uncooperative nurse.
9. “Trouble†(2003)
In which Pink makes like Joan Jett. Pink had previously flirted with punky rock ’n’ roll, but on her third album, “Try This,†she busted out with this straightforward, deliciously repetitive rocker co-written and produced by Rancid’s Tim Armstrong. Propelled by driving guitars and bad-reputation lyrics, Pink nails it with a vocal snarl suitable for any riot grrrl out there.
8. “Don’t Let Me Get Me†(2012)
On “Don’t Let Me Get Me,†Pink basically announces, “Hi. I’m the problem. It’s me.†In a litany of self-loathing, she wants to change her clothes, her hair, her face. But in the second verse, she laments the pop machine that compared her “to damn Britney Spears.†In coming to terms with “that just ain’t me†across rock-song idioms — hey, that’s a guitar solo! — Pink wrestles her way to spiritual and artistic independence.
7. “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)â€
Pink’s greatest breakup song is this electropop basher from “The Truth About Love†in which she dumps the bum while tossing off double and triple entendres with hooks and synths and double-tracked vocals all over the place. Pink hits some of her highest-ever notes on the vocals and told MTV ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ she pictured herself "at 2 a.m., in New York, dancing, drunk, letting off steam†while her friends sang along.
6. “Nobody Knows†(2006)
One of her loveliest ballads, “Nobody Knows†starts with solo piano and Pink’s smokiest vocal tone before elevating into a colossal power ballad about hidden depression that established that Pink can sing anything, shifting from delicate nuance to larynx-lacerating power at any moment. Inexplicably unreleased as a single in the U.S., “Nobody Knows†has nonetheless become a fan favorite and a mainstay on televised singing competitions.
5. “I Am Here†(2017)
A sort of EveryPink song, one that incorporates all of her best elements: themes of survival and self-empowerment, nimble and strapping vocals, a giant chorus, grooving arrangements. Throw in a chain-gang beat, a gospel choir and existential yearning, and you have a Pink classic. “I Am Here†was not one of “Beautiful Traumaâ€â€™s singles but remains an emotional staple of Pink’s concerts.
4. “Get the Party Started†(2001)
Her best-selling single to that point, the irresistible “Get the Party Started†was Pink’s game-changing electro-boogie smash and one of the greatest party tracks of all time. Written by 4 Non Blonde’s Linda Perry, the song is the ultimate hit-the-town funk-pop banger but also served as a declaration that the new “Missundaztood†Pink had arrived.
3. “What About Us†(2017)
A resonant hybrid of Pink’s greatest styles, “What About Us†starts as a haunting ballad that gives way to roiling piano chords and a pulsing dance track that lifts Pink’s monumental voice into a rousing refrain that asks questions open to interpretation. Is the song about the tenuousness of love? The tragedy of failed human potential? A call to arms for political action? Pink’s tremendous performance permeates the song with all of the above.
2. “Who Knew†(2006)
Pink's longest-charting single at 36 weeks on the Hot 100, “Who Knew†is a buoyant, genre-defying track that foreshadowed the sound that was soon to take over the country charts. Pink has described the song as both about ending friendships and losing loved ones to drug overdoses, and she fills her voice with every ounce of that anguish across one of her tightest, sharpest compositions.
1. “Glitter in the Air†(2010)
Pink’s greatest ballad is this piano-abetted marvel about trust falls, descending chords, indelible anticipation, the fleeting nature of time, the ache for human touch, and that guy who called Pink sugar. Pink delivers a masterful vocal on the song, even when twirling and inverted during her aerialist act, as during her breathtaking performance at the 2010 Grammys, a career-defining moment.
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