Mandy Moore is an American pop singer, songwriter, actress, and fashion designer. She grew up in Florida and came to fame as a teenager in the early 2000s, after the release of her teen-oriented pop albums So Real, I Wanna Be with You, and Mandy Moore. Moore has branched out into a film career, starring in 2002's A Walk to Remember and later appearing in the lead roles of other movies also aimed at teenage audiences. Two of her later films, American Dreamz and Saved!, were satires in which Moore portrayed darker characters than in her previous roles. Moore's private life, including her relationships with tennis player Andy Roddick as well as with actors Wilmer Valderrama and Zach Braff, has been much discussed in the media. Moore's fifth album, Wild Hope, was released in 2007.
Moore was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, the daughter of Stacy, a former news reporter who once worked for the Orlando Sentinel, and Don Moore, a pilot for American Airlines.Moore's father is of Irish and Cherokee descent and her mother is of English and Jewish ancestry.Moore has two brothers, Scott and Kyle; she grew up in Altamonte Springs, Florida, outside of Orlando, moving there shortly after her birth because of her father's job as an airline pilot.[5] She was raised in the Catholic religion and attended Bishop Moore High School,a Catholic school in Orlando, as well as Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs.
she was also encouraged to perform by her maternal grandmother, who was her inspiration.Some of Moore's first public exposure occurred when she sang the national anthem at several Florida sporting events. She subsequently came to the attention of the head of A&R at Epic Records after his friend, a FedEx employee, overheard her as she sang at a recording studio.She was then signed to a record deal with the label.
Moore toured with the Backstreet Boys throughout 1999.Her first album, So Real, was released in December that year and reached #31 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart.At the time of the album's release, reviewers considered Moore the latest in a series of heavily-marketed female singers described as "pop princesses", akin to Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Jessica Simpson.Entertainment Weekly's review noted that Moore's songs, revolving around "not-yet-experienced love", were performed with "suffocating professionalism", and that the album's ballads were "nauseating".Moore reached mainstream radio later and at a younger age than Simpson, Aguilera and Spears had, and was initially not as successful as they were, although So Real was certified platinum in the U.S. in early 2000 and sold nearly one million copies.Moore's debut teen-oriented pop hit single "Candy", which Yahoo! Movies described as "strangely provocative",peaked just outside the top forty on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold.The single was more successful in Europe especially in the UK where it reached number 6. All Music Guide noted the single was "mediocre" and "typical", containing lyrics that described love "in terms of sugar treats".The video for Candy features a "blink and you'll miss it" cameo from a young Scarlett Johansson, as a girl on a swingset.
Moore released I Wanna Be with You, a re-worked version of her debut album, in May 2000.The album, which was mostly completed with synthesizers, bass, guitar, and drums,comprised new songs alongside tracks and remixes from So Real. Several reviewers criticized it on the basis that it was a remix album and not a true follow-up,with All Music Guide writing that its style was "trashier, flashier, gaudier, and altogether more disposable" than its predecessor.
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