Grownkoski Blog: mandy moore walk to remember

Saturday, October 15, 2011

mandy moore walk to remember

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Moore was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. Her mother, Stacy (née Friedman), is a former news reporter who once worked for the Orlando Sentinel, and her father, Donald "Don" Moore, is a pilot for American Airlines. Moore's father is of Irish and Cherokee descent, and her mother is of half English and half Jewish ancestry. Moore, who has an older brother Scott and a younger brother Kyle, grew up in Longwood, Florida, outside of Orlando, where the family moved shortly after her birth because of her father's job as an airline pilot. She was raised Catholic (though she is no longer practicing), and attended Bishop Moore High School, in Orlando, as well as Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs.

Moore's interest in singing grew after seeing the musical Oklahoma![citation needed] She was also encouraged to perform by her English-born 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.[citation needed] She subsequently came to the attention of the head of the artists and repertoire department at Epic Records after his friend, a FedEx employee, overheard her as she sang at a recording studio.

Moore released I Wanna Be with You 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 Allmusic accusing its style of being "trashier, flashier, gaudier, and altogether more disposable" than that of So Real. It peaked at No.21 on the Billboard 200, was certified gold in the U.S., selling nearly 1,000,000 copies. The title track, "I Wanna Be with You," was the album's only single and reached No.24 on the Hot 100, Moore's highest peak to date.[citation needed] It was also featured on the soundtrack of the film Center Stage in 2000.

In October 2003, Moore released her fourth album Coverage, which Allmusic characterized as a "leap to musical maturity" and which Entertainment Weekly called an "effort to shed her bubblegum-blond image". The album peaked at No.14 on the Billboard 200; but "Have a Little Faith in Me" and "Senses Working Overtime", its only two singles, did not perform well on the charts. Moore's cover of "I Feel the Earth Move" appeared on Love Rocks, a compilation CD of songs from gay rights supporters.