Original article for my "A CRADLE SONG" poem ("a cradle pro")
‘I’m looking
forward to the
first time she puts
her feet in the
ocean, the first time
she feels the rain,
the first time she
sings, laughs…’
She’s the first child of rock star Pink and her motocross rider husband Carey Hart, but Willow (left, with her parents, and above) is taking celebrity life in her stride, more or less sleeping through the entire HELLO! photoshoot. “She’s a pro,” laughs Pink. “Or else she is borderline narcoleptic, like her daddy”
REVELLING IN THEIR NEW ROLES AS PARENTS
PINK AND CAREY HART
INTRODUCE BABY WILLOW
She may be the picture of
peace and tranquillity on our
photoshoot, but Willow’s arrival
turned the Hart household
upside down on her first
night home. “Carey couldn’t
figure out who to comfort
first, poor guy,” says Pink
With their hands lovingly entwined to form a
cradle, rock star Pink and her motorcycle
racer husband Carey Hart gaze adoringly at the
soft, cherubic bundle snoozing contentedly in their
comforting embrace.
It’s a familiar scene in the Hart household these
days, since the birth of the couple’s first child,
Willow Sage, almost a month ago.
“I could sit and watch paint dry as long as she was
in my arms,” says the Grammy award-winning
singer, who was born Alecia Beth Moore 31 years
ago in Pennsylvania. “You hear people say it all the
time, how life changes so drastically. But you can’t
possibly grasp how beautiful that is until you have
your child.”
DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL
Smiling tenderly at the slumbering infant, it’s clear
that Carey, 35 – the singer’s husband of five years –
is equally smitten with the new arrival.
Two days after Willow’s birth, the muscular
sportsman posted an emotional note on Twitter,
declaring his love for his two beautiful girls. “My
wife @Pink owns my heart. And she just gave me my
best achievment [sic] of my life #WillowSageHart.
Medals and flips got nothing on her.”
And after celebrating his first Father’s Day as a
doting dad just over a week ago, Carey described
the landmark occasion as “perfect”.
Pink reveals that the man she fell in love with a
decade ago – and to whom she proposed by holding
up a sign saying. “Will you marry me?” during one
of his motocross races – has taken to parenthood
like a duck to water.
“Carey is a natural,” she says. “He calms Willow
down like only my boob can! He walks her around
and gets up with me for every feed to change
her and burp her and she falls asleep on his chest.
“I knew when I met him that he’d be a great
father, but watching him fall in love, watching
him nurture her – I’ve never been so in love
with him. He keeps thanking me for giving her to
him. It’s a beautiful time.”
The couple, who separated in 2008 but reunited
a year later following marriage counselling, had
hoped for a natural home birth.
“We took all kinds of classes,” reveals
Pink. “I was really looking forward to the
“Willow’s been amazing. Everyone
gives you this picture of having no
sleep and bickering, which leads to
divorce… But it’s not that bad’
The chart-topping Stupid Girls singer (picture on stage, right) is no stranger to controversy,
but the arrival of baby Willow nearly a month ago seems to have brought calmness and peace.
“It all turned out perfectly in the end,” reveals Pink. “She is healthy and happy and so am I”
whole rite of passage, of giving birth perfectly
present, un-medicated, in the way nature
intended. Carey was on board with all of it and
excited as well.” She pauses, then adds with a
broad smile: “What’s the saying? ‘We make
plans, God laughs.’”
It turned out that their angelic daughter was
in the frank breech position. “That’s head up
with her legs up by her head, in a pike position.
We tried everything to turn her around – she is
my daughter, after all,” quips the Get the Party
Started singer.’
After spending more than 36 hours in the early
stages of labour at home in California, the
exhausted mum-to-be was taken to hospital, where
she had a Caesarean section.
“It all turned out perfectly in the end, even
though it wasn’t what we intended, because she is
healthy and happy and so am I,” says Pink. That
said, the delivery room was the scene of some
drama, albeit comedy drama, courtesy of a slightly
shell-shocked Carey.
“It got a little intense in the beginning, as we
were still wrapping our heads around it all,”
recalls Pink. “Carey walked in and went to sit
down in his slippery scrubs and the chair
went from under him and he hit the mat. It was
perfect comedy.”
TREE OF LIFE
The couple named their newborn Willow after
Pink’s favourite tree. “I grew up near one,” she
recalls. “It is the most flexible tree in nature and
nothing can break it – no wind, no elements. It
can bend and withstand anything. I love that
sentiment. I want that for her.”
And the unusual middle name? “Sage is
cleansing and sacred and it sounds great with
Willow. It doesn’t hurt that her last name is Hart
- flexible, cleansed heart.”
If Willow”s performance at her first photoshoot,
which took place when she was just one week old,
is anything to go by, she will blossom into a very
laid-back youngster. She slept pretty much the
whole way through. “Willow is a pro – or else she
is borderline narcoleptic, like her daddy,” jokes
her mum, who’s clearly proud of them both.
Pink could not have wished for a more easy-
going introduction to parenthood. “She’s been
amazing,” she says of her daughter. “Everyone
gives you this terrifying picture of having no
sleep at all and bickering, which leads to divorce,
etcetera. But it’s not that bad. I think I’ve cried
more than she has – and that’s just because I’m
emotional and a little nuts.”
However, Pink does concede that she and
Carey did experience “one major meltdown”, on
their first night at home with their tiny newborn.
“Carey couldn’t figure out who to comfort
first, poor guy,” says Pink.
It hasn’t put the couple off having more
children, though, with Pink revealing candidly:
“We’ll go for a natural birth next time, for sure.”
For the moment, though, they have their
hands full with the little girl who has transformed
their lives. As Pink herself recently tweeted: “My
life was once whiskey, tears, and cigarettes… now
it’s snot, tears, and the color of poop. #bliss.”
She wouldn’t have it any other way. “I look
forward to all her ‘firsts;,” she says. “The first time
she puts her feet in the ocean, the first time she
feels the rain, the first time she sings, laughs…
“We can’t wait to take her on our adventures…
tour, supercross. She is so lucky that she’ll have
the ability to travel to all the different countries
and cultures and see so much.”
As for herself and Carey, they are, says
Pink, “beyond blessed”.
‘Carey keeps
thanking me for
giving Willow to him.
It’s a beautiful time’
INTERVIEW: BELINDA ROBEY
PHOTOS: BABY AS ART
HELLO! magazine, No 1181 5 July 2011; pp. 26-30
forward to the
first time she puts
her feet in the
ocean, the first time
she feels the rain,
the first time she
sings, laughs…’
She’s the first child of rock star Pink and her motocross rider husband Carey Hart, but Willow (left, with her parents, and above) is taking celebrity life in her stride, more or less sleeping through the entire HELLO! photoshoot. “She’s a pro,” laughs Pink. “Or else she is borderline narcoleptic, like her daddy”
REVELLING IN THEIR NEW ROLES AS PARENTS
PINK AND CAREY HART
INTRODUCE BABY WILLOW
She may be the picture of
peace and tranquillity on our
photoshoot, but Willow’s arrival
turned the Hart household
upside down on her first
night home. “Carey couldn’t
figure out who to comfort
first, poor guy,” says Pink
With their hands lovingly entwined to form a
cradle, rock star Pink and her motorcycle
racer husband Carey Hart gaze adoringly at the
soft, cherubic bundle snoozing contentedly in their
comforting embrace.
It’s a familiar scene in the Hart household these
days, since the birth of the couple’s first child,
Willow Sage, almost a month ago.
“I could sit and watch paint dry as long as she was
in my arms,” says the Grammy award-winning
singer, who was born Alecia Beth Moore 31 years
ago in Pennsylvania. “You hear people say it all the
time, how life changes so drastically. But you can’t
possibly grasp how beautiful that is until you have
your child.”
DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL
Smiling tenderly at the slumbering infant, it’s clear
that Carey, 35 – the singer’s husband of five years –
is equally smitten with the new arrival.
Two days after Willow’s birth, the muscular
sportsman posted an emotional note on Twitter,
declaring his love for his two beautiful girls. “My
wife @Pink owns my heart. And she just gave me my
best achievment [sic] of my life #WillowSageHart.
Medals and flips got nothing on her.”
And after celebrating his first Father’s Day as a
doting dad just over a week ago, Carey described
the landmark occasion as “perfect”.
Pink reveals that the man she fell in love with a
decade ago – and to whom she proposed by holding
up a sign saying. “Will you marry me?” during one
of his motocross races – has taken to parenthood
like a duck to water.
“Carey is a natural,” she says. “He calms Willow
down like only my boob can! He walks her around
and gets up with me for every feed to change
her and burp her and she falls asleep on his chest.
“I knew when I met him that he’d be a great
father, but watching him fall in love, watching
him nurture her – I’ve never been so in love
with him. He keeps thanking me for giving her to
him. It’s a beautiful time.”
The couple, who separated in 2008 but reunited
a year later following marriage counselling, had
hoped for a natural home birth.
“We took all kinds of classes,” reveals
Pink. “I was really looking forward to the
“Willow’s been amazing. Everyone
gives you this picture of having no
sleep and bickering, which leads to
divorce… But it’s not that bad’
The chart-topping Stupid Girls singer (picture on stage, right) is no stranger to controversy,
but the arrival of baby Willow nearly a month ago seems to have brought calmness and peace.
“It all turned out perfectly in the end,” reveals Pink. “She is healthy and happy and so am I”
whole rite of passage, of giving birth perfectly
present, un-medicated, in the way nature
intended. Carey was on board with all of it and
excited as well.” She pauses, then adds with a
broad smile: “What’s the saying? ‘We make
plans, God laughs.’”
It turned out that their angelic daughter was
in the frank breech position. “That’s head up
with her legs up by her head, in a pike position.
We tried everything to turn her around – she is
my daughter, after all,” quips the Get the Party
Started singer.’
After spending more than 36 hours in the early
stages of labour at home in California, the
exhausted mum-to-be was taken to hospital, where
she had a Caesarean section.
“It all turned out perfectly in the end, even
though it wasn’t what we intended, because she is
healthy and happy and so am I,” says Pink. That
said, the delivery room was the scene of some
drama, albeit comedy drama, courtesy of a slightly
shell-shocked Carey.
“It got a little intense in the beginning, as we
were still wrapping our heads around it all,”
recalls Pink. “Carey walked in and went to sit
down in his slippery scrubs and the chair
went from under him and he hit the mat. It was
perfect comedy.”
TREE OF LIFE
The couple named their newborn Willow after
Pink’s favourite tree. “I grew up near one,” she
recalls. “It is the most flexible tree in nature and
nothing can break it – no wind, no elements. It
can bend and withstand anything. I love that
sentiment. I want that for her.”
And the unusual middle name? “Sage is
cleansing and sacred and it sounds great with
Willow. It doesn’t hurt that her last name is Hart
- flexible, cleansed heart.”
If Willow”s performance at her first photoshoot,
which took place when she was just one week old,
is anything to go by, she will blossom into a very
laid-back youngster. She slept pretty much the
whole way through. “Willow is a pro – or else she
is borderline narcoleptic, like her daddy,” jokes
her mum, who’s clearly proud of them both.
Pink could not have wished for a more easy-
going introduction to parenthood. “She’s been
amazing,” she says of her daughter. “Everyone
gives you this terrifying picture of having no
sleep at all and bickering, which leads to divorce,
etcetera. But it’s not that bad. I think I’ve cried
more than she has – and that’s just because I’m
emotional and a little nuts.”
However, Pink does concede that she and
Carey did experience “one major meltdown”, on
their first night at home with their tiny newborn.
“Carey couldn’t figure out who to comfort
first, poor guy,” says Pink.
It hasn’t put the couple off having more
children, though, with Pink revealing candidly:
“We’ll go for a natural birth next time, for sure.”
For the moment, though, they have their
hands full with the little girl who has transformed
their lives. As Pink herself recently tweeted: “My
life was once whiskey, tears, and cigarettes… now
it’s snot, tears, and the color of poop. #bliss.”
She wouldn’t have it any other way. “I look
forward to all her ‘firsts;,” she says. “The first time
she puts her feet in the ocean, the first time she
feels the rain, the first time she sings, laughs…
“We can’t wait to take her on our adventures…
tour, supercross. She is so lucky that she’ll have
the ability to travel to all the different countries
and cultures and see so much.”
As for herself and Carey, they are, says
Pink, “beyond blessed”.
‘Carey keeps
thanking me for
giving Willow to him.
It’s a beautiful time’
INTERVIEW: BELINDA ROBEY
PHOTOS: BABY AS ART
HELLO! magazine, No 1181 5 July 2011; pp. 26-30
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