Who Knew
Pink Talks Living on Throat Coat, Screaming to Zeppelin, and Being on the PTSA
Rolling Stone catches up with the Grammy winner at the Desert Smash celebrity tennis charity event to ask about her latest obsessions and touring essentials
John Lonsdale
Contact John Lonsdale by Email
- Backstreet Boys’ Las Vegas Sphere Residency: How to Get Tickets to Sold-Out Shows
- The Best Earbuds With Ear Hooks of 2026
- Here’s How to Watch NBC If You Don’t Have Cable
View all posts by John Lonsdale
March 26, 2025
Add us as a Google Preferred Source
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 30: P!nk performs onstage during the FIREAID Benefit Concert for California Fire Relief at The Kia Forum on January 30, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Scott Dudelson / Getty Images for FIREAID
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.
It’s an idyllic, sunny Tuesday afternoon in early March, and Pink is getting ready to play some tennis at Desert Smash, the celebrity and professional tennis charity event held each year at California’s La Quinta Resort & Club.
“I love tennis and I love raising money for good causes. So easy, easy, easy combination,” the singer says about being a part of the event, which raised $1.3 million for the WTA Foundation’s Global Women’s Health Fund and UNICEF. “And it’s such a great event. I feel like everyone here, no matter what the role is, is having a good time.”
Later in the afternoon, the singer-songwriter is set to play alongside Jon Lovitz (“I’m playing you later!” Pink sings to Lovitz in the middle of our interview. “Please don’t be so good!”) and Cheri Oteri (“Alecia, you’re like free therapy,” Oteri tells Pink.)
Pink plays at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 04, 2025, in Indian Wells, California. Clive Brunskill / Getty Images for WTA Foundation
Before Desert Smash, Pink concluded her three-year global trek, dubbed the Summer Carnival Tour, a few months back in November, and now says she’s “back on the PTSA … yeah, I’m doing the damn thing. I love life.”
Although you won’t find Pink on tour right now, fans will still have to wait for the singer to release new music. Instead, she has a few other important events on her schedule, but they don’t include getting into the studio.
“No, no, no, not at all,” Pink later tells us when asked if she’s writing new tunes. “Nope. I write poetry. I write a lot. I’m a writer, but I’m writing other things but not music. My daughter is about to be in a big theater production and I’m helping her. And my boy is doing baseball so that’s where I’m at. I know it’s not very Rolling Stone, but it’s so much joy.”
While Pink wrapped the 131-concert Summer Carnival Tour late last year, the Grammy winner returned to the stage to perform a show-stopping set at the FireAid Benefit Concert in Los Angeles in January, including covers of Led Zeppelin‘s “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You,” and Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee.”
Editor’s picks
The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far
The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
100 Best Movies of the 21st Century
“I know my audience, let’s put it that way,” Pink says. “And they were like, ‘Come sing three songs.’ And I’m like I’m not singing three Pink songs. I’ll do one. But it’s funny when I do a show I have two-and-a-half hours and 25 songs and I’ve never lip-synced a day in my life, and I’m a screamer, like I sing hard.
Trending Stories
How Melanie C Learned to Embrace Sporty Spice
The Beach Boys Canceled Another Show. A John Stamos Spinoff Group Is Taking Their Spot
Paris Jackson Calls Estate Executor’s $109 Million Fee Request ‘Offensive,’ Seeks Reduction
58-Year-Old Republican Blames Sending Unsolicited Nudes on 'Youthful Indiscretion'
Continues Pink: “So I kind of have to take it easy a little bit, and then I’m like, ‘Three songs, oh, I can just let it go.’ Led Zeppelin. Janis Joplin. I mean, those are my [go-tos] — I do those in shows also but ‘Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You’ is one of all the songs I’ve covered in my life — obviously Janis is my spiderweb — but that’s a song you can lose yourself in, and I like to scream.”
Rolling Stone sat down with Pink to chat more about a few of her go-to products for the road or studio, what she listens to before a performance, and more essentials, below.
Tea Time
Traditional Medicinals Tea Organic Throat Coat
$4.99
“I live on Throat Coat, which is a really boring thing to say,” Pink says of her touring and performing essential. “But I tell every singer — all my young theater kids right now — I’m just trying to get them acclimated to the taste.”
But Throat Coat isn’t Pink’s only essential drink: “I like the AG1 powder packets for vitamins, greens.”
Pain relief
Advil
$9.88
“I use Advil, am I allowed to say that? Advil. Lots and lots and lots of Advil.”
Beyond stocking pain reliever in her dressing room, Pink adds, “PEZ, I love PEZ. My dressing room used to be whiskey and cigarettes, and now it’s like ball pits and bounce houses [laughs], which I love also.”
Pre-Show Playlist
Jason Isbell’s “If We Were Vampires”
$0.69
What does Pink listen to before a show or performance? “You wouldn’t believe it,” she says, “but I have the saddest playlist in the world: I listen to ‘If We Were Vampires,’ [laughs] Jason Isbell.”
Along with listening to Isbell’s ballad before a gig, Pink adds, “I just really like Sade and yeah, my husband’s like, ‘Do you wanna get, like, hyped at all?” And I’m like, ‘I am. I’m getting hyped.'”
Fashion Obsession
R13 Trucker Hat
$125
“I’m obsessed with these R13 hats because I have one in every color,” Pink says, wearing one of the brand’s green caps. “… I should be sponsored, but I’m not.”
In this article:
More News
-
Netflix Hasn’t Offered a Free Option in Six Years, but We Found Two Ways to Get It Without Paying
- Streaming Hack
-
Harry Styles’ ‘Harryween’ Tickets Are Still Available — Here’s How to Find Deals
- Ticketing Guide
-
American Girl Dolls Are Trading Their Period Pieces for Preppy J.Crew Fits
- New Release
-
'The Celebrity Traitors UK' Season 2 Isn’t Available in the U.S., But We Found a Way to Stream
- VPN Guide
-
The Holidays Look Better From the Beach: 4 Hilton Resorts for a Warm-Weather Getaway
-
Paris Jackson Calls Estate Executor’s $109 Million Fee Request ‘Offensive,’ Seeks Reduction
- 'Intolerable'
- 8 hours ago
-
Hayden Panettiere's Death Ruled Accidental by Police
- Update
- Oct 28, 2026 6:41 pm
-
58-Year-Old Republican Blames Sending Unsolicited Nudes on 'Youthful Indiscretion'
- 'Back in the Day'
- Oct 28, 2026 4:16 pm
-
The Beach Boys Canceled Another Show. A John Stamos Spinoff Group Is Taking Their Spot
- Have Mercy
- Oct 28, 2026 2:50 pm
Top stories newsletter
A Cultural Force That Transcends Generations
Enter your Email
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.