Watching from the stands, Moore, around 11, had what she calls a lightbulb moment.
I didnt know you could do that!
she recalls while sitting at her local coffee shop in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Credit: Carter Smith
So I begged my mom to record me singing a cappella with my little pitch pipe.
My mom then hand-delivered it [to the arena], and I think she brought cookies.
Moore says she was around 13 at the time.
Mandy Moore/YouTube
Suddenly she found herself in the middle of the cultural hurricane that was theTRLera.
She became an MTV VJ.
She opened for both *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.
Rachel Luna/Getty Images
She even did an episode of MTVsDiary.
You think you know, but you have no idea!
Moore can barely contain her excitement remembering the tagline for the series.
But suddenly, the music stopped.
Instead, Moore became best known for her onscreen work.
Her character on the show sang, but Moore no longer did.
(He has denied the allegations.)
Before she knew it, it had been a decade since shed released a song.
(It doesnt.)
And this time, she was going to do things differently.
I think its so bold and impressive that shes growing with her music.
Her going out there and making a singer-songwriter record is indicative of how confident the record is.
As he puts it, She was in a place of empowerment.
She felt like she has lived more of a life.
She had a lot to say.
And a lot of what she had to say was very personal.
Selfishly I need to come to terms with my own life and choices and find some catharsis.
I needed to go through all that s to get to where I am today, she says.
But this isnt an album about how rough life can be.
Thats the opposite of what she wants to sing about.
That is in the rearview mirror.
I am in the drivers seat and Im only looking forward.
Just dont expect her to be riding around in a lime green Beetle.
