Hilary Duff

Hilary Erhard Duff{{ref|MiddleName}} (born September 28, 1987), sometimes credited as "Hilary Ann Duff" or "Hilary Ann Lisa Duff", is an American actress and pop music singer. After gaining prominence in the television show Lizzie McGuire, she has since gone onto a film career, with roles in mainstream pictures such as Cheaper by the Dozen and independent films such as Material Girls. Duff has also launched a music career that includes a number of world-wide hit singles as well as two #1 albums on the Billboard 200.

Music

After seeing her sister perform in a band, Duff decided that she wanted to be the next "Pop princess". Duff's first recorded singing performance was on the song "I Can't Wait", which appeared on the original television soundtrack for her television show Lizzie McGuire in August 2002. The following month, the first Disneymania compilation album was released, featuring Duff in the song "The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room".

Related Topics:
Pop princess - Soundtrack - Lizzie McGuire - 2002 - Disneymania

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Her first album was the 2002 collection of Christmas songs entitled Santa Claus Lane, which included duets with Lil' Romeo and Christina Milian. Released in October, it made the lower reaches of the Billboard 200 album chart and number three on the kids' music chart, and eventually achieved gold sales in December of the following year. The title track was also included on the soundtrack to The Santa Clause 2.

Related Topics:
Album - Christmas song - Santa Claus Lane - Lil' Romeo - Christina Milian - Billboard 200 - Gold - The Santa Clause 2

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She also sang on several tracks on the soundtrack to The Lizzie McGuire Movie which was released in April 2003, a few weeks before the actual film came out. One of these tracks, "Why Not", which is performed by Duff in the film, was released as a single, and reached the Top 20 on singles charts in countries including Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Related Topics:
The Lizzie McGuire Movie - April - 2003 - Australia - New Zealand - Netherlands

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Later that year, she recorded her first non-holiday album, entitled Metamorphosis, which was released in August 2003 and went to number one on the US and Canadian charts in that year. Songwriting team The Matrix, who had worked with singers such as Avril Lavigne (on her Let Go album) and Liz Phair, provided three songs on the album. One of these songs, "So Yesterday", was released as the first single, reaching number one in Canada, the Top 40 in Australia and just outside the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Duff agreed to perform her singles "So Yesterday" and "Come Clean" at MTV's New Year Bash 2004 in New York City's Times Square on December 31, but when she performed "Come Clean" the song (and the vocals) playing over the speakers during the performance skipped (in the same way that a CD does on a malfunctioning CD player), revealing that she had been lip synching: during the last seconds of "Come Clean", Duff was forced to sing the final few words of the song. Before "Come Clean" was released as a video, "So Yesterday (Live)" premiered on TRL. The video never made it on the countdown.

Related Topics:
Metamorphosis - August - Songwriting - The Matrix - Avril Lavigne - Let Go - Liz Phair - Canada - Billboard Hot 100 - MTV - New Year - 2004 - New York City - Times Square - December 31 - CD - Lip synching

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Metamorphosis became the eighth-highest selling LP of the year, with over 2.4 million copies purchased in its first four months of release in the US alone; it has since gone to sell over 3.7 million copies. Her success as a singer helped her to be ranked #96 on the Forbes Top 100 Celebrity List of 2003. Metamorphosis was also nominated in Canada'a Juno Awards of 2004 for International Album of the Year.

Related Topics:
Forbes - Juno Awards of 2004

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"Little Voice" was released in late April as a single overseas. "The Math (Live)" was also released overseas and on the internet in the middle of May.

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On May 31, 2004, the music video for her cover version of "Our Lips are Sealed" by The Go-Gos, which she performed with her sister Haylie Duff, made its MTV debut {{ref|OurLipsAreSealedMTVDebut}}. The song was commissioned for the soundtrack of Duff's film A Cinderella Story, which came out the following July.

Related Topics:
May 31 - 2004 - Music video - Cover version - The Go-Gos - Haylie Duff - A Cinderella Story

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On September 28, 2004 (her seventeenth birthday), she released her second album, the self-titled Hilary Duff; it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and number one in Canada. When describing the album to her fans, Duff noted that she felt it has an edgier, rock feel to it. The album's working title was The Girl Can Rock. Its first single was "Fly", and it also includes "Haters", the lyrics of which were once rumoured to be about Lindsay Lohan, who is often considered by the media to be Duff's rival. {{ref|HatersLyricsLohan}} The album has sold over 1.5 million copies in the US to date.

Related Topics:
September 28 - 2004 - Hilary Duff - Lindsay Lohan

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The songs "The Getaway", "Haters" & "Weird" were considered for singles but were cancelled from release by Hollywood Records. She was to release the single in November, but it was delayed until January. Then it was to release at the end of March but it was cancelled until further notice. They stated that the album did not sell as much as her last, so they told her to start on Most Wanted. In May, Duff was supposed to release a single for her film The Perfect Man but the whole plan was scrapped after Duff had already announced twice to MTV that she would be recording a song for the film.

Related Topics:
November - March - May

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Duff accepted an invitation to perform at the youth concert which formed part of George W. Bush's 2005 Inauguration Day celebrations.

Related Topics:
George W. Bush - 2005 - Inauguration Day

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On August 16, 2005, Duff released her third official album, Most Wanted, a compilation of her most popular hits alongside three new songs. Duff enlisted help from boyfriend Joel Madden to make her three new tracks edgier and more rock, and listened to music by artists such as The Killers and Muse for inspiration. The lead single off the album, "Wake Up", debuted at #29 on the Hot 100, making it not only (by far) her highest debut on the chart, but also her highest-peaking single in general in the U.S. In October, the single's music video was retired from Total Request Live at number three. The album itself debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling over 200,000 copies in its first week of release. Most Wanted also debuted at number one in Canada which made it her third number one debut in Canada.

Related Topics:
August 16 - 2005 - Most Wanted - Joel Madden - The Killers - Muse - Total Request Live

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Duff has recorded Madonna's signature song "Material Girl" for her film Material Girls, and the music video is due in January. Duff has also mentioned in an interview that "Material Girl" will be included on her next album, which she is planning to start recording in early 2006.

Related Topics:
Madonna - Material Girl

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She has shot the music video for her next single, "Beat of My Heart", which will pay tribute to the girls of James Bond. The video is scheduled for release at the end of October.

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