Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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Im trying to stay present and acknowledge and appreciate all of it.
I get the feeling that this will probably never happen again.
Moore may have felt the same way about her touring days.
Yet on June 10, she kicks off her firstheadlining stintin more than a decade.
(She also recently announced shes pregnant withbaby No.
Obviously, no ones going out and getting wasted, she says.
Were all married and have kids and are just happy to be playing two hours every night.
Its basically a tour of Whole Foods around the country.
Were just like,What healthy snacks can we find on the road?
Thats whats exciting to me.
At 38 years old, Moore has a sense of humor regarding her early discography.
But she also doesnt mind being known as the self-proclaimed boring pop star of the early aughts.
I just dont think Ive ever been interesting enough to have crazy rumors written about me.
she says rather excitedly.
Song youre most excited to play on tour
Its always fun to play Candy.
Anything from aWalk to Rememberis always sweet.
Im excited to take lots of stuff from the past and put a slightly new spin on it.
Im just excited to verify that the older tracks feel like they make sense with the newer music.
Like,I Wanna Be With Youis a good song and a fun one to play.
FavoriteA Walk to Remembermemory
I mean, everything?
I didnt know what I was doing.Poor Shane Westhad to show me the ropes.
I didnt know what sides were.
I didnt know how to hit my mark.
I took a lot of the basic information about being a working actor from that experience.
I loved what the movie ultimately said.
The soundtrack was also such a huge part of the affection for the film.
Twenty years later, peoples fondness of it is so rooted in the music and the soundtrack.
I think singing that song Only Hope in the movie was such a big plot point.
That soundtrack is probably a favorite of mine.
We filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, so it was kind of like a sleepaway camp.
All of it was such a pivotal experience for me.
The better tour to open for: Backstreet Boys versus NSYNC
They were both so different.
NSYNC was my first experience, and it was a summer amphitheater tour.
There was a tiny little baby stage, and so maybe 15, 20, people would watch.
Most of the time, people wanted to go buy merch or cotton candy or whatever.
The show was in the round and theyliterally flewto 20,000 people with glow sticks.
Eight months after watching them onTRL, I was on the road with them.
It was a very, very crazy chapter of my life.
It was just so surreal.
Thats really the only word I could use to describe it.
It was the most surreal experience, and the same with NSYNC.
Remember Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays?
Six months later, I was opening for them.
It was such a head trip.
It was just our own little quiet intimate ode to this future child that we were going to have.
I dont think when we wrote it we were thinking it would ever see the light of day.
When were working together, its just so comfortable and so easy.
I feel like I have the ultimate champion and supporter by my side.
I have such unending respect for him as an artist separate from being my partner.
Getting to work with him is really the cherry on the sundae.
I couldnt ask for anything better, hes the dream collaborator in every sense.
But they were written in the treatment.
It was just, like, entirely random.
It was really fun to work with them.
Best part of being an MTV VJ
I was a VJ from 1999 to 2002 or 2003.
I remember the electricity of being a part of the show as a VJ.
Its a really fantastic and just bizarre chapter of my life, but I loved it.
It was the litmus test.
If it was cool enough for MTV, then it was cool.
There was no social media, MTV was it, the be-all and end-all.
Favorite memory from shooting the 2003 Its Raining TeensVanity Faircover
I felt like a real outsider.
I didnt know anybody.
I was really excited to be there.
I just remember it being a whole production and kind of hearing the whispers.
I remember feeling like,Well, thats cool!
Someone knows who my boyfriend is wow!
And they have a crush on him?
That makes me feel cool.
I picked a cool guy![Laughs.]
I was considered cool enough to be on the cover with all of these ladies.
Among the women, I did not feel any animosity or competitiveness.
Everybody felt really friendly, so whateverstressful, anxiety-inducing experiencespeople had, I didnt feel any of that.
But my recollection of it was there was none of that.
Being younger than all of them, I was very much allowed to be myself.
I dressed the way I wanted to dress and answered questions the way I wanted to answer questions.
I went to the mall.
I went to amusement parks.
I went out to dinner with my friends.
I think thats a testament to my parents, who were just my parents.
They never were my managers.
At the time, I just thought, like,Oh, thats what happens.
Mom and dad schlep around with you around the country just to double-check youre eating dinner.
But no, its not that case for everybody, and so I feel very, very lucky.
Most cringeworthy song
Oh, probably the bulk of that first record.
I dont have tens of millions of dollars to pay people back.
So sorry about that!
A lot of those songs are not the ones that are being revisited on the road.
Candy is the glaring exception.
The rest of that record, Im okay to take a hard pass on.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
