Cyloop

An icon to millions of young people for her starring roles in the Disney Channel's blockbuster movie High School Musical and TV series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Ashley Tisdale has been known primarily as an actress who brings to life characters other people have written for her.
But with the February 6th release of her debut album, Headstrong, on Warner Bros. Records, Tisdale is finally getting a chance to be herself and tell her own stories. The album — 12 tracks of urban-flavored pop, rhythmic groove, and touching balladry co-written by a host of top-notch songwriters and producers — is an appealing portrait of this talented, 21-year-old blazing her own trail, and letting her devoted pre-teen and teenaged fans discover her versatility and multi-faceted personality.
"For my fans, Headstrong is a chance to get to know me better," Tisdale says. "People know my characters, but they don't know me. I've never really spilled many details about my life in interviews. But on this...

An icon to millions of young people for her starring roles in the Disney Channel's blockbuster movie High School Musical and TV series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Ashley Tisdale has been known primarily as an actress who brings to life characters other people have written for her.
But with the February 6th release of her debut album, Headstrong, on Warner Bros. Records, Tisdale is finally getting a chance to be herself and tell her own stories. The album — 12 tracks of urban-flavored pop, rhythmic groove, and touching balladry co-written by a host of top-notch songwriters and producers — is an appealing portrait of this talented, 21-year-old blazing her own trail, and letting her devoted pre-teen and teenaged fans discover her versatility and multi-faceted personality.
"For my fans, Headstrong is a chance to get to know me better," Tisdale says. "People know my characters, but they don't know me. I've never really spilled many details about my life in interviews. But on this album I'm talking about what's happened in my life and what is personal to me. I want people to know that I'm a real person, and that I've been through normal situations, like crushes and heartbreaks. I think hearing my stories will help the audience relate better to me."
With co-writer credits on three tracks ("Over It," "Suddenly," and "Not Like That"), Tisdale was determined to record songs that touched her personally and that contained lyrics she could identify with. "I connected to every single song," she says. "Every single one has a story behind it." Her collaborators, who include Jonathan "J.R." Rotem (Britney Spears, Rihanna), The Matrix (Britney Spears, Hilary Duff), Kara DioGuardi (Gwen Stefani, Ashlee Simpson), Guy Roche and Shelly Peiken (Christina Aguilera), the legendary Diane Warren (Faith Hill, Whitney Houston, Cher), and up-and-coming Swedish production team Twin, helped Tisdale craft a positive, empowering message on such tracks as the sassy first single "He Said, She Said" (produced by Rotem), the dancefloor-friendly "Be Good To Me" (co-written by DioGuardi), the buoyant "Positivity" (produced by Roche), the candid "Love Me For Me" (written by Warren), and Tisdale's ‘independence anthem' "Headstrong" (written and produced by the Matrix).
"The album is called Headstrong because I'm a pretty headstrong type of person," Tisdale admits. "I know how I want to look, what songs I want to sing, and how I want to come across. So I'm definitely headstrong in that way."
You'd have to be to survive and thrive as a child growing up in the entertainment industry. Tisdale has been a working singer, dancer, and actress for the past 17 years. The Monmouth, New Jersey, native caught the performance bug at the age of eight when she was featured in a leading role in the national tour of the Broadway musical Les Misérables, followed by an international tour with the cast of Annie. Her early experience singing onstage led to her passion for music.
At 19, Tisdale was cast as Sharpay in the Emmy-winning High School Musical, directed by Kenny Ortega. A pop-culture phenomenon, the film premiered in January 2006 and was the highest-rated telecast in Disney Channel history. In addition, Tisdale scored a coup when she became the first female artist ever to debut with two songs — both from the movie's soundtrack — simultaneously on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. "That is just crazy," she says. "When I think about artists like Madonna and Beyoncé…it's surreal. I seriously can't comprehend it."
With the constant spotlight of fame shining on her, it's easy to see why Tisdale may have barricaded her true self behind her TV characters in the past. But all that will change when Headstrong hits stores in February. Consider the lyrics on the album's stunning closing ballad "Suddenly," which Tisdale co-wrote with Livin' Joy singer Janice Robinson: "Suddenly I am in front of the lights / Everything I'm feeling is scary and beautiful at the same time / And every day I try just to breathe / I want to show the whole world the truth inside of me." It's Tisdale's most vulnerable and personal song to date. "Being out in the public eye is definitely really hard, but it's so worth it," she says. "That song is really important to me because it's exactly what I'm feeling right now."