Career and Life

Music career: After seeing her sister perform in a band, Duff decided that she wanted to try music too. She recorded the song "I Can't Wait" for the original television soundtrack for Lizzie McGuire in August 2002, and also recorded a song for the first Disneymania compilation album released the following month. Her first album was Santa Claus Lane (2002), a collection of Christmas songs which included duets with Lil' Romeo and Christina Milian. 

It peaked well outside of the top 100 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart, but eventually achieved gold certification. The album's title track was included on the soundtrack to The Santa Clause 2. Duff sang on several tracks on the soundtrack to The Lizzie McGuire Movie, including "Why Not". Released as a single, "Why Not" became a modest top twenty hit in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Duff's first non-holiday album, Metamorphosis (2003), included contributions by songwriter-producers such as The Matrix and went to number one on the U.S. and Canadian charts. It became one of the biggest selling albums of the year in the U.S. and has since gone to sell over 3.7 million copies. The lead single, "So Yesterday", was a top ten hit in several countries, while "Come Clean" became Duff's first top forty U.S. hit and reached the top twenty elsewhere. The final single, "Little Voice", was not released in the U.S. and was a minor hit in Canada and Australia.

The second Disneymania disc was released in January 2004, and contained a duet with her sister Haylie, "The Siamese Cat Song". Another song, "Circle of Life", included Duff and other Disney Channel Stars. Duff and her sister also recorded a cover of The Go-Gos' "Our Lips Are Sealed" for the soundtrack to A Cinderella Story.

Duff said that her third album, the self-titled Hilary Duff, had an edgier, rock feel to it. It was released on her seventeenth birthday (in September 2004) and debuted at number two in the U.S. and number one in Canada. The album has sold over 1.5 million copies in the U.S. to date, but "Fly" and "Someone's Watching Over Me" failed to achieve substantial success apart from reaching the Australian top forty.

Duff's fourth album, Most Wanted (2005), consisted of a selection of her favourite tracks from her previous two albums alongside new songs inspired by rock musicians such as The Killers and Muse for inspiration. Duff had more creative control over the album compared to her previous releases, co-writing and co-producing all of the new material with boyfriend Joel Madden. Lead single "Wake Up" became her highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 and her highest peaking single in the U.S. The album itself debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and became her third number one debut in Canada, and by 2006 had sold over one million copies in the U.S.

Duff is going to re-record Madonna's "Material Girl" for the soundtrack of her film Material Girls. Timbaland is going to produce the track. 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.

Personal life: Duff has dated singer Aaron Carter. There were reports that she had tried to have fellow teen actress Lindsay Lohan banned from the preview of Cheaper by the Dozen because Lohan had allegedly been dating Carter at the same time as Duff in late 2003, as well as other reports about a fistfight that supposedly took place between the two actresses. Duff had a disagreement with pop punk singer Avril Lavigne over criticisms by Duff that Lavigne did not respect her own fans for copying Lavigne's dress style.Duff has dated singer Aaron Carter. 

There were reports that she had tried to have fellow teen actress Lindsay Lohan banned from the preview of Cheaper by the Dozen because Lohan had allegedly been dating Carter at the same time as Duff in late 2003, as well as other reports about a fistfight that supposedly took place between the two actresses. Duff had a disagreement with pop punk singer Avril Lavigne over criticisms by Duff that Lavigne did not respect her own fans for copying Lavigne's dress style.

Duff is involved with many charities, is an animal rights enthusiast, and a member of "Kids With a Cause". On September 5, 2005, it was reported that Duff donated US$250,000 to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Her hair is naturally light brown, but she's been dying it blonde since she was eleven years old. She also has six dogs: Lola, Macy, and Chiquita are her dogs and the rest are her sister's. Duff launched a clothing line, "Stuff By Duff" on March 12, 2004 with clothes distributed through Target in the United States and Australia and Zellers in Canada. Playmates Toys also released a doll of Duff that year.

Her sister, Haylie Duff, has been trying to become a professional singer, as well. Hilary has helped her with duet songs including "Our Lips Are Sealed" which have been successful in the United States and in other countries, including Mexico and Colombia. Her mother, Susan Duff, is a producer and manages Hilary's career. Susan also co-produced A Cinderella Story and her father, Bob Duff, is a business owner.

Duff is currently dating Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden. She finally cleared up all the rumors in June 2005 by admitting they were dating, and had been seeing each other since she was sixteen and he was twenty-four. The rumour began when they were seen together in Toronto for the 2004 MuchMusic Video Awards.

In 2005, Duff stated that her song "Beat Of My Heart", from her new album, had been written about pal, and fellow musician Nick Dachino, on the "Tonight Show", with Jay Leno.

In late 2005, Duff took a month off from work as a belated eighteenth birthday present. She said that after releasing Most Wanted and writing three new songs for it, shooting three films, and embarking on her U.S. "Still Most Wanted Tour", she wanted to take a short break. Her forthcoming film Outward Blonde was then put on hold for "a little while", but Duff planned to commence promotion for the films Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and Material Girls after her month off, as well as continuing her "Still Most Wanted Tour" in Canada, Australia and other countries.

By 2005, Duff had obviously lost weight, leading fans and the media to speculate that she had developed an eating disorder. Duff was interviewed on the Australian current affair show Today Tonight and stated that she lost weight to live a more healthy lifestyle. 

MuchMusic VJ Hannah Sung interviewed Joel Madden in Tokyo and asked him about Duff's new look. Madden said that he didn't know what she was talking about. Duff also appeared to have had dental work. In August 2005, she said she received veneers because she chipped her teeth on microphones during performances.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors, This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hilary Duff".

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