New York-A collective squeal goes up in a midtown H&M.
Cameras – disposable, digital, attached to cell phones – unleash a strobe light of flash as shoppers swarm wrestling star Hulk Hogan. But the Hulkster didn’t mean to attract this much attention. In fact, slightly alarmed, he soon ducks back into the car waiting outside.
The only reason he came to the store was his daughter, Brooke, wanted to shop there. And because she’s trying to become a star.
At 16 years and a formidable 5-foot-10, Brooke Hogan is the newest contender to step into the pop-music ring – and she’s being coached by ‘N Sync and Backstreet Boys champ-maker Lou Pearlman.
Her first album, “This Voice,” won’t be released until early next year, but her first single, “Everything to Me,” recently hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 Singles chart.
To increase Brooke’s exposure, VH1 aired “(Inside)Out: Hulk Hogan, Stage Dad” this summer, and MTV recently shot a segment of “Cribs” at the Hogan family’s sprawling Tampa home.
“I usually don’t do these things, because I’ve been in the business for 30 years and have earned the right to pick and choose,” says Hulk, who has won 12 World Heavyweight Championships in professional wrestling.
“But for Brooke, I do things differently than I would have done for myself. If I was selfish, I could say there is so much life left in my career, but all of a sudden I am showing up in Wal-Mart for free. If I just wanted to sign autographs at Wal-Mart, they’d have to pay me 50 or 60 grand for a couple of hours.
“But I will do things because they are career moves for her, even though they might not be smart business moves on a Hulk Hogan scale.”
The Hogans established a joint venture with Pearlman to maintain creative control of Brooke’s music, image and income. Part of that means finding a way to distinguish Brooke from the glutted lineup of blond belters that includes Hilary Duff and Jessica Simpson.
“I just want to be real and good and a role model for kids,” says Brooke, who ditched her father’s surname, Bollea, in favor of his stage handle.
“No offense, but nobody is really out there now,” she says.
“Morals are a big thing that play into who I am, and I think kids need that with all of the crazy TV out there. I mean, these kids come up to me, they’re 12 and have their stomachs out and pierced bellybuttons and I am like, what? I’m intimidated by the 12-year-olds!”
To develop her singing, dancing and piano skills, Brooke traded the ninth grade for a home tutor and hours of lessons every day. Though she first told her parents she wanted a music career during her ‘tweens, it took years of work and several visits before Pearlman added her to his roster.
“When I first met her, Brooke was an innocent babe in the woods,” says Pearlman. “She had no idea about how to carry herself vocally. We recommended vocal coaches and choreography people and to hone her instrument playing.”
Though she admits to a crush on Aaron Carter and still jumps on the family trampoline and rides Jet Skis with friends, the tough regime of lessons, studio work, TV, radio and in-person appearances has taken a toll.
“[In the entertainment business] you have to instantly grow up and instantly get stressed,” says Hulk. “I have seen looks on my daughter’s face that I have never seen before. I will see the stone-cold blank stare of a 40-year-old woman on a 16-year-old’s face. That worries me.”
But Brooke is convinced that she’s made the right decisions. “I’ve always wanted to be different,” she says. “I was always the odd man out in school. I didn’t have many friends.
“I was always taller and blonder than everybody, and I wanted to be different. I said to myself, ‘If you really want to do this, then you have to start young.'”