Ashley Tisdale's career:

Career
1996–2006:
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tisdale had minor roles in several television shows such as The Hughleys, Smart Guy, 7th Heaven, Boston Public and Bette and in the feature films A Bug's Life and Donnie Darko, her first film appearances. During this time, she simultaneously worked as a Ford Model. For her role in Boston Public, she received a 2000 Young Artist Award nomination for "best guest performance in a TV drama", which was her first nomination. In 2004, she was cast as the teenage candy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick in the Disney Channel series, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody which premiered in March 2005. She later won her first award at the UK Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for her role as Fitzpatrick.
In 2005, Tisdale was cast as the popular, narcissistic high school student Sharpay Evans in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, which premiered in January 2006. The producers of the film did not initially consider her because of her "good-girl image" on The Suite Life. She lend her vocals for several songs in the film's soundtrack, which was the top-selling album in the United States in 2006. Tisdale became the first female artist to debut with two songs simultaneously on the "Billboard Hot 100" with "What I've Been Looking For" and "Bop to the Top", both songs from the film. High School Musical became Disney Channel's most watched movie that year, with 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast in the US. Tisdale joined the rest of the main cast of the film in the High School Musical: The Concert, a 40-city concert tour including performances of the film's songs.
Due to the enormous popularity earned by Tisdale through her role, Warner Bros. Records signed her for a recording contract in July, 2006. Disney asked Tisdale to record a cover version of "Kiss the Girl", for the 2006 re-release of The Little Mermaid DVD. In the same year, she also covered Wham!'s "Last Christmas", which became her first release via Warner Bros. In December 2006, a three-song EP, He Said She Said, was released to promote her debut album which would be released in 2007.
2007–present:
In February 2007, her first solo album, Headstrong, was released by Warner Bros Records and debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, selling 64,000 copies. "Be Good to Me" was released as the album's first single in the December, 2006 and "He Said She Said" was released as the second, in September, 2007. In 2008, a third single, "Not Like That", was released in Europe, while a fourth single, "Suddenly", was only released in Germany. Tisdale released her first music DVD, There's Something About Ashley, in November 2007 with a three-song trilogy comprising music videos and a documentary about the creation of her debut album, which was later certified Gold in the U.S. for 500,000 copies shipped and voted the sixth best 2007 album by Billboard readers.
In 2007, Tisdale reprised her role as Sharpay Evans in High School Musical 2, the second installment of the film series and lend vocals for several tracks in the film's soundtrack. Her performance in the High School Musical 2 was critically successful and praised by many media outlets such as The Hollywood Reporter. The film received 17 million viewers on its premiere night and was Disney Channel's most-watched television movie ever. Tisdale received a voice role in Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb, portraying the series' main antagonist Candace Flynn and also contributed to the show's 2009 soundtrack, performing numerous songs as her character. She voiced Camille Leon in some episodes of Kim Possible.
In 2008, Tisdale starred as Mandy Gilbert, an unpopular teenager at high school, in the ABC Family Original Movie Picture This and was also one of the film's executive producers. She reprised her role for the last time as Sharpay Evans in the third installment of the High School Musical series, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which premiered in October 2008 in theaters and contributed to the soundtrack. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly labeled her one of film's breakout stars and said her portrayal of Evans makes "narcissism a goofy, bedazzled pleasure", while English film critic Mark Kermode praised Tisdale's performance and also labeled her as the "Best Supporting Actress" of 2008. Tisdale was nominated for numerous awards for her performance in the film, winning the MTV Movie Award for "Breakthrough Performance Female" in 2009. High School Musical 3 earned $42 million in its domestic opening weekend, which became the biggest opening for a musical film.
Tisdale's second solo album Guilty Pleasure was first released in June 2009 in several countries and then in July 2009 in North America. She compared the album to Headstrong, saying Guilty Pleasure includes "more rock and edgier" music. The album generated mixed reviews and has a 54% rating on Metacritic, based on five critic reviews and Billboard claimed the album "doesn't give the singer room to comfortably let loose". The song "It's Alright, It's OK", was released as the album's lead single on April 2009 in the United States in airplay and digital formats and a second single, "Crank It Up" was released in October. Guilty Pleasure later debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200, selling 25,000 copies in its first week, archiving a low commerical performance in comparison with her debut album. Tisdale made a special appearance in Boys Like Girls' music video for "Love Drunk".
Tisdale starred in the 2009 20th Century Fox family feature film Aliens in the Attic as Bethany Pearson, the elder sister of the family and although she is credited as one of the main characters, The New York Times said Tisdale "spends much of the film off screen". The film grossed $60 million worldwide. In 2009, she made guest appearances as Maddie Fitzpatrick in The Suite Life on Deck and as a celebrity volunteer in a episode of the reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Tisdale is a producer, she has a production company named Blondie Girl Productions and is currently working on several projects including an animated series and a reality show with FremantleMedia. In October 2009, Tisdale was cast in the film, Sleepless Beauty.

Musical style:
Tisdale's music is predominantly pop and has included ballads and pop rock. Love and heartbreak are major themes in Tisdale's songs and her output makes use of electronic instruments such as drum machines and electric guitars. She co-wrote several songs on her studio albums. Her musical influences include Kelly Clarkson, The Used, Boys Like Girls, Michael Jackson, My Chemical Romance, and Lady GaGa. and in an AOL interview, Tisdale said, "I’ve been a big fan of Pink ever since she started. I love Katy Perry’s sense of humor and her pop/rock feel. I love Pat Benatar's music. I’m inspired by all these women when I’m going into the studio, but almost anything inspires me."