Brooke Hogan

Biography

Brooke Ellen Oleksy (née Bollea, born May 5, 1988), better known by her stage name Brooke Hogan, is an American television personality and singer. The daughter of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, she starred in the reality television series Hogan Knows Best from 2005 to 2007. The show saw a then-teenage Brooke struggling with her father while pursuing her musical career. As a recording artist, she used the show and her appearance on a one-hour special on VH1 to promote her musical work. She signed with SoBe Entertainment and record producer Scott Storch to release her debut studio album, Undiscovered (2006), which moderately entered the Billboard 200. It was led by the single "About Us" (featuring Paul Wall), which peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. From 2008 to 2009, Hogan starred in her own television series, Brooke Knows Best. Though her parents and brother made numerous appearances throughout the series, it mainly focused on Brooke and the recording of her music. Her second album, The Redemption (2009), was released independently and narrowly entered the Billboard 200. Following the conclusion of Brooke Knows Best, Hogan has made numerous appearances in various media. In 2012, Hogan signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as an on-screen personality manager for their female division, The Knockouts.

== Early life == Brooke Ellen Bollea was born May 5, 1988, in Tampa, Florida, the daughter of Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea; 1953–2025) and Linda Claridge. She has a younger brother, Nick. In high school, she took dance classes, voice lessons, piano lessons, and gymnastics. She joined the cheerleading squad of her Clearwater, Florida school, Clearwater Central Catholic High School, in her first year (though she only stayed at the school for the first half of first year). She also sang in chorus for CCCHS. Hogan graduated from high school at the age of sixteen.

== Career ==

=== 2002–2005: Music beginnings and reality series === Hogan was signed to Trans Continental Records in 2002. Some music was produced with LFO member Rich Cronin's assistance. The album's lead single, "Everything to Me", was released in July 2004. The song appeared at number one on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart in the United States, and number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100. To promote the album, Hogan toured with Hilary Duff on her Most Wanted Tour throughout the US, as well as with the Backstreet Boys on their Up Close & Personal Tour, both of which took place from mid 2004 to early 2005. The album, Brooke Hogan: This Voice, was slated for a September 21, 2004 release date, but the album was not released due to TransContinental Records' bankruptcy. Hogan and her father appeared in the hour-long profile (Inside) Out: Hulk Hogan, Stage Dad on VH1. The television special chronicled Hogan working on her debut album, as well as showed her father chaperoning her in the album making process. Her father later stated that one aim of the show was to help promote Brooke and her upcoming music career. The special was a major success for the network, which led to VH1 turning it into an entire television series, titled Hogan Knows Best. The series premiered in July 2005, and was the highest rated series in the network's history. The show chronicled the Hogan family's life together, although it mainly focused on Brooke and her over protective father. On the show, Hulk placed a GPS tracker on Brooke's vehicle that enabled him to track her whereabouts and shut down the engine of her car remotely.

=== 2006–2008: Undiscovered and Brooke Knows Best === In 2006, Hogan became the first artist signed to Scott Storch's label, initially called Storchaveli Records, but later named Storch Music Company. She also signed with SoBe Entertainment. Storch also became the album's main producer. During an interview, Hogan stated that she was recording the album at The Hit Factory in Miami, Florida, where rapper Paul Wall heard a clip of the song "About Us" and asked to be on the song. The lead single from the album, "About Us", was premiered on the season two finale of Hogan Knows Best. It quickly began receiving heavy radio rotation, and peaked at number 33 the Billboard Hot 100. Undiscovered was released on October 24, 2006 in the United States and Canada. The album debuted at number 28 on the Billboard 200, and number 1 on the Independent Albums charts in the US, selling an estimated 30,000 copies in its first week of release. To help promote the album, Hogan appeared in the November 2006 edition of FHM, becoming the first FHM cover model under 21 years old. As a result, the November issue had no liquor advertising. Dana Leslie Fields, executive publisher and president of FHM, said: "In the very rare instance that you might have a cover star under the age of 21, they don't want to be in the position of seeming to market to anyone under age." To further promote the album, Hogan announced its second single would be "Heaven Baby", which featured Beenie Man on guest vocals. The song was released to pop radio in January 2007. On March 6, "For A Moment" was released as a promotional single from the album, with a music video featuring clips of the third and fourth seasons of Hogan Knows Best. While working on her second studio album, the series Hogan Knows Best was discontinued due to controversies involving Brooke's immediate family. As a result, Brooke was approached by VH1 awhile thereafter and signed on to do her own series, Brooke Knows Best. The series premiered on July 13, 2008, and featured Hogan dealing with her family's problems, her music career, and her life while no longer living with her parents nor dependent on them. The show consisted of her friends, Glenn and Ashley – who are often encouraging Brooke to get out, have fun, and party. Brooke, Glenn, and Ashley live in a penthouse in South Beach. The show chronicled the problems Brooke faced while dealing with the divorce of her parents, as well as brother Nick Hogan's prior arrest related to a serious car accident in which he permanently injured his best friend. The series ended in 2009 after two seasons.

=== 2009–present: The Redemption and film debut ===

In early 2009, Hogan announced the title of her second album to be The Redemption. The album's lead single, "Falling", featured rapper Stacks, and was released on March 31, 2009. On June 30, Hogan released the album's second single, "Hey Yo!", which featured Colby O'Donis on guest vocals. On July 4, Hogan released a mixtape, titled "Judgement Day", to help promote the release of the album. The mixtape caused a buzz online after the song 'Ur Not That Hot' was seen as a diss toward The Hills star, and fellow pop singer, Heidi Montag. The song also includes a fake voicemail that Hogan implies was sent to her from Montag. The Redemption was released on July 21 in the US and Canada for digital download and as a physical copy. It debuted at number 144 on the Billboard 200, and 27 on the Independent Albums chart, selling 3,381 copies in its first week. She parted ways with SoBe Entertainment after the promotion for the album concluded. In November 2009 Hogan was featured in Toni Braxton's music video for "Yesterday". In late 2009, Hogan made her first film appearance in the live action film Little Hercules in 3D, which was only released in certain territories outside of the US. It was released on October 8, 2009 in Kazakhstan and Russia, and in the Czech Republic on January 7, 2010. Hogan appeared as Kate in the science fiction film 2 Headed Shark Attack, which was released on January 17, 2012 in the United States. She also appeared as Sandy Powers in the film "Sand Sharks", which was released on January 9 in the United Kingdom. She also performed as a voice actor for multiple characters on Adult Swim’s show, China, IL. She confirmed on June 12, 2014 via her official Instagram account, that her new single would be called "Beautiful" and set a release date for fall of 2014. On July 13, 2015, Hogan released her first alternative country track titled "Girlfriend" on iTunes. In September 2015 Hogan released her first extended play ‘I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend’. In 2018 she released a follow-up EP ‘So Many Summers’. On November 1, 2019, Hogan released her newest pop single titled "Touch My Body." An accompanying music video was released a week later on November 8, 2019. Brooke started her own design company in 2018. Brooke Hogan is the founder of BB Designs by Brooke. BB Designs By Brooke creates residential home staging. On May 15, 2026, Hogan released a cover version of Aaliyah's 2000 number-one single "Try Again". She faced criticism online, with people thinking Hogan shouldn't do an Aaliyah cover as the former isn't black.

== Professional wrestling career ==