Christina Aguilera

New York City, U.S.

**Christina María Aguilera** (/ˌæɡɪˈlɛərə/, Spanish: [aɣiˈleɾa]; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality.

Born in Staten Island of New York City and raised in Pennsylvania, Aguilera appeared on television shows in her early years, before gaining a recording contract with RCA Records in 1998. Her self-titled debut album, released in 1999, reached number one in the US and spawned three US number-one singles: "Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)". While recognized as a prominent figure in the contemporary teen pop scene, Aguilera sought to assume artistic control with Stripped (2002) and its lead single "Dirrty", which displayed her sexuality. The second single from the album, "Beautiful", received favorable response for its empowering lyrics and became an anthem for the LGBT community.

Aguilera scored her second US number-one album with Back to Basics (2006), which drew inspiration from early 20th-century jazz, soul, and blues, and spawned the top-ten singles "Ain't No Other Man", "Hurt", and "Candyman". Her next two albums, Bionic (2010) and Lotus (2012), all experimented with various musical styles and reached the top ten in the US. After a 6 year hiatus, the singer left RCA Records and signed with Holy Tongues Recordings, a division of Sony Music. In the same year, she released her eighth studio album, “1 Eye Open” (2017), which spawned the hit single “Stardust”. One year later, she released the critically acclaimed follow-up, “Desperately Seeking Christina”, which managed to win 4 GRAMMY Awards, including Album of The Year, supported by the top-ten singles “I Got The Drive”, “Soap On Skin” and “By The Weekend”.

## Life and Career

### 1980 - 1998: Early life & career beginnings

Christina María Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York City, on December 18, 1980, to musician Shelly Loraine Kearns (née Fidler) and United States Army soldier Fausto Xavier Aguilera. Her father was born in Ecuador, and her mother has German, Irish, Welsh, and Dutch ancestry. Following her parents' divorce when she was six years old, Aguilera, her younger sister Rachel, and her mother moved into her grandmother's home in Rochester, a suburb in the Pittsburgh area. As a child, Aguilera was drawn to soul and blues records her grandmother bought and would practice singing, which earned her a reputation as "the little girl with the big voice" in her neighborhood.

She aspired to be a singer, and won her first talent show at age eight with a rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)". Aged 10, she performed "A Sunday Kind of Love" on the competition show Star Search, and was eliminated during the semi-final round.  She attended Rochester Area School District in Rochester and Marshall Middle School near Wexford, and briefly attended North Allegheny Intermediate High School before being homeschooled to avoid being bullied.

In 1991, Aguilera auditioned for a position on The Mickey Mouse Club, although she did not meet its age requirements. She joined the television series two years later, where she performed musical numbers and sketch comedy until its cancellation in 1994. After the show ended, Aguilera moved to Japan and recorded her first song, "All I Wanna Do", a duet with Japanese singer Keizo Nakanishi. In 1998, Aguilera returned to the US to seek a recording contract. She approached RCA Records, who told her to contact Disney instead because they were having financial difficulties. She sent her cover version of Whitney Houston's "Run to You" to Disney in hopes of being selected to record the theme song "Reflection" for their animated film Mulan (1998). Aguilera was ultimately selected to sing "Reflection", with the song being released in June 1998.

### 1999 - 2003: *Christina Aguilera* & *Stripped*

The singer made her debut at the all-female concert festival Lilith Fair the following year, and signed with RCA Records. Also in 1999, she released her self titled debut album, Christina Aguilera, which went on to sell more than 8 million copies thanks in part to the chart-topping hits "Genie in a Bottle" and "What a Girl Wants." In support of her albums, Aguilera embarked on her first concert tour, Christina Aguilera in Concert, from mid-2000 to early 2001. The tour visited North America, Europe, South America, and Japan.

After teaming up with Pink, Mya and Lil' Kim on the popular single "Lady Marmalade," Aguilera released her second album, Stripped, in October 2002. As its title suggests, the pop superstar had embarked down a new path. Highly sexualized and more commanding than its predecessors, the album featured a number of hit singles, including "Dirrty" and "Beautiful". Coupled with a series of new piercings and tattoos, Aguilera and her new music startled some critics while endearing her to others. Stripped went on to sell more than 4 million copies, and Aguilera, rightly so, was unapologetic about the music or her look. "I knew it was a bold move, and I knew a lot of people would not be ready for it," the singer said of the album in an interview with The New York Times. She co-headlined the Justified and Stripped Tour alongside Justin Timberlake from June to September 2003 in support of Stripped and Timberlake's album Justified (2002), before embarking on her solo Stripped Tour until December.

### 2004 - 2009: Marriage, *Back to Basics*, first child & *Keeps Gettin’ Better*

Aguilera became engaged with marketing executive Jordan Bratman, with whom she had dated since 2003, in February 2005. They married on November 19, 2005, at an estate in Napa County, California. Aguilera released the lead single, "Ain't No Other Man", from her fifth studio album, Back to Basics, in June 2006. Back to Basics was released in August 2006. Aguilera described the record, a double album, as a "throwback" to jazz, blues, and soul music of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s that incorporates "a modern twist." She was much inspired by works of such classic blues and soul singers as Otis Redding, Millie Jackson, and Nina Simone during the recording sessions. Back to Basics received generally positive reviews from critics, who commented that the retro-oriented production complements Aguilera's vocals. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 and has sold 1.7 million copies in the US. Back to Basics was succeeded by two international top-ten singles: "Hurt" and "Candyman". Two other singles, "Slow Down Baby" and "Oh Mother", were released exclusively in Australia and Europe, respectively. In support of Back to Basics, Aguilera embarked on the Back to Basics Tour, which ran from November 2006 to October 2008.

In January 2008, Aguilera gave birth to her child with Bratman, a son. In commemoration of a decade-long career in the music industry, Aguilera released her first greatest hits album titled Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits exclusively through Target in November 2008, in the US. In addition to previous singles, it includes four original electropop-oriented songs, two of which are remade versions of two previous singles. Aguilera commented that the newly recorded tracks' "futuristic, robotic sound" served as a preview for her follow-up studio album.

### 2010 - 2011: *Bionic*, *Burlesque* & *The Voice*

Aguilera began work on her sixth studio album during pregnancy, when she frequently listened to electronic music. The lead single from the album, "Not Myself Tonight", was released in March 2010. The album, titled Bionic, was released in June 2010. Categorized as a R&B-flavored futurepop album by critics, it lyrically revolves around sexual themes while also discussing feminism. Critical reaction to the album was mixed; reviewers commended Aguilera's experimentation with new styles, but found it forced and unnatural. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and spawned one other international single, "You Lost Me". Aguilera starred alongside Cher in the musical film Burlesque. Written and directed by Steve Antin, the film was released in theaters in November 2010. Aguilera played Ali Rose, who quits her bar service job and moves to Los Angeles, where she aspires to be a performer in a burlesque club owned by Tess Scali (Cher).  Aguilera recorded eight tracks for the film's ten-track accompanying soundtrack, and Cher performed the other two. The soundtrack reached number 18 on the Billboard 200.

Aguilera finalized her divorce from Jordan Bratman, from whom she had been separated since September 2010, on April 15, 2011. She concurrently started dating Matthew Rutler, an assistant on the set of Burlesque. From April 2011 to December 2012, Aguilera served as a coach on the first three seasons of the television competition series The Voice.

### 2012 - 2017: *Lotus*, second child & more *The Voice*

Upon the third season of The Voice in September 2012, Aguilera released "Your Body" as the lead single from her seventh studio album. The album, titled Lotus, followed in November 2012. Aguilera described the record as a "rebirth" of herself after the personal struggles she had overcome. Contemporary reviewers found the album generic and conventional, as opposed to Aguilera's previous experimental ventures. Lotus peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200 and was supported by one other single, "Just a Fool" featuring Aguilera's fellow The Voice coach Blake Shelton. She returned for the fifth season of The Voice in September 2013.

In 2013, Aguilera scored three international top-ten singles. She was featured on rapper Pitbull's "Feel This Moment", which peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, on Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández's cover of Miguel Gallardo's "Hoy Tengo Ganas de Ti" (1976) and she collaborated with A Great Big World on the ballad "Say Something". Aguilera temporarily withdrew from The Voice for the sixth and seventh seasons, citing her desire to devote her time to her family. After her engagement to Matthew Rutler in February 2014 and the birth of their daughter in August, she returned for the eighth season in October. Aguilera's one more season with The Voice was the tenth, in which she won with her contestant Alisan Porter in May 2016.

### 2017 - 2018: comeback, *1 Eye Open*

Aguilera started work on her new album in the summer of 2015. Following various major changes and start-overs, the singer eventually released "Over My Naked Body" in January 2017 as the lead single from her eighth album. A drastic change in sound from her previous album, the song is an R&B influenced track, written and produced by Max Martin and Savan Kotecha. The song peaked at number 13 on the CAL Charts and was certified Gold by RIAA for selling over 500,000 copies worldwide. Slated for a May release, the album was delayed to November due to unforeseen circumstances. A promotional track and the second single were released in anticipation, “Burn Your Heart”, respectively “Better Off Without You”. 1 Eye Open was released in November 2017 and debuted at number 2 with over 140,000 copies sold. The album was met with generally favorable reviews, with critics appreciating some of the songwriting, but heavily criticizing the length and the lack of coherency. The album spawned one more single, “Stardust”, a collaboration with Brendon Urie that managed to reach a peak of 8 on the CAL Charts. The song’s artwork was nominated at the 60th GRAMMY Awards for Best Single Artwork, but ultimately lost to Halsey’s “Sick Sick”.

In December, Aguilera posted a message on her Twitter, announcing that she cut the era short due to mismanagement and she is working on a “reworked version”. Towards the end of the month, a commercial aired during the 60th GRAMMY Award ceremony, teasing a mixtape titled “These Boys Can’t Cry”, slated for January 2018. A few days later, a free song titled “A Funeral” was released onto SoundCloud, however the project was never released nor mentioned ever again. The “Mirrors & Illusions Tour” and a “1 Eye Open” re-release were announced after Aguilera’s acclaimed Glastonbury set from 2018. Ultimately, they were scrapped as the singer’s health deteriorated.

### 2018 - 2019: *Desperately Seeking Christina* & scrapped movie

Aguilera began work on her forthcoming studio album shortly after she announced the release of the mixtape. Following several unsuccessful sessions, she started over and came up with the concept of “Desperately Seeking Christina”. In July 2018, Aguilera was one of the many victims of terrorist Maxence, who shot up the official inauguration of Belinda’s Walk of Fame star. Although she sustained minor injuries, she delayed the start of her next album cycle to recover. A few weeks later, Aguilera made her first public appearance since the shooting on the red carpet of the VMAs, where she announced that the first song off her tenth studio album is coming soon. In August, “I Got The Drive” featuring Lizzo was released as the album’s lead single, which reached a peak of 4 on the CAL Charts and was certified 2 x Platinum by RIAA. In September, Aguilera hosted the 2018 Billboard Music Awards. Prada announced the singer as the face for their new campaign. Through it, the singer released the music video for “I Got The Drive”, the title of the album and three snippets of album tracks. Plans for a second single were shelved in favor of focusing on the album instead. “Desperately Seeking Christina” came out in November 2018 to critical acclaim and commercial success, opening with 585,000 copies worldwide. At the 2019 GRAMMY Awards, the singer was nominated for 6 awards, out of which she won 4, including the Album of The Year. Two more singles were released from the album, “Soap On Skin” and “By The Weekend”, both of which went top 10 on the CAL Charts and were certified Platinum. Additionally, a Calvin Harris remix of “By The Weekend”, dubbed “Calvin’s Take”, was released in May 2018, but its music video was cancelled following an on-set injury sustained by the singer.

During her 2018 Prada campaign, Aguilera announced a video series titled “PULP!” which would serve as a visual counterpart to the album. The first video to come out was “I Got The Drive” in September 2018. However, after months of silence and avoidance of the subject, the singer eventually announced that the project was scrapped and it evolved into a proper movie. The remaining footage was used for “Double Feature”, a short film incorporating music videos for “Soap on Skin” and “By The Weekend”. In June 2019, she announced her performance at the first edition of Freedom Festival. Aguilera’s acclaimed set included 3 never before heard songs, assumed to be taken off the soundtrack of the movie. In July 2019, Aguilera was nominated for 5 BRIT Awards, out of which she won 2. In December 2019, a commercial teasing the movie was played during the Video Music Awards, for which Aguilera was nominated for 3 awards, including Video of The Year.

### 2020 - present: *the skeletons i hide in my closet* & *Not So Bad, So Far*

In June 2020, Aguilera posted a free song on her SoundCloud page under the pseudonym T.A.F.K.A.C.A. (supposedly meaning The Artist Formerly Known As Christina Aguilera). On the same day, the album titled “The Skeletons I Hide In My Closet” was put up for pre-order and released a few days later. It debuted at number 5 on the CAL Charts, selling barely over 50,000 copies worldwide. Five songs off it debuted inside the top 40 worldwide and the album was nominated for 3 Billboard Music Awards at the 2020 ceremony.

In July 2020, Aguilera announced officially that the movie will not be released and has been cancelled. During the 2020 Super Bowl LIV, a commercial aired, announcing the release of a new single, titled “Look At You'', taken from her forthcoming singles compilation, “Not So Bad, So Far”. Later on, the song was released and managed to peak at number 11 on the CAL Charts, with its music video getting a nomination for Top Video at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards. In August 2020, “B.P.M.” featuring Frank Ocean was released as the lead single from the soundtrack of “Bill & Ted Face The Music”. The song peaked at number 6 on the CAL Charts and is confirmed to be included on the singles compilation. In the same month, the singer confirmed that she is working on her forthcoming studio album, slated for a 2021 release.

## Artistry

### Voice

Aguilera is a soprano, possessing a four-octave vocal range spanning from C3 to C♯7. Since the start of her career Aguilera's voice has been compared to that of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, with some critics saying there are influences of Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin on Aguilera's vocal style. A journal by Ann Powers for the Los Angeles Times said there are influences of Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin on Aguilera's vocal style, opining that the "Aguilera's Streisand-esque tendencies" "[help Aguilera] figure out how to become the 'great singer' she's been dubbed since she released her first single, the wise-beyond-its-years 'Genie in a Bottle', at 18".

Aguilera has, however, been criticized for her excessive use of melisma and oversinging on songs and in concerts. Longtime producer Linda Perry, who wrote the song "Beautiful", revealed about the recording sessions with Aguilera, "I tried to keep it straight. I told her to get rid of the finger waves. Every time she'd start going into 'hoo-ha', I'd stop the tape. I'm like, 'You're doing it again'". Perry ended up using the song's first take adding, "She had a hard time accepting that as the final track. She's a perfectionist. She knows her voice really well, and she knows what's going on. She can hear things that nobody else would catch." An editor from Entertainment Weekly, Chris Willman, stated that the oversinging on Aguilera's albums was inspired by Carey, writing that "the Mariah venerators don't get away with it so easily. Aguilera, for one thing, has a slightly nasal tone that really only becomes obvious when she's overselling a song".

### Influences

Aguilera has credited blues singer Etta James as her main influence and inspiration Other classic artists, including Billie Holiday, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, and Ella Fitzgerald, are also Aguilera's major influences; her fifth studio album Back to Basics is inspired by vintage jazz, blues and soul music records by them. Aguilera mentions Whitney Houston as another influence, having performed many of her songs in her early years during talent shows. She also cites Mariah Carey and Celine Dion as an inspiration. Aguilera's debut album producer Ron Harris revealed that Aguilera during her recording sessions for Christina Aguilera would constantly listen to Brandy's music, studying and trying to replicate her adlibs. Aguilera points out the musical film The Sound of Music and its lead actress, Julie Andrews, as her first inspiration for singing and performing. At the age of six, the film helped Aguilera cope with her violent childhood, "Bad things happened in my home; there was violence. The Sound of Music looked like a form of release."

Aguilera credits Madonna and Janet Jackson as two biggest inspirations for her image, "for being re-inventive and being brave as strong females, to explore whatever, even if they do get bad press. It's just like they were fearless." During the promotion of Back to Basics, her image was also inspired by the "Golden age of Hollywood" actresses including Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Carole Lombard, Greta Garbo and Veronica Lake. Aguilera is also inspired by her Burlesque co-star, Cher: "I have always had tremendous respect for her. She is a woman who did everything before anyone else did it. She is an icon and she inspired me through some of my career. We've had similar costumes too!" For the promotion of "Desperately Seeking Christina", her image was focused on rawness and a make-up free look.

### Musical style and themes

Aguilera frequently blends elements of pop, R&B, dance-pop and soul music into her projects, and her records typically include a combination of ballads and uptempo tracks. Christina Aguilera (1999) prominently displayed teen pop and dance-pop music, while Mi Reflejo (2000) takes inspiration from Latin music. Her first Christmas album, My Kind of Christmas, combines covers of Christmas standards and several original dance-pop tracks. Aiming for musical diversity and artistic growth, Aguilera worked with R&B, rock, hip hop, and Latin music for Stripped (2002). Aguilera leaned towards R&B, blues, jazz, and soul on Back to Basics (2006).

In contrast, Bionic (2010) sees significant use from futuristic electronic music, described as an electropop album. The soundtrack for her 2010 feature film Burlesque (2010) was influenced by Cabaret, and featured several established songs that were redone as dance numbers in a fashion similar to Moulin Rouge! (2001). Aguilera partnered with mainstream producers including Shellback and Max Martin during production of Lotus (2012); when discussing her interactions with the latter, she commented that "He's known about me but we haven't crossed paths," adding "Those records were the kind I wanted to stray apart from. If you look at what I did in the past (after my debut), I always try to do things that will challenge me and challenge the listener, too." On 1 Eye Open (2017), she fuses synthpop and EDM with R&B and soul on a "diary-like" sequence of tracks. Desperately Seeking Christina (2018) finds the singer diving deeper in the R&B genre, mixing it with pop, dance and alternative music and more focused songwriting. Aguilera finds herself at her most vulnerable on the skeletons that i hide in my closet (2020) on which she merges a stripped down sound with pop rock.

Aguilera stated that she feels a sense of responsibility to reference portions of her personal life so that "people that can relate might not feel as alone in the circumstance." Many of her works consequently discuss love; she has also co-written a few tracks which dealt with the domestic abuse throughout her childhood. Aguilera has frequently mentioned feminism in her music; she has expressed her belief that sexuality is "very empowering", and has commented that "If I want to be sexual, it's for my own appreciation and enjoyment! That's why I like to talk about the fact that sometimes I am attracted to women. I appreciate their femininity and beauty." She has alluded to her physical attractions to women in other interviews as well. The main theme of Bionic was also about woman empowerment; in regards to production, Aguilera has often verbalized her preference of working with more "obscure" collaborators, and noted that she is not necessarily inclined to contact "the No.1 chart-toppers in music" because of their popular demand.

## Discography

##### ***Existing***

* *Christina Aguilera* (1999)
* *Mi Reflejo* (2000)
* *My Kind of Christmas* (2000)
* *Stripped* (2002)
* *Back to Basics* (2006)
* *Bionic* (2010)
* *Lotus* (2012)

##### ***CAL***

* *1 Eye Open* (2017)
* *Desperately Seeking Christina* (2018)
* *A Christmas Carol* (2018)
* *the skeletons i hide in my closet* (2020)
* *Not So Bad, So Far* (2020)