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Christina Maria Aguilera (born December 18 1980, in Staten Island, New York), colloquially known as Xtina, is an American popular music singer and songwriter. She is most often recognized by her notable vocal ability and unorthodox fashion sense. Her vocal skills have been compared to those of singers such as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, and she is one of the most prominent recording artists of her generation. She has achieved four number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as two top five albums and four Grammy Awards in the United States.

Biography

Early years

Aguilera grew up mainly in Wexford, Pennsylvania (just outside Pittsburgh), after living in various places around the world. Her father, Fausto Aguilera, is a U.S. Army sergeant of Ecuadorian descent, and her mother, Shelly Loraine Fidler (now known as Shelly Kearns), is a Spanish translator from Newfoundland, Canada, and of remote Irish descent. Aguilera's parents met while Fausto was serving at Earnest Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Since Aguilera was able to talk, she set a goal to become a professional singer. As a child she performed at block parties and in talent competitions — defeating opponents with little effort. Aguilera soon gained media attention, and was known to some as "the little girl with the big voice".

On March 15 1990, she appeared on Star Search singing Ella Fitzgerald's Sunday Kind Of Love, but failed to win. Soon after losing on Star Search, she appeared on KDKA-TV local access show Wake Up With Larry Richert to perform the same song again. Later on, she would sing "Vision Of Love", Mariah Carey's first single, and astonished everybody in attendance by hitting every riff and note, including Carey's trademark whistle register note. People remarked that the then-ten year old "sounded twenty".

Throughout her youth in Pennsylvania, Aguilera sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Pittsburgh Steelers football and Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games. Her first major role in entertainment came in 1993 when she joined the Disney Channel's variety show The New Mickey Mouse Club. Her co-stars included Britney Spears, as well as Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez (who went on to join *NSYNC) and Keri Russell (who would go on to become the star of Felicity).

Aguilera's first hit single was "All I Wanna Do", which was a collaborative effort recorded in Japan with Japanese pop sensation Keizo Nakanishi. In 1997, Aguilera competed in an international singing contest at the Golden Stag Festival in Transylvania, Romania, where she shared the stage with Sheryl Crow and Diana Ross. In 1998, after proving herself as a singer with a high, powerfull chest voice, singing the High "E" note an octave above middle "C" on a cover of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Run to You" which she recorded with an old tape recorder in her bathroom, she was selected to perform the song "Reflection" for the Disney animated production of Mulan (1998). The music video promoting the film featured a young Aguilera with bobbed hair. It was her first music video. "Reflection" peaked at number fifteen on the Adult Contemporary Singles Chart. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for a Motion Picture in 1998.

Christina Aguilera: debut

Under the exclusive representation of Steve Kurtz, her self-titled album, Christina Aguilera, was released on August 24 1999, and reached the top of the Billboard 200 and Canadian album charts, selling over eight million copies in the United States alone. It was released the same week as Puff Daddy's long-awaited second album Forever, and showed Aguilera's instant rise to fame by beating him to the number one spot. "Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come on Over (All I Want is You)" all reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 during 1999 and 2000, and "I Turn to You" peaked at number three. However, Aguilera did not only enjoy just commercial success; it became obvious that the industry thought she had talent when she won for Best New Artist at the 2000 Grammy Awards. She was also nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Genie in a Bottle".

In 2000, Aguilera first emphasized her Latino heritage, following the Latino trend of the time, by releasing her first Spanish-language album, Mi Reflejo. This album contained Spanish-language versions of songs from her English debut as well as new Spanish tracks. It reached twenty-seven on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Latin album charts. In 2001, the album won Christina a Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album. The single "Falsas Esperanzas" from the album reached the top forty in Argentina in 2001. Ricky Martin asked her to duet with him on the track "Nobody Wants to be Lonely" from his album Sound Loaded; the song was released as the second single from the album in 2001, reaching the top five in the United Kingdom and Germany, top twenty in the U.S., and top forty in Canada, Switzerland, and Australia.

Just Be Free: unauthorized material

In 2000, a single emerged into record stores called "Just Be Free", one of the demos Aguilera recorded when she was about 15 years old. When RCA Records discovered the single, they officially advised fans not to purchase it and had German authorities pull the single off shelves as well. Months later, Warlock Records was set to release Just Be Free; an album which contains the demo tracks.

Aguilera filed a breach of contract and unfair-competition suit against Warlock and the album's producers to block the release. Instead, the two parties came to a settlement to release the album. Aguilera lend out her name, likeness and image for an unspecified amount of damages. Many of the details of the lawsuit remain confidential. When the album was released on August 21 2001, it had a photograph of Christina when she was fifteen years old.

Change in management

Although Aguilera's album was very well received, she was dissatisfied with the music and image her management had created for her. At the time, Aguilera was marketed as a bubblegum pop artist, because of the genre's upward financial trend. However, she publicly mentioned plans of her next album to have much more depth, both musically and lyrically. Steve Kurtz's influence in matters of the singer's creative direction, the role of being her exclusive personal manager and overscheduling has in part caused her to seek legal means of terminating their management contract.

On October 13 2000 Aguilera filed a Breach of Fiduciary Duty lawsuit against Kurtz for improper, undue and inappropriate influence over her professional activities, as well as fraud. According to legal documents, Kurtz did not protect her rights and interests. Instead, he took action that was for his own interest, at the cost of hers. The lawsuit came about when Aguilera discovered Kurtz used more of her commissionable income than what he was allotted, and had paid other managers to assist him. She also petitioned the California State Labor Commission to nullify the contract.

When she terminated Kurtz's services, Irving Azoff was hired as her new manager. The change in management marked a new change in how Aguilera was marketed, as well as what music she would do in the future.

Kurtz countersued on October 27 for breach of contract, claiming that the singer violated the same agreement she had sued to void. In the lawsuit, he included others close to Aguilera, alleging their intent to sabotage his business relationship with Aguilera. He also singled out Azoff for being in violation of the terms of Kurtz's contract.

Stripped: career development

Main article: Stripped (2002 album)

On October 29, 2002, after much delay, Aguilera's second full-length English album, Stripped, was released in the U.S. The album was not received as well as her debut by most critics. The majority of Stripped was co-written by Aguilera, was about eighty minutes long, and influenced by many different subjects and music styles. "Impossible", a collaboration with Alicia Keys, is a jazz-inspired song about someone who is trying to get through to one who is quiet and withdrawn. "Soar" is a gospel-inspired song about becoming self-reliant. Aguilera's most emotionally challenging song on the album could possibly be "I'm OK". This track chronicles in detail how Aguilera was abused as a young child by her father, and she thanks her mother for her love through that time in her life.

However, Aguilera's vocals were much overlooked as she began to cultivate a more sexually provocative image. After the release of the album, she took part in photo shoots for magazines such as Maxim, Rolling Stone and Cosmo Girl. Many of these photographs featured her nude or semi-nude. She denied that this change was a matter of publicity, claiming that the image better reflected her true personality than did the image she cultivated back in 1999.

Initially, the raunchy image had a negative effect on Aguilera in the U.S. While the video for "Dirrty" became a huge hit on MTV, it stalled at a disappointing forty-eight on the Hot 100 and quickly fell off the singles chart. However, the song was a huge hit worldwide, reaching number one in several countries and on the World Chart. The album enetered the U.K. and U.S. album charts at number two, and at number three in Canada, where they all ultimately peaked. Despite going double-platinum in the U.S. after only eight weeks on the chart, the album began to drop quickly with nothing but Aguilera's star power to back it up. The second single, "Beautiful", was quickly released in the U.S. in late 2002. It instantly became a huge radio hit and allowed three more hits to be released from the album in the following two years: "Fighter", "Can't Hold Us Down", and "The Voice Within". The success of subsequent singles off the album gave Stripped massive staying power, as it stayed on the album charts well into 2004. This staying power was demonstrated most effectively in the UK, where the album remained consistently in the top twenty album charts between late 2002 and late 2004. Stripped went on to ship four million copies in the U.S. and ended up at number ten on Billboard's Year-End Album Chart. The album also went quadruple platinum in Australia despite only reaching a peak of number seven, again a reflection of its consistency between late 2002 and 2004.

The Stripped tours

In early 2003, Aguilera aroused much commentary when she gained a noticeable amount of weight. Unflattering photographs of her flabby midsection spilling out of her conventionally skimpy costumes were circulated. She was quoted as saying, "I couldn't care less about stupid diets. Eating is sensual and fun. I'm not going to let it be spoiled by calorie-counting." Later, she gave the reason for her weight gain as preparation for her upcoming Summer tour.

On June 4, Aguilera joined Justin Timberlake on the final leg of his international "Justified" tour, held in the U.S. This portion of the tour became a co-headliner called the "Justified & Stripped" tour. On August 9, an overhead lighting grid collapsed from the ceiling of the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, causing major damage to the sound and video equipment below. Since the collapse occurred hours before the performance, only a few stagehands were injured. As a result, a few shows were canceled or postponed. In the fourth quarter of that year, Aguilera continued to tour internationally without Timberlake, and changed the name of the tour to simply the "Stripped" tour. Meanwhile, she dyed her hair black. The tour was one of the top-grossing tours of that year, as it sold out most of its venues. It also was named by Rolling Stone readers as the best tour of the year.

In light of the tour's success, another U.S. tour was scheduled to begin in mid-2004 with a new theme and featuring Chingy as an opening act. The tour was scrapped due to Aguilera's vocal chord injuries suffered shortly before its opening date. It was later reported by The Sun tabloid that low ticket sales and lack of new material were actually the major factors in the tour's cancellation. Aguilera has since denied the report.

Post-Stripped events

In a tribute to Madonna's performance at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards' ceremony, Aguilera performed a much-publicized lesbian kiss with the singer-actress at the 2003 edition of the ceremony on August 28. The incident occurred during the opening performance of Madonna's songs "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood"; however, it was overshadowed by the kiss between Madonna and Britney Spears during the same performance.

Aguilera met new controversy in late 2003 by viciously criticizing other teen-pop performers. In the December 2003 issue of Blender magazine, she is quoted as saying: "Look at people like Beyoncé or Britney. They're desperate to come across as sweet, good little girls, but then you see them in photo shoots that are extremely sexual — tight little booty shorts, and not much else. So why do they try to be virginal in interviews?" Concerning Spears, Aguilera claimed, "She was... she seemed very distant, even during rehearsals. Every time I tried to start a conversation with her — well, let's just say she seemed nervous the whole time. I wanted to reach out to her, because I feel she needs somebody in her life right now to help guide her."

A January 2004, ZOO Magazine (a Danish men's magazine) article reported that Aguilera is possibly bisexual. The article quotes her stating in an interview: "I find it hornier looking at women then men. Sorry, I love experimenting with my sexuality. If that means girls, then so be it." The article also reports that Christina enjoys casual sex. "I have casual sex, I love casual sex. But that doesn't mean I'm incapable of keeping my legs together", Aguilera is quoted as saying. Because of the tabloid nature of articles in ZOO, the factual accuracy of the article is dubious.

Aguilera hosted Saturday Night Live on February 21, 2004, and participated in various parody skits such as "Do You Know Who My Father Is?" which lampoons Win Ben Stein's Money, and a skit parodying the movie You Got Served. Her dead-on impersonation of Kim Cattrall's Sex and the City character, Samantha, was also praised.

Aguilera later decided to embrace a more mature image; this move was met with more praise than criticism, with articles using punch lines such as "From Crass to Class". She eventually dyed her hair cherry-blonde and recorded a jingle, "Hello", for a Mercedes-Benz ad, becoming the new face of Mercedes-Benz. Shortly after, she dyed her hair blonde and cut it short, and took on a Marilyn Monroe look; she is believed by many of her fans to be one of the main proponents (along with Gwen Stefani and Ashley Judd) in bringing back the old Hollywood glamour look.

In the run-up to the 2004 United States presidential election, Aguilera was featured on billboards for the "Only You Can Silence Yourself" online voter registration drive run by the nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign "Declare Yourself". In these political advertisements, Aguilera is shown with her mouth sewn shut, to symbolize the effects of not voting.

In late Summer 2004, Aguilera released, almost consecutively, two singles. The first, "Car Wash", was taken from the soundtrack of the hit movie Shark Tale. It is a collaboration with popular rapper Missy Elliott, and is a cover version of Rose Royce's disco hit. The second song is also a collaboration, but this time as a second single from one of Nelly's double-release albums, Sweat, titled "Tilt Ya' Head Back". Aguilera appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards to perform it with him; it was a visually striking and effective performance in which Aguilera, a la Judy Garland, started her belting perched atop a grand piano. Aguilera copied another legendary look for the video: Marilyn Monroe's. Both singles flopped commercially in the U.S., but did considerably better in other parts of the world; "Tilt" reached number one in a few countries, including the Philippines. "Tilt Ya' Head Back", formerly rumored to be "Tilt Cha' Head Back", was well received in the U.S. at first, but sales quickly deteriorated mainly due to its lack of radio appeal and promotion. In spite of its promotion, "Tilt" recently went platinum in Australia for selling over 40,000 copies, while "Car Wash" was certified gold for sales of over 25,000 copies. "Tilt" was later certified gold in the U.S. by the RIAA in 2005.

After much delay, Aguilera's first DVD live-recording from a concert tour, Stripped Live in the UK, was released in November 2004, excluding her performance of "Make Over", due to its similarity with the song "Overload" by the Sugababes. In late December, she officially released a fragrance, Xpose, which has only been available in a few European countries.

Recent events

After failed relationships with Latin dancer Jorge Santos (chronicled in her song "Infatuation" from her sophomore album Stripped) and an unnamed producer speculated to be Dallas Austin, she started dating music executive Jordan Bratman. After dating him for almost three years, their engagement was announced in February 2005. In an interview with MTV at an Oscar party, she announced she would like to have her wedding in the Winter of 2005.

Aguilera recently flew to France and attended a number of fashion shows. She later appeared on E! Entertainment and said that she was looking at wedding dresses, presumably for her wedding. She was also spotted visiting a doctor's clinic and leaving with a sling. Rumors speculate that her injury was due to an attack by an agitated fan in a night club. This was later denied by her publicist who said that she had cut two tendons in her hand in an accident. E! Online reported that she is now temporarily unable to play the piano, despite the fact that she is not known for her piano-playing abilities.

The future

Template:Future Aguilera has announced that her third full-length English album is nearly complete. Similar to Stripped, the album's feel will be completely different from previous efforts, focusing more on her vocal abilities and musical tastes. While interviewed during a post-Oscar party, Aguilera described the album as "a retro blues/jazz/soul record, but a really meaty, gritty, real raw record of soul." She is also working on her second Spanish album.

She has also shown an interest in becoming an actress. Although Aguilera has been offered many projects over the years, she continues to insist that she is looking for a particular role. She is said to prefer one similar to those played by Angelina Jolie. She still avoids roles that portray herself, or any character resembling her.

Aguilera will appear on rapper Redman's upcoming album "Red Gone Wild" as well as renowned jazz legend Herbie Hancock's "Possibilities" release, both due late 2005.

Voice

In 2003, Aguilera was voted as having the third-greatest female voice in music in Blender Magazine and MTV's countdown of "The Twenty-Two Greatest Voices In Music" placed her at number five (beaten by, among others, Mariah Carey, who came first, and Whitney Houston, who came third).

Audio samples

Below are sound clips in the Ogg Vorbis format:

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Discography

Albums

This is a list of the LP albums by Aguilera that were released. Each listing includes its release year, title, chart standings, RIAA certifications, and sales.

• 1999: Christina Aguilera - #1 (Debut) US (1 week), #1 CAN, #14 UK; (8x Platinum; 8 million US, 16 million Worldwide)
• 2000: Mi Reflejo - #27 US; (3x platinum; 3 million US, 5 million worldwide)
• 2000: My Kind of Christmas - #28 US; (Platinum; 1 million US, 3 million worldwide)
• 2001: Just Be Free (recordings from 1995, unofficial release) - #71 US
• 2002: Stripped - #2 US, #3 CAN, #2 UK; (4x Platinum; 4 million US, 10 million Worldwide)

Singles

The following is a list of English-language singles. Each listing includes release date, title, peak chart positions.

Christina Aguilera

• 1998: "Reflection"
• 1999: "Genie in a Bottle" - #1 US (5 weeks), #1 CAN (3 weeks), #1 UK (2 weeks) - Platinum certification
• 1999: "What a Girl Wants" - #1 US (2 weeks), #1 CAN (2 weeks), #3 UK - Gold certification
• 2000: "I Turn to You" - #3 US, #10 CAN, #19 UK
• 2000: "Come on Over (All I Want Is You)" - #1 US (4 weeks), #19 CAN, #8 UK - Gold certification

My Kind of Christmas

• 1999: "The Christmas Song" - #18 US

Stripped

• 2002: "Dirrty" (ft. Redman) - #48 US, #5 CAN, #1 UK (2 weeks)
• 2002: "Beautiful" - #2 US, #1 CAN (5 weeks), #1 UK (2 weeks)
• 2003: "Fighter" - #20 US, #3 CAN, #3 UK
• 2003: "Can't Hold Us Down" (ft. Lil Kim) - #12 US, #20 CAN, #6 UK
• 2004: "The Voice Within" - #33 US, #10 CAN, #9 UK

Collaborations with other artists

• 2001: "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" (with Ricky Martin) - #13 US, #4 CAN, #4 UK
• 2001: "Lady Marmalade" (with Mya, Lil Kim and Pink) - #1 US (5 weeks), #1 CAN (2 weeks); #1 UK (1 week)
• 2004: "Car Wash" (ft. Missy Elliot) - #63 US, #4 UK
• 2004: "Tilt Ya' Head Back" (with Nelly) - #58 US, #27 CAN, #5 UK - Gold certification

DVDs

• 1999: Genie Gets Her Wish - Autobiographical presentation - #1 US - Platinum certification
• 2000: My Reflection - Video release of ABC special - #1 US - Gold certification
• 2004: Stripped Live in the UK - Complete video of London, UK Stripped Tour concert (sans "Make Over"), extended version of The WB and MTV specials - #3 US - Platinum certification

Awards

Trivia

• When Aguilera was called to L.A. to prove she could sing, she sang a Whitney Houston song "Run to You" from The Bodyguard a cappella, and Ron Fair loved it.
• "Obvious" was one of the original demo tracks that was sent to Ron Fair before Christina was signed with RCA.
• Aguilera was the first celebrity to sign a letter from PETA to the South Korean government asking that the country stop its alleged "abuse of dogs and cats killed for food".
• The recording of "Beautiful" was actually only the demo. Aguilera wanted to get it perfect but Linda Perry (producer and co-writer of the track) said, "No, it shows your broken notes and your flats and sharps, your vunerability, it's perfect; leave it how it is".
• Aguilera's first gig of her career was singing the National Anthem for a Pittsburgh Steelers game at the age of ten.
• Aguilera attended North Allegheny High School up until the 9th grade in Wexford, Pennsylvania.
• Kelly Clarkson's first single 'Miss Independent' was cowritten by Aguilera, and was originally supposed to be a song on the "Stripped" album.
• The VH1 program The Fabulous Life Of... Christina Aguilera estimated that the singer had a net worth of between thirty and forty million dollars.
• In 2000, Yaboom Toys released a Christina Aguilera Doll.

See also

• 1999 in music
• 2002 in music
• Best selling music artists

References

• Dominguez, Pier (2002). Christina Aguilera: A Star is Made: The Unauthorized Biography. Amber Books. ISBN 0970222459.
• Zahlaway, Jon: "Christina Aguilera sues former manager", liveDaily, (October 17, 2000)
• Zahlaway, Jon: "Christina Aguilera slapped with counter-suit", liveDaily, (November 2, 2000)
• Moss, Corey: "Christina Aguilera Plans Tour, Movie Role For 2003", MTV News, (December 6, 2002)
• Duerden, Nick: "The Good, the Bad and the Dirrty", Blender Magazine, (December 2003)
• "Christina Aguilera: "I love experimenting with my sexuality", Gay.com UK, (January 22, 2004)
• "Singer Christina Aguilera to wed", BBC News, (February 13, 2005)
• Moss, Corey; Scorca, Shari: "Christina Aguilera Finishing 'Raw' LP, Waiting For Perfect Film Role", MTV News, (March 4, 2005)
• Rock On The Net Christina Aguilera Profile - Retrieved July 10, 2005
• Allmusic Christina Aguilera Billboard singles chart - Retrieved July 20, 2005.
• EveryHit.com UK singles chart search - Retrieved July 21, 2005

External links

Official sites

The below links are websites which have been created by Christina's representatives to promote her music.

• Current Official Site
• Past Official Site
• Official Fan Club

Fansites

The below links are a few detailed websites created by fans of Christina.

• Christina Multimedia
• The Christina Connection
• Miss Aguilera

Miscellaneous links

• LiveDaily Christina Aguilera discussion forum
• All Music Guide Christina Aguilera entry
• GLAAD media release on inclusion award
• Honeyjew Christina Aguilera picture gallery

• Female singers
• American pop singers
• 1980 births
• Gay icons
• Whistle register singers
• Saturday Night Live Hosts
• People from Newfoundland and Labrador