Christina Maria Aguilera is an American pop, gospel, jazz, and R&B musician. She has 7 Grammy awards and 1 Latin Grammy award. She has sold more than 45 million albums worldwide.
Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been called the "Voice of a Generation." Christina Aguilera was first seen as a contestant on Star Search. She later appeared in Disney Channel's The New Mickey Mouse Club series in 1993-1994. Aguilera signed a deal with RCA Records after the song Reflection she recorded for the movie Mulan.
Aguilera was born on December 18, 1980, in Staten Island, New York. Her mother, Shelly Loraine Fidler, was a Spanish teacher, and her father, Ecuadorian-born Fausto Wager Xavier Aguilera, was a surgeon in the army. They got married when her mother was 20 and her father was 32. Her parents divorced when Aguilera was 6 years old, and her mother, Christina, and her sister Rachel moved to live with her mother in Pennsylvania. Her father, Fausto, was both physically and emotionally aggressive. Aguilera said that her father's attitude was clearly reflected in her songs.
It was her grandmother who first discovered the singer's talent. Aguilera has wanted to be a singer since she was little. She has admired names such as Billie Holiday, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, and Barbra Streisand since her childhood.
She participated in many talent competitions and came first every time. After a while, she began to become the center of media attention as the "little girl with the big voice". When the other contestants learned that they would compete with him, they were withdrawing, they were jealous of him. They were even attacked in the locker room and the tires of their car parked in front of their house were punctured. As the violence escalated, the family decided to move to another place.
On March 15, 1990, Aguilera participated in the Star Search contest with Etta James' song "A Sunday Kind of Love", but did not win. Immediately afterwards, she sang the same song in the program called "Wake Up With Larry Richert", which was broadcast on a television channel. People began to recognize her as “the 10-year-old girl who could sing like a 20-year-old.”
During her years in Pittsburgh, Aguilera appeared on the field many times before hockey, football, and baseball games and sang the song "The Star-Spangled Banner." She took one of her most important steps in the entertainment world by joining Disney Channel's "The New Mickey Mouse Club". A few of her friends in this club were Britney Spears, Keri Russell, and Justin Timberlake. Everyone in the club called her "Diva". After the end of this show in 1994, the artist began recording demos.
In 1998, Christina Aguilera recorded Whitney Houston's song "Run To You" in the bathroom of her home on an old tape recorder. Upon this discovery, she was chosen to sing the song "Reflection" in the 1994 Disney animated film Mulan. Immediately after this recording, the company RCA Records decided to sign a contract with Aguilera. “Reflection” climbed very high on the singles charts and was even nominated for a Golden Globe for “Best Original Song” that same year.
Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Referred to as the "Voice of a Generation", she is noted for her four-octave vocal range and signature use of sustaining high notes and use of melisma throughout her music. Recognized as an influential figure in popular music, she also became known for incorporating controversial themes such as feminism, sexuality, LGBT culture and the sex-positive movement into her work. Aguilera was also honoured as a Disney Legend, for her contributions to The Walt Disney Company.
Christina Aguilera's first album, "Christina Aguilera", was released in America on August 24, 1999. It reached number one on the "Top 200" charts and the Canadian music charts, selling more than eight million copies in the United States alone. Songs such as “Genie In A Bottle” and “What A Girl Wants” were also in this album.
In 2000, the artist was nominated for the Grammy Awards for "Best Female Pop Singer" with "Genie In A Bottle". In many places, She sang only with piano accompaniment because she wanted to prove to everyone the power of her voice. She attended MTV's New Year's party on the last night of the same year.
On September 12, 2000, the artist's first Spanish album, "Mi Reflejo", was released as an extension of the Latin music movement that was influencing the world at the time. This album included new songs as well as Spanish versions of English songs. This work, which went to number one on the Latin album charts, was awarded the Latin Grammy Award for "Best Pop Album" in 2001. It sold 3 million units worldwide.
On October 24, 2000, her album "My Kind Of Christmas" reached the 28th place in high school. Following these successes, Ricky Martin asked Aguilera to duet with her on the song "Nobody Wants To Be Lonely". This single, released in 2001, rose to the top of high schools all over the world.
In 2001, it was decided to reinterpret the 1975 song "Lady Marmalade" for the album containing the soundtrack of the movie "Moulin Rouge". Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya, and Pink were the artists who performed this song. The track remained at number one for 5 weeks and earned all four artists the Grammy Award for "Best Pop Collaboration".
In the same year, "Just Be Free", one of the demos recorded by Christina Aguilera 15 years ago, appeared in the music market. When RCA Records discovered this, they told Christina's fans not to buy the demo, which was released without the company's knowledge. A few months later, when Warlock Records released an album containing this demo, Aguilera sued the company on the grounds of unfair competition. The two parties later reached an agreement for the release of the album. On the album, released in August 2001, there was a picture of the artist taken when she was 15 years old.
She was not very satisfied with her last album and the image her label had created for her. At the time, the artist was being marketed as someone who appeared suddenly and was likely to fade away quickly because the trends of her music genre required it. That's why Aguilera announced that her next album will be much deeper, both in terms of music and lyrics. Because of the discomfort she felt, she filed a lawsuit for the cancellation of her contract with the company she was affiliated with.
The reason for this lawsuit, which was filed in October 2000, was "unfair and inappropriate interference with the artist's professional musical life". After the case ended, the artist's new manager became Irving Azoff. Thus, both marketing strategies and music began to change.
On October 29, 2002, Aguilera's album Stripped was released and reached number 2 on the charts. The artist had a hand in most of the songs in the album, and they contained influences from many musical genres such as blues, pop rock, jazz, and soul. The sexy image created with this album caused the singer's vocal power to be overlooked. She posed half-naked for magazines such as Rolling Stone and Maxim and believed that her new image better reflected her true personality and dark sides. However, this new image was not very popular in America. The video clip of "Dirrty", the first single from the album, was a hit on MTV, but it did not have the same success on the charts. The second single was “Beautiful”. The album managed to stay in high schools until 2004 and sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. Meanwhile, the song "Miss Independent" by the newly shining Kelly Clarkson was also written by Aguilera.
Aguilera joined Justin Timberlake on the last leg of her "Justified" world tour, and a few months later, she continued alone, changing the name of the tour to "Stripped". Meanwhile, she dyed her hair black. This tour was chosen as the "best tour of the year" by Rolling Stone.
Another tour, planned to start in mid-2004, was canceled due to Aguilera's vocal cords being disturbed. Newspapers claimed that the reason for the cancellation of this tour was low ticket sales and lack of interest, but the artist denied this.
Another event that resonated all over the world in 2003 took place at the MTV Video Music Awards. While Aguilera was accompanying Madonna on stage with Britney Spears, she kissed her in a scene.
In a magazine article in 2004, it was claimed that Aguilera was bisexual. As proof of this, the artist said in an interview: "When I look at women, I feel better than when I look at men, and I can do anything, including being with women, to explore sexuality."
She acquired a more mature image in 2004. She became the new face in the advertisements of the Mercedes-Benz brand and made a jingle called "Hello" for this brand. She then cut her hair short and dyed it blonde. Many people were under the impression that Aguilera was trying to imitate Gwen Stefani with this new look.
As the 2004 United States Presidential Election approached, Aguilera began appearing on billboards. In the ad, her mouth was sewn shut. The name of this campaign was “Declare Yourself” and it encouraged the American people to vote in the elections. At the same time, the artist joined Oprah Winfrey's program to discuss the importance of this issue.
In the summer of 2004, Aguilera released two singles. The first was a cover called "Rose Royse Disco", which she recorded with Missy Elliott, from the soundtrack of the movie "Shark Tale". The second was "Tilt Ya Head Back", in which she accompanied Nelly. Neither of these songs were successful in American high schools. In November of the same year, the singer's first DVD concert recording, "Stripped Live In The UK", was released. In December, the artist launched a perfume called "Xpose", which can only be found in a few European countries.
In August 2005, Christina Aguilera collaborated with jazz artist Herbie Hancock for the song "A Song For You". Both artists were nominated for the Grammy Award for "Best Pop Collaboration" with this work. The artist performed a duet with Andrea Bocelli in "When You Wish Upon A Star" in 2006, and contributed to donations by singing at charity nights such as "Unite Of Stars" with names such as Westlife and Diana Ross and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.
Augilera's last album, Back To Basics, was released on August 15, 2006, and became number one in 13 countries. The album had influences from the 1920s and 1930s. She also accompanied Diddy in the song "Press Play", which is expected to be released in the fall of 2006. She announced that the tour of her latest album will start in November 2006 and will cover 18 European countries.
Aguilera had a relationship with dancer Jorge Santos that lasted 2 years until September 2001. In 2002, she started dating Jordan Bratman, a manager in the music industry. The couple, who got engaged in February 2005, got married in Napa Valley on November 19, 2005. She has a son named Max Liron Bratman (born January 12, 2008). They separated on September 11, 2010, and divorced in 2011.
Christina Aguilera got engaged to Matthew Rutler in February 2014. They had a daughter named Summer Rain Rutler (b.August 16, 2014).
Aguilera has been nominated for Grammy and MTV Video Music Awards many times and has won these awards many times. In addition to all these achievements, the artist's philanthropy is also known all over the world. She helps PETA, aids foundations, Hurricane Katrina victims, and anti-violence foundations. Christina Aguilera continues to attract attention with her powerful interpretation and 4-octave voice.
Albums:
1999 - Christina Aguilera
2000 - Mi Reflejo
2000 - My Kind of Christmas
2002 - Stripped
2006 - Back to Basics
2008 - Keeps Gettin' Better - A Decade of Hits
2010 - Bionic
2012 - Lotus