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Christina Aguilera

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Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera from the 2002 Stripped promotional photoshoot.
Christina Aguilera from the 2002 Stripped promotional photoshoot.
Background information
Years active1998–present

Christina Maria Skank Aguilera (born December 18 1980) is an American pop singer. Also known as Xtina, she is most often recognized by her blow jobs in hollywood, notable vocal abilities as well as her unorthodox fashion sense. Her vocal skills have been compared to those of singers such as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Christina Aguilera has been classified as a spinto soprano and she has a 4 octave range. She has achieved four number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as two top five albums in the United States. Aguilera is now married to record executive Jordan Bratman.

Biography

Early life and career

Christina Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York but grew up mainly in the Pittsburgh suburb of Wexford, Pennsylvania, after living in various places around the world such as Texas and Japan. Her father, Fausto Aguilera, is a U.S. Army sergeant of Ecuadorian descent, and her mother, Shelly Loraine Fidler (now known as Shelly Kearns), was a Spanish translator and violinist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and of remote Irish and German descent. Aguilera's parents met while Fausto was serving at Earnest Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. Aguilera lived with her father until she was six or seven years old, when her parents divorced and her mother took her and her younger sister Rachel to her mother's home in Pittsburgh. According to Aguilera and her mother, her father was very controlling, as well as physically and emotionally abusive.

Christina's grandmother was the first person to really notice her beyond-her-years mature voice. Since Aguilera was able to talk, she set a goal to become a professional singer. She grew up as a fan of artists such as Billie Holiday, Etta James, Madonna, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. 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".

According to the [life story] that appeared on VH1's Driven, this label eventually became cross-productive. When competitors learned they would be up against her in any given week, they immediately backed out, prompting insiders to claim it was "like sending a lamb to the slaughter." Her peers soon became jealous of her and would frequently subject her to ridicule, ostracism, and, in one gym class, attempted assault. Acts of vandalism around her house included the slashing of the tires on the family car. Eventually the family relocated, with Aguilera swearing them to secrecy about her voice talent.

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 returned home and appeared on Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV's "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 Pittsburgh, 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), Rhona Bennett (who later became a member of En Vogue), Ryan Gosling, and Keri Russell (who would go on to become the star of Felicity). The show ended in 1994, and that year Aguilera began recording demos in an attempt to get signed to a record label.

1998–2001: Pop music beginnings

In 1998, she sang the High "E" (third "E" above middle "C") on a cover of Whitney Houston's "Run to You" which she recorded with an old tape recorder in her bathroom. She was then selected to record the song "Reflection" for the Disney animated production of Mulan (1998). The music video promoting the film was Aguilera's first. "Reflection" peaked at number fifteen on the Adult Contemporary Singles Chart, and it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for a Motion Picture in 1998. Recording "Reflection" led to Christina getting signed by RCA the same week.

File:Comeonovercap.JPG
Aguilera in the music video for "Come on Over (All I Want is You)".

Under the exclusive representation of Steve Kurtz, her self-titled album, Christina Aguilera, was released in the United States on August 24 1999. It reached the top of the Billboard 200 and Canadian album charts, selling over eight million copies in the United States alone. "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. Aguilera won the Best New Artist award at the 2000 Grammy Awards, and was also nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Genie in a Bottle". "Obvious", the final track on the album, was one of the original demo tracks that was sent to Ron Fair before Aguilera was signed with her record label, RCA.

In 2000, Aguilera first emphasized her Latino heritage, following the Latin pop 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, it won Aguilera 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; released in 2001 as the album's second single, it reached the top five in the United Kingdom and Germany, top twenty in the U.S., and top forty in Canada, Switzerland, and Australia.

In 2001, a single emerged into record stores called "Just Be Free", one of the demos Aguilera recorded when she was around fifteen 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. 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 lent 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 Aguilera when she was fifteen years old.

Although Aguilera's debut 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 had 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 he was allotted, and had paid other managers to assist him. She also petitioned the California State Labor Commission to nullify the contract. After terminating 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.

2002–2003: Development of music and image

Aguilera in the music video for "Dirrty" (2002).

On October 29 2002, after much delay, Aguilera's second full-length English album, Stripped, was released in the U.S. The majority of Stripped was co-written by Aguilera, and was influenced by many different subjects and music styles, including rhythm and blues, gospel, soul, ballads, pop rock, hip-hop and jazz (on "Impossible", a collaboration with Alicia Keys). The album was not received as well as her debut by most critics, and Aguilera's vocals were 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 disappointed on the U.S. singles chart. However, the single was a huge hit worldwide, reaching number one in several countries and on the World Chart. The album reached the top five of the UK, U.S. and Canadian album charts, but despite solid sales, it was initially considered a sophomore slump. The second single, "Beautiful", became a huge radio hit and three more singles from the album ("Fighter", "Can't Hold Us Down", and "The Voice Within") were released in the following two years to commercial success. Stripped stayed on the U.S. and UK album charts until well into 2004, and went on to sell four million copies in the U.S., ending up at number ten on Billboard's year-end album chart. Kelly Clarkson's second single "Miss Independent" was co-written by Aguilera, and was originally supposed to be a song on Stripped. Aguilera was the number-one Billboard Female Artist (albums and singles) of 2003.

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, but a few shows were cancelled 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. It 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 cord injuries suffered shortly before its opening date. It was later reported by the British tabloid newspaper The Sun that low ticket sales and lack of new material were actually the major contributing factors in the tour's cancellation. Aguilera has since denied the report.

File:Christinakiss.jpg
Aguilera and Madonna during a performance at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards

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 heavily overshadowed by the kiss between Madonna and Britney Spears during the same performance.

2004–2006: Post-Stripped and recent activities

A January 2004, ZOO Magazine (a Danish men's tabloid magazine) article reported that Aguilera is possibly bisexual. The article quotes her stating in an interview: "I find it hornier looking at women than 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 was quoted as saying.

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 1920s-1940s Hollywood glamour look.

File:Declareyourself aguilera.jpg
Image used in the Declare Yourself billboard campaign. Photograph by David LaChapelle

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, non-profit campaign "Declare Yourself". In these political advertisements, Aguilera was shown with her mouth sewn shut, to symbolize the effects of not voting. She appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss the importance of voting and having a say in the future.

In late summer 2004, Aguilera released two singles. The first, "Car Wash", was a cover of the Rose Royce disco song recorded as a collaboration with rapper Missy Elliott for the soundtrack to the film Shark Tale. 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 copied another legendary look for the video: Marilyn Monroe's. Both singles failed commercially in the U.S., but did considerably better in other parts of the world.

After much delay, Aguilera's first DVD live-recording from a concert tour, Stripped Live in the UK, was released in November 2004. In late December, she officially released a fragrance, Xpose, which has only been available in a few European countries.

There were published rumors circulating that Christina was involved with music artists such as Enrique Iglesias, as well as Limp Bizkit's frontman Fred Durst which were both untrue. She dated Latin dancer Jorge Santos for 2 years but this relationship ended in September of 2001. She began dating music executive Jordan Bratman. After dating him for almost three years, their engagement was announced in February 2005. They were married on November 19 2005, in the Napa Valley. It was rumored by several media outlets that Aguilera may change her legal name to Maria Bratman. However, she would continue to use her maiden name professionally.

The VH1 program The Fabulous Life Of... Christina Aguilera (2002) estimated that the singer has a net worth of between thirty and forty million United States dollars.

Aguilera collaborated with Herbie Hancock on a cover of Leon Russell's "A Song for You", recorded for Hancock's album Possibilities, released in August 2005. Aguilera and Hancock were later nominated for the Grammy Award Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.

Christina performed at "Unite of the Stars" charity banquet in Johanessburg, South Africa in late 2005 with stars such as Diana Ross and Westlife in aid of Unite Against Hunger, and she also performed at the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund at the Coca-Cola Dome on November 9. She held a full headlining concert the next day at the same venue.

Aguilera's representatives announced that her third full-length English album is due out in spring May 2006. She revealed during the 2006 Grammy Awards that her album may possibly be called Back To Basics and that it is almost finished. 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 throughout her career. 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 ones similar to those played by Angelina Jolie. She still avoids roles that portray herself, or any character resembling her.

Aguilera recently collaborated with Andrea Bocelli on the song "Somos Novios (It's Impossible)" for his album Amore, due for release in January-February 2006 (USA: 31st January, Australia: 4th February, International: 24th February, UK: 6th March). The song leaked to the net on January 21, 2006.

It has been confirmed that Christina will be performing with Andrea Bocelli at the Olympics Closing Ceremony on Febuary 26th.

Charity work

Throughout her career, Aguilera has been involved with certain charities. 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". Aguilera is still a major force in her hometown of Pittsburgh contributing regularly to the Women's Center & Shelter Of Greater Pittsburgh. She also has auctioned off front row seats and back stage passes for the Pittsburgh based charity [1]. Christina contributes in the fight against AIDS, by participating in AIDS Project Los Angeles' Artists Against AIDS "What's Going On?" cover project. In 2004 Aguilera became the new face for cosmetic company M.A.C and spokeperson for M.A.C. AIDS Fund. Aguilera appeared in advertisements of the M.A.C.'s Viva Glam V lipstick and lipgloss. In 2005 Aguilera got involved in a campaign with YouthAids.org and ALDO, to raise awareness with posters and Empowerment Tags.

Discography

Further information: Christina Aguilera discography

Grammy Awards

Category Genre Song Year Result
Best Pop Collaboration w/ Vocals Pop "A Song For You" 2006 Nominated
Best Pop Vocal Album Pop Stripped 2004 Nominated
Best Pop Female Vocal Performance Pop "Beautiful" 2004 Won
Best Pop Collaboration w/ Vocals Pop "Can't Hold Us Down" 2004 Nominated
Best Pop Collaboration w/ Vocals Pop "Dirrty" 2003 Nominated
Best Pop Collaboration w/ Vocals Pop "Lady Marmalade" 2002 Won
Best Pop Collaboration w/ Vocals Pop "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" 2002 Nominated
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Pop "What a Girl Wants" 2001 Nominated
Best Latin Pop Vocal Album Latin Mi Reflejo 2001 Nominated
Best New Artist General N/A 2000 Won
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Pop "Genie In a Bottle" 2000 Nominated

DVDs

File:StrippedLiveUK.jpg
Christina Aguilera on the cover of Stripped Live in the U.K.

See also

References

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