Without a doubt, pop sensation Christina Aguilera has one of the most stunning voices in music today. With two smash albums and a slew of hit singles to her credit, Aguilera is one of the most popular and revered recording artists of her generation. Her jaw-dropping whistle-register vocals have commanded the attention of casual listeners and music legends alike, and with her hotly anticipated new album “Back to Basics” on the way, she’s certain to be around for decades to come.
Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York on December 18, 1980, but after her parents’ divorce moved to Pittsburgh with her mother and grandmother. Her vocal talent emerged at an early age and was encouraged by her family, who helped her nab gigs at local talent competitions, parties, and as the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ singer at Pittsburgh Penguins hockey games. Her remarkable voice inspired jealousy in her peers, and she reportedly endured taunting and vandalism as a child. In 1990 she appeared on “Star Search”, and in 1993 joined the cast of “The New Mickey Mouse Club” with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Keri Russell, and Ryan Gosling, among others. Aguilera was a recording powerhouse by the late 90s, first singing “Reflection” from the soundtrack of Disney’s “Mulan” in 1998 and the next year releasing her debut album, the self-titled “Christina Aguilera”.
Her catchy, power-pop debut ultimately sold eight million albums in the U.S., primarily due to the strength of #1 singles “Genie in a Bottle”, “What a Girl Wants”, and “Come On Over Baby”. After a hit tour, a string of legal battles with her former manager Steve Kurtz, and a smash collaboration with Lil’ Kim, Mya, and Pink for “Lady Marmalade”, Aguilera dropped her second album in 2002, the more overtly sexual and lyrically mature “Stripped”. By this point the pop superstar had millions of teenage fans, and her raunchy new image generated heaps of criticism, particularly after the unveiling of the naughty video for the lead single “Dirrty”. Yet according to the singer her new image was more in line with her real personality, which she claimed was stifled by controlling management in an effort to pit her against pop diva Britney Spears, who found enormous success with her 1998 debut. Despite all the controversy, the public was eventually won over by “Stripped”, mainly due to the second single “Beautiful”, a powerful ballad that won her a Grammy (her second) for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and a Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation award for its video’s positive portrayal of gay and transgendered people. The album went on to sell around four million copies in the U.S.
Aguilera’s stunning new album “Back to Basics” released in August 2006, and its lead single “Ain’t No Other Man” exhibits a classier, more jazz-influenced sound. Coming off a red-hot single with Herbie Hancock, a 2005 marriage to music executive Jordan Bratman, and her stunning new Old Hollywood glamour look, the album couldn’t come at a better time for the red-hot singer.