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| Christina Aguilera |
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Christina Maria Aguilera |
| Also known as |
X-tina |
| Born |
December 18 1980 (1980--) (age 26)
Staten Island, New York, United States |
| Origin |
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
United States |
| Genre(s) |
Pop, latin pop, dance-pop, R&B, jazz,
blues music, soul |
| Occupation(s) |
Singer, songwriter, producer, philanthropist |
| Years active |
1998–present |
| Label(s) |
RCA |
| Website |
www.christinaaguilera.com |
Christina María Aguilera (born December 18 1980) is
an American pop singer
and songwriter. She was signed to RCA Records after
recording "Reflection"[1][2] for the film
Mulan. She came to prominence following her debut album Christina Aguilera (1999), which was a critical and commercial success. [3] A Latin pop album
Mi Reflejo,[4]
and a Christmas album, My Kind of Christmas, followed during this period and
also sold very well.[5]
Aguilera took creative control over her second studio album Stripped (2002),[6] which received mixed reviews and yet produced substantial sales. The overtly sexual image Aguilera
displayed during the promotion of the album became the subject of intense criticism and ridicule.
Aguilera's third studio album Back to Basics (2006)
included elements of soul, jazz, and blues music. It was released to good sales and positive critical reception. Aguilera's works have earned her
numerous awards including five Grammy Awards amongst sixteen nominations. She has sold over
30 million albums worldwide.[7][8][9][10]
In early 2002, Aguilera began dating music marketing executive Jordan Bratman.[11][12] Their engagement was announced in February 2005,[13] and they married on November 19, 2005, in the Napa Valley.[14] The couple celebrated their one year anniversary in Dublin, Ireland where she was on tour at the time. It was reported early 2007
that they are expecting their first child together.[15]
Life and music career
Early life and career
Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York, to Fausto Wagner Xavier Aguilera, a
Sergeant in the U.S. Army at the time and Shelly Loraine Fidler, a Spanish teacher.
Aguilera's father was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, while her
mother is of Irish descent (her maternal grandmother emigrated from County Clare).[16]
Her father, Fausto, was stationed at Earnest Harmon Air Force Base in
Stephenville, Newfoundland, Canada and Japan.
Aguilera lived with her father and mother until she was seven years old. When Aguilera's parents divorced, her mother took her,
and her younger sister Rachel, to her grandmother's home in Rochester,
Pennsylvania, a blue-collar suburb of Pittsburgh. According to both Aguilera and Fidler, her father was very controlling, as well as
physically and emotionally abusive.[17] She later wrote about her difficult childhood in the songs "I'm OK" in Stripped, and "Oh
Mother" in Back to Basics. Although her father has written to Aguilera, she has ruled out any chance to reunite with
him.[18] Since then, Fidler has married a paramedic named
Jim Kearns, and has changed her name to Shelly Kearns.[19]
As a child, Aguilera aspired to be a singer. Her musical influences included Etta
James,[20] Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston,[21] Nina Simone, Mariah Carey, Judy Garland, and Madonna.[22] She also
cites the musical The Sound of Music as an early inspiration for
singing and performing.[23] As a child, she was known
locally as "the little girl with the big voice", singing in local talent shows and competitions.[24]
According to VH1's Driven, whenever competitors learned they would be up against her in
any given week, they would immediately withdraw, 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 to another suburb in the
Pittsburgh area and took to secrecy about Aguilera's talent lest another backlash
occur.[25]
On March 15, 1990, she appeared on Star Search singing Etta James' "A Sunday Kind of Love", but lost the competition. 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. People remarked that the then ten-year-old
"sounded 20".[25]
Throughout her youth in Pittsburgh, Aguilera sang "The Star-Spangled Banner"
before Pittsburgh Penguins hockey, 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 Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Rhona
Bennett (who later became a member of En Vogue), Ryan
Gosling, Britney Spears, and Keri Russell.
According to the documentary Driven, Aguilera's Mickey Mouse Club co-stars called her "the Diva". One of her most notable performances was of Whitney Houston's "I Have
Nothing".[25] When the show was
canceled 1994, Aguilera began recording demos in an attempt to get signed to a record label.
At the age of fourteen, Aguilera recorded her first song, "All I Wanna Do", a hit duet with Japanese singer Keizo Nakanishi.[26] In
1997, she represented the United States at the "Golden Stag" International Festival with a two-song set which included Sheryl Crow and Diana Ross.[27]
1998–2001: Pop music beginnings and Christina Aguilera
In 1998, she sang the High "E" in full voice (E5) on a cover of
Whitney Houston's "Run to You" which she recorded with a
tape recorder in her bathroom. She was then selected to record the song "Reflection" for the Disney production of
Mulan (1998). Recording "Reflection" led to Aguilera earning a contract with
RCA Records the same week.[28] "Reflection" peaked within the top twenty on the Adult Contemporary Singles Chart, and it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best Original
Song" in 1998.
Under the exclusive representation of Steve Kurtz, Aguilera's self-titled debut album Christina Aguilera was released on August 24
1999. It reached the top of the Billboard 200 and
Canadian album charts, selling eight million copies in the U.S.[2] and over twelve million copies worldwide.[29] The album is also included in the Top 100 Album of All Time list of The
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) based on
album sales in the US.[30]
Her singles "Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants" and "Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" topped the Billboard Hot 100 during 1999 and 2000, and "I Turn
to You" reached #3. Aguilera won the "Best New Artist" award at
the 2000 Grammy Awards, and she was nominated for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" for "Genie in a Bottle". According
to the album's songwriters who appeared on the documentary Driven, Aguilera wanted to display the range and audacity in
her voice during the promotion of the album, and performed acoustic sets and appeared on television shows accompanied only by a
piano.[25] She ended the year on MTV's
2 Large New Year's Special, as she performed and was MTV's first artist of the millennium.
Later in 2000, Aguilera first emphasized her Latin heritage by releasing her first Spanish
album, Mi Reflejo on September 12
2000. This album contained Spanish versions of songs from her English debut as well as new Spanish
tracks. It peaked at #27 on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Latin album charts, and in 2001 it won Aguilera a
Latin Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Album". The Album has sold 2.5 million
copies worldwide and has been certified Gold (500,000) in the USA and 3x Platinum (600,000* Latin album)[31] under the RIAA's Los Premios de Oro y Platino program. She also won the
World Music Award as the best selling Latin artist that year. Aguilera also released a Christmas album on October 24 2000 called My Kind of
Christmas. It peaked at #28 on the Billboard 200, has sold 1.5 million copies worldwide, and has been certified
Platinum (1 million) in the USA.[32] 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, Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya, and Pink were chosen to remake Patti LaBelle's 1975 single
"Lady Marmalade" for the Moulin Rouge!
soundtrack. "Lady Marmalade" hit number one on the Hot 100 for five weeks and reached number one in eleven other countries, and
it earned all four performers a Grammy Award for "Best Pop
Collaboration with Vocals". Aguilera's appearance in the music video was compared to that of Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider.[33] The video proved to be a hit, as it won MTV's Video of the Year in 2001.[34]
That year 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 advised fans not to purchase it and had German authorities pull
the single off shelves.[35] 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.[36] 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 in August 2001, it had a photograph of Aguilera when she was fifteen years
old.[37]
Although Aguilera's debut album was very well received, she was dissatisfied with the music and image her management had
created for her. Aguilera was marketed as a bubblegum pop singer because of the genre's
upward financial trend.[38] She mentioned plans of her
next album to have much more depth, both musically and lyrically.[39] Aguilera's views of 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.[40]
In October 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.[40]
Kurtz countersued later that month 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 her. He also singled out Azoff for being in violation of the terms of Kurtz's
contract.[41] During this time, while she
was also working on her second album, she later revealed that she was betrayed by several friends, and hit rock bottom. She used
her then-upcoming album as therapy, saying "this record saved me from insanity."[42]
2002–2003: Stripped era
On October 29 2002, after much delay, Aguilera's second
full-length English album, Stripped was released, selling
more than 330,000 copies in the first week and peaking at #2 on the Billboard 200. Unlike previous work, the album showcased
Aguilera's raunchier side.[43] The majority of
Stripped was co-written by Aguilera (who had recently signed a global music publishing contract with BMG Music Publishing), and was influenced by many different subjects and music styles, including rhythm and blues, gospel, soul, balladry, pop rock, hip-hop and jazz.[44][45] Upon initial release,
the album was very well-received by critics, although Aguilera's vocals were overlooked as she began to cultivate a more sexually
provocative image.[46][47] After the release of the album, she took part in photoshoots for magazines such
as Maxim, Rolling Stone,[48] and CosmoGirl!. Many of these photographs featured her nude or semi-nude. It was during this
time Aguilera referred to herself as "Xtina," even getting a tattoo of her nickname on the
back of her neck and several piercings.[49]
Initially, the raunchy image had a negative effect on Aguilera in the U.S., especially after the release of her controversial
"Dirrty" music video. 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. While the video for "Dirrty" became
very popular on MTV, it disappointed on the U.S. singles chart. However, the single was a hit worldwide, reaching number one in
the UK and Ireland. The album reached the top five on the U.K., U.S. and Canadian album charts, though it was initially
considered a "sophomore slump." The second single, "Beautiful", became highly successful on the radio and earned her another Grammy for
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Three more singles
from the album ("Fighter", "Can't Hold Us
Down" featuring Lil' Kim, "The Voice Within")
were released in the following two years and were hits that helped the album stay on the charts for the next two years -
"Infatuation" was only released as single in Spain instead of "The Voice Within".
Stripped stayed on the U.S. and UK album charts well into 2004, and went on to be certified four-times platinum in the
U.S. with over nine million copies sold worldwide.[50][51] It appeared at number
ten on Billboard's year-end album chart. Kelly
Clarkson's second single "Miss Independent" was co-written by Aguilera, having
been half-finished for Stripped.
In May 2003, Aguilera took part in the Wango Tango concert series where she performed a number of hits such as "Beautiful",
"Fighter" and a remake of "Dirrty" that was produced for her upcoming tour. which Aguilera joined Justin Timberlake that June 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. In August, 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. Because the collapse occurred hours before the show, 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 the Stripped tour. She also dyed her hair black. It was one of the
top-grossing tours of that year, and sold out most of its venues. Rolling Stone
readers named it the best tour of the year.[52] She
became the muse and model for fashion house Versace.[53] She also topped Maxim's Hot 100 list, setting record sales for the issue later saying, "We had fun working
with certain clothes, or the lack thereof".[54][55]
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 because of the vocal cord injuries Aguilera
suffered shortly before the tour's opening date. In a tribute to Madonna's performance at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards' ceremony, Aguilera performed a kiss with the singer-actress at the 2003
edition of the ceremony in August. The incident occurred during the opening performance of Madonna's songs "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood" with fellow
popstar Britney Spears.[56]
2004–2005: Post-Stripped activities
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".[57] She
eventually dyed her hair cherry blonde and recorded a jingle, "Hello",
for a Mercedes-Benz ad, becoming the new face of Mercedes-Benz. However, the jingle was
never completed, as Aguilera has already started working on new material. Shortly after, she dyed her hair blonde and cut it
short, and took on a Marilyn Monroe look; many of her fans believe she is one of the main
proponents (along with Dita Von Teese, Gwen
Stefani, the Puppini Sisters and Ashley
Judd) in bringing back the 1920s-1940s Hollywood glamour
look.[58][59]
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, shot by David LaChapelle, 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.
In late summer 2004 Aguilera released two singles. The first, "Car Wash", was a
remake 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 was also a collaboration, but this time as a second single from one of
Nelly's double-release albums, Sweat, titled
"Tilt Ya Head Back". 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.[60]
Aguilera collaborated with jazz artist 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 for "Best Pop Collaboration with
Vocals". Aguilera went back to her Mickey Mouse Club roots when she helped open the 50th Anniversary for Disneyland
by performing "When You Wish Upon a Star", and she also collaborated with Andrea Bocelli
on the song "Somos Novios" for his album Amore, released in early 2006. In late 2005, she performed at "Unite of the
Stars", a charity banquet in aid of Unite Against Hunger in Johannesburg, South Africa, with stars such as Diana Ross and Westlife. She also performed at the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund at
the Coca-Cola Dome in November.[61]
2006–2007: Back to Basics
In March 2006, Aguilera signed a contract with European cell phone operator
Orange to promote the new Sony Ericsson
Walkman phone. She was featured in a Pepsi commercial alongside
Lebanese singer Elissa, as well as Korean pop singer Rain in May. The spot aired during the
2006 World Cup.
She posed nude for a Marilyn Monroe-inspired photoshoot in the May 2006 issue of
GQ magazine. She also granted the magazine an interview in that issue, in which she
expressed disappointment in fellow singer Mariah Carey, saying, "She was never cool to
me... to the point that one time we were at a party, and I think she got really drunk, and she had just really derogatory things
to say to me." In response, Carey issued a press release saying, "It is sad yet predictable that she would use my name at this
time to reinvent past incidents for her promotional gain."[62] Aguilera then released her own statement claiming, "My intentions were not to upset Mariah with any
statements that were published or taken out of context. I have all the respect in the world for her."[63]
Aguilera's third English studio album, Back to
Basics, released August 15 2006, went to #1 in
thirteen countries. The critically-acclaimed lead single "Ain't No Other Man" was a
substantial success, reaching #2 on the United World Chart, #6 in the U.S., and the top 5 in Europe. The single was regarded as a
good comeback song, since she was out of the spotlight since Stripped. Aguilera described the double CD as "a throwback to
the 20s, 30s, and 40s-style jazz, blues, and feel-good
soul music, but with a modern twist."[64] Producers on the album included DJ Premier, Kwamé, Linda Perry, and Mark Ronson. One
track, "F.U.S.S.", was written as a response to the animosity between Aguilera and Scott
Storch during the recording of Stripped. In the interview with Maxim, she
said, "That’s a way of burying my experience with him. We did great work on Stripped... When I tried to work with him
again, he made uncalled-for demands. It was disappointing that someone would get affected like that."[65] She received writing credit for every track and was the executive producer for the album, which debuted at number one in the U.S. and the U.K. The follow-up
singles did very well in different regions, "Hurt" in Europe and
"Candyman" in the Pacific. She
co-directed both music videos, the former with Floria Sigismondi who directed her
"Fighter" video,[66] and the latter, "Candyman", with
director/photographer Matthew Rolston which was inspired by The Andrews Sisters.[67]
Aside from promoting her own album, Aguilera collaborated with Sean "Diddy" Combs on a
track, titled "Tell Me", from his album "Press
Play". The single was released in late 2006. The single debuted at number #20 in the UK based on downloads alone, then
jumped to number #8 the next week.
Aguilera performing on the Back to Basics Tour.
She announced her "Back to Basics Tour" with eighteen European dates which began
November 17 and ended December 17.[68] Following this, contrary to her previous plans to tour blues and jazz
clubs for a more intimate setting, she will tour North America in a 41-date arena tour, which began February 20 2007 in Houston and ended on May
23 in San Diego.[69] After this, she toured Asia
and Australia, which will begin June 18 in Osaka and was supposed to end on August 3 in Auckland. She however canceled her last two dates in Melbourne
and her final two in Auckland due to an illness.
She insisted that the jazz club tour would push through sometime after. "We're definitely going to mix it up, change it up, do
some things that are not on the record, do some favorite classics of mine."[70]
At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, Aguilera again won the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Ain't No Other Man". She made
a noteworthy performance at the ceremony paying tribute to James Brown
with her rendition of his song "It's a Man's Man's Man's
World".[71] In January 2007, Aguilera was named
the 19th richest woman in entertainment by Forbes, with a net worth of
US$60 million.[72] Aguilera announced the signing of an international licensing agreement with Procter & Gamble to create Christina Aguilera fragrances. In May 2007, it was announced that
the perfume would be named Christina Aguilera and the shape of the bottle would be
Aguilera's body. Ads for it are now out, baring the diva's naked back in a black background with tagline 'Sometimes it's all you
need to wear'.[73] Aguilera said, "I love
trying new things in my music and in fashion. To have a perfume of my own is the beginning of an exciting adventure."[73]
On September 16, 2007, Aguilera performed Steppin' Out With My Baby with Tony Bennett live on the
59th Primetime Emmy Awards. That same evening, Tony Bennett won 2 Emmys for Tony Bennett: An American Classic, which Aguilera was a part of. In
addition, the Saturday Night Live episode in which Aguilera was the musical
guest won an Emmy.
2007-2008 Future:Fourth Album
Mayor of Hollywood, Johnny
Grant, announced that in 2008, Aguilera will get a star in the Hollywood Walk of
Fame[1].
RollingStone confirmed that Christina is back with DJ Premier for Aretha Franklin's Jewels In The
Crown: All-Star Duets With The Queen duet.[2]
In June 2007, Aguilera said that she was gathering inspiration for her next album, which she said would be "short and sweet"
and "completely different from Back to Basics", although she did not elaborate on what the style of the album would be.
[3]
In an interview with Blender magezine Aguilera stated that recording a song with her
once rival Eminem is on her agenda. [4]
Acting
Unlike her contemporaries, Aguilera has never appeared in movies, although she has done numerous television appearances and guest appearances. She made a cameo appearance performing on an episode of
Beverly Hills, 90210, and hosted a Saturday
Night Live episode in 2004. She's mentioned in an interview that she intended to pursue acting roles similar to
Angelina Jolie.[74] She included herself in soundtracks for several
Hollywood films including Mulan, and
the musical Moulin Rouge!. More recently, she is reported to co-star as Amneris in
Disney's upcoming live-action film Aida, as well as play the notorious burlesque stripper
Tempest Storm in a new film biopic.[75]
Perfume
On 1st October 2007 Christina Aguilera released her own perfume through Proctor and
Gamble.[76][77][78] The
decorative design of the packaging and bottle is inspired by 1930's Hollywood glamour. Aguilera said, "I love trying new things
in my music and in fashion. To have a perfume of my own is the beginning of an exciting adventure. To me jasmine has always been
synonymous with old movie star glamour. It is such a beautiful scent and has great heritage in traditional perfumery, which I
love. The blackcurrant tea note for me captures the vibrancy and happiness of my honeymoon. Its fruity, mouth watering scent
reminds me of sitting on our Bali veranda in the heat, looking out over the most gorgeous sunset while sipping a cool, refreshing
cocktail".
Charity work
Throughout her career, Aguilera has been involved with certain charities. She
signed a letter from PETA to the South Korean government asking that the country stop its alleged killing of dogs for food.[79] Her involvement in supporting the Defenders of Wildlife have
also added to her donations with charities.
Aguilera is still a major contributor in her hometown of Pittsburgh contributing regularly to the Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. According to her
official website, she toured the center and donated $200,000 to the shelter. She also has auctioned off front row seats and back
stage passes for the Pittsburgh-based charity.[80] She
has continued her donations and visits to the shelter, and plans to open an additional one.[81] She also supports the Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and Refuge UK.[82] Since
then she has worked with Lifetime Television's 'End violence against women'
campaign. Her work there included a public service announcement which aired
on the network and during her 2007 tour.
