Christina Aguilera Photos

Christina Aguilera

Christina Maria Aguilera was born on December 18th, 1980, to parents Jim, a military father of Ecuadorian descent, and Shelly, an Irish professional violinist/pianist. Growing up with her brothers and sisters in Wexford, Pennsylvania, Christina always knew that she wanted to be a performer. Only in her early 20s, this blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty may have gotten more than she bargained for.

Her career as a singer started when she began performing at her school’s talent shows. She took her soulful voice to the Star Search stage, (like her singing counterpart, Britney Spears), and performed on national telelvision. The next time she performed in front of a live audience was when she sang the National Anthem for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguins.

christina aguilera is a mouseketeer

At the age of 12, Christina landed a coveted spot on the popular variety show The Mickey Mouse Club as a “Mousketeer,” with fellow castmates Britney Spears, Keri Russell, and J.C. Chasez and Justin Timberlake from the boy band *N Sync.

After her two-year stint on The Mickey Mouse Club, Christina travelled to Japan in 1998, where she recorded a duet with Japanese star Keizo Nakanishi, and later toured in Japan. Her next public performance was at the Golden Stag Festival in Transylvania, Romania, joining Sheryl Crow and Diana Ross, who were also on the playlist.

As if overnight, Christina became a star. It all started when she sent a demo tape to the producers of the Disney animated feature, Mulan, after having been invited to audition for the part. All the studio needed to hear was her home recorded demo tape, in which Christina sang karaoke to Whitney Houston’s hit “I Wanna Run to You,” and the studio executives knew that they had found the wide-range voice that they were looking for.

christina aguilera’s reflection

Two days later, Christina recorded “Reflection” for Mulan and was signed for a record deal with RCA Records that same week. The song “Reflection” became a hit adult contemporary single, and garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for a Motion Picture.

For those of you who didn’t see Mulan, there’s no need to fret — we would soon hear Christina’s hit single “Genie in a Bottle.” Her self-titled debut album was released on August 24, 1999, and sold more than 250,000 copies within one week of being released.

The album Christina Aguilera has received praise from both critics and fans alike, for its diversity in musical style, ranging from dance, pop and gospel, to soul and R&B. Having been compared to veteran divas Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Etta James, (who are among her favorite artists), one can hear that Christina is largely influenced by R&B and gospel.

With only one hit single under her belt at the time of the Grammys, Christina won the Grammy Award for Best New Female Artist. We had yet to hear the other two hit singles that were coming our way — the dance-pop tune “What a Girl Wants” and the ballad “I Turn to You.”

christina aguilera duets with b.b. king

After “Genie in a Bottle” had been released for less than a year, Christina performed a duet with B.B. King and performed “The Christmas Song” for Bill Clinton on the TV special Christmas at the White House (which led to an invitation by the President to sing on his Millennium TV special, but Christina had to decline); she performed at MTV’s New Year’s Eve broadcast at Times Square; performed a duet at the Super Bowl Half Time Show with Enrique Iglesias; and she was the only female guest at VH1’s Men Strike Back special.

The honors she has received include: named one of the most fascinating women of 1999 on Ladies Home Journal’s TV special; received the award for Best Artist at the ALMA Awards, which honors the best entertainers from the Hispanic-American community; and named one of People magazine’s hottest stars under 25.

christina aguilera sings lady marmalade

Christina also proved that she can work with other divas, as she did in the remake of “Lady Marmalade”, from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. Teamed with Pink, Mya and Lil’ Kim, Christina steals the show in the song, whose video took home the 2001 MTV Video Award for Best Video of the Year. She also appears on the All-Star Tribute remake of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?”, with a star-studded cast including Bono and Nelly Furtado.

With at least four hit singles, a multi-platinum album, a Grammy, and fans ranging beyond the teen market (unlike her pop contemporaries), Christina has shown that this genie in a bottle has been released — and is soaring.

In 2003, she released Stripped, featuring such hit songs as “Dirrty,” “Beautiful” and “Can’t Hold Us Down.” The album made Christina the number-one Billboard Female Artist of the year.

christina aguilera marries

In the past, Christina has been allegedly linked to Enrique Iglesias, Fred Durst and MTV’s Carson Daly. She was less than thrilled about Eminem’s mention of her “relationship” with Carson Daly and Fred Durst in his song “The Real Slim Shady,” and has publicly expressed her feelings of disgust towards the shady rapper.

In 2005, however, the “Dirrty” girl settled down with music executive Jordan Bratman. The two were married in a November 19 ceremony. Somehow, we don’t think Christina’s trip down the aisle will calm her much — we can’t really see her baking cookies and driving the car pool.