Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera

Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, television personality, and actress. In 1990, she first appeared on national television as a contestant on Star Search, and later starred in The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994. After recording "Reflection", the theme song for the animated film Mulan (1998), she signed with RCA Records.

Aguilera's debut studio album, Christina Aguilera (1999), was a commercial success, with singles "Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" all topping the Billboard Hot 100. Despite worldwide success with her second and third albums, Mi Reflejo (2000) and My Kind of Christmas (2000), and numerous collaborations, she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image. Aguilera parted with her management and took creative control over her fourth album, Stripped (2002), which was influenced by R&B, pop rock, hip hop and soul. Its second single, "Beautiful", was a commercial success and helped the album's commercial performance amidst controversy over Aguilera's image. Her jazz inspired fifth album, Back to Basics (2006), was released to positive reviews and was followed four years later with Aguilera's sixth album, Bionic (2010), which had trouble maintaining commercial success. She made her feature film debut in the musical Burlesque (2010), earning Aguilera a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song. Aguilera's recent and seventh album, Lotus (2012), was preceded by the single "Your Body".

Aguilera includes themes of dealing with public scrutiny, her childhood, and female empowerment in her music. Her work has earned numerous awards and accolades, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, four Grammy Awards and one Latin Grammy Award, amongst seventeen and three nominations respectively. Rolling Stone ranked her number fifty-eight on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, ranking as the youngest and only artist on the list under the age of thirty. She was ranked the 20th Artist of the 2000–09 decade by Billboard and is the second top selling single artist of the 2000s behind Madonna. Aguilera's albums sales are estimated at over 50 million units worldwide. As of 2011, Aguilera is a coach and judge on The Voice.

Aguilera has dedicated much of her time as a philanthropist for charities, human rights and world issues, including her work as a UN ambassador for the World Food Programme. She is the first singer to receive the George McGovern Leadership Award.