Aguilera, Christina Maria (1980– )

US pop singer. She rose to teen stardom in the late 1990s, and is known for her versatile voice and her outlandish and often provocative fashion sense. Her first major hit ‘Reflection’ (1998) appeared on the soundtrack for the Disney animated film Mulan. She signed with RCA records soon after and produced her eponymous first album featuring the catchy single ‘Genie in a Bottle’, which became the best-selling single of 1999. She won a Grammy for Best New Artist the same year. Other hit singles include ‘What A Girl Wants’ (2000) and ‘Dirrty’ (2003).

She went back to her Latino roots to produce the commercially successful Spanish collection of her hits Mi Reflejo (2000). She returned to the top of the charts with a cover version of ‘Lady Marmalade’, recorded with singers Lil' Kim, Mya, and Pink for the soundtrack of the film Moulin Rouge (2001). Her second major album, Stripped (2002), was less successful.

Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York, to an Irish mother and Ecuadorean father, and settled in Wexford, Pennsylvania, when she was seven. She made her first professional appearance at the age of eight on the US television programme Star Search. Two years later she sang the US national anthem at the opening ceremonies for the Pittsburgh Steelers American football team. She joined Disney's Mickey Mouse Club television series at the age of 12, starring alongside fellow future pop idols Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. She moved to Japan two years later to record ‘All I Wanna Do’, a duet with Japanese pop star Keizo Nakanishi.