Christina Maria Aguiliera was born on December 18, 1980 in Staten Island,
New York. Her parents are of Ecuadorian and Irish descent. Due to her
father being in the U.S. military, the Aguileras moved quite frequently.
Christina’s musical career began when her family settled in
Philadelphia when she was six years old; she began competing in local
talent shows. In 1988, Christina competed on Star Search (she didn’t win).
By the time she turned 10, she was singing the National Anthem at
Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguin games. In 1992, she joined the cast for
the Disney Channel’s “The New Mickey Mouse Club.” The ‘club’ featured
soon-to-be stars Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake (‘N Sync), J.C.
Chasez (‘N Sync), and Keri Russell (felicity). Two years later,
Christina moved to Japan where she performed a duet with Japanese Pop
star Keizo Nakanishi (“All I Wanna Do). In 1998, Christina returned to
the United States to record the song “Reflection” for the Disney movie,
Mulan. Upon hearing the song, she was offered a deal with RCA.

Christina’s self-titled debut album was released in 1999. the record
featured bubblegum, teen-oriented dance pop. The lead single, “Genie in
a Bottle,” topped the charts for five weeks. In 2000, the second single,
“What a Girl Wants,” (produced by Guy Roche: Brandy, Cher, Dru Hill,
Aaliyah, K-Ci & Jo Jo) became the first single of the year 2000. The
album also spawned the hits, “I Turn to You” and “Come on Over Baby (All
I Want is You). During this time, Christina won the ALMA (award
honoring Hispanic-Americans for their achievements) award for Best New
Artist. She was also on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, Teen Pop, and
Latina. Christina was named one of the most fascinating women of 1999
by the “Ladies Home Journal” CBS television special.

In February of 2000, Christina won a Grammy for Best New Artist. That
summer, she headlined a huge international tour co-sponsored by Levi’s
and Sears. In the Fall of 2000, she released a Spanish language album
entitled Mi Reflejo. In December she released a Holiday Christmas album.

In March of 2001, Christina collaborated with Ricky Martin on “Nobody
Wants to be Lonely.” The song peaked at number 11 on the Billboard
Charts. She also collaborated with Pink, Mya, and Lil’ Kim on the remake
of “Lady Marmalade” for the soundtrack of Moulin Rouge. The song stayed
at number one for five weeks. The video won the 2001 MTV Award for Best
Video of the Year. That year, Christina won her second Grammy: Best
female Pop Vocal Album for Mi Reflejo.

At the end of 2002, Christina shocked her fans with her second album,
Stripped. Her first single, “Dirty,” depicted a much different singer
than her pre-teen fans were used to. The singer publicly defamed her
first record, and said that Stripped was a reflection of her as a person
and artist. The album’s other hit singles: “Beautiful” and “Stronger”
did well. In the summer of 2003, Christina toured with Justin Timberlake.
Their tour was entitled: Justified and Stripped.