Christina Aguilera is one of the greatest and most recognizable voices of her generation. Born in Staten Island, New York City, in 1980, Christina is one of the most respected artists in the entertainment industry. Her mother was a musician and her father, Fausto Xavier Aguilera of Ecuador, was a soldier in the United States army. Because of her father’s military service, Christina’s family moved around frequently, and they lived in places like Japan, Texas, New Jersey, and New York. Christina says that her father was emotionally and physically abusive. One way she found to cope with his abuse was turning to music as a healthy form of escape.
When she was only six years old, Christina’s parents divorced and she and her mother and sister moved in with her grandmother, who had a home in the Pittsburgh suburb of Rochester. Many years later, in 2012, Christina made the decision to reconcile with her father. However, Christina’s childhood escape of music became her passion in life. She was drawn as a child to soul and blues records that her grandmother bought and a young Christina would practice singing them. The people in her neighborhood called her “the little girl with the big voice.” In a talent show when she was only eight years old, she won first place with a cover of “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston.
Ironically, Christina’s big break came when she auditioned for a role on “The Mickey Mouse Club” even though she didn’t meet the age requirements. Two years later, she joined the cast of the show, where she performed sketch comedy and musical numbers until the show was canceled in 1994. Some of her cast members included Keri Russell, Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears. That show turned out some big names indeed. In the beginning of her career, Christina was largely a pop entertainer, but she later turned to more serious work. She was a teen idol and grew increasingly provocative as a persona. At one point, she even dyed her hair black and debuted numerous piercings and nude photo spreads in various publications.
YouTube
In the video below, Christina performs with Colin Smith the song “Say Something” by A Great Big World, an American pop duo. Watch this pair of talented young entertainers perform this beautiful and poignant ballad below.
