PLEASURE WORLD

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Christina Maria Aguilera was born on December 18, 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. In her early 20s, this blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty got 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 television. 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 cast mates Britney Spears, Keri Russell, J.C. Chasez, and Justin Timberlake.

After her two-year stint on the show, Christina traveled 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.

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 she was 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 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 was no need to fret — as 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.

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 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! (2001) soundtrack. Teamed with Lil’ Kim, Pink and Mya, Christina stole the show. The video took home the 2001 MTV Video Music Award for Best Video of the Year. She also appeared on the All-Star Tribute remake of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” with Bono and Nelly Furtado.

In 2003, she released Stripped, featuring such hit songs as “Dirrty,” “Beautiful” and “Can’t Hold Us Down.” The album made Christina the No.1 Billboard Female Artist of the year.

She followed the release of that album with a co-headlining tour with her fellow former Mouseketeer, Justin Timberlake. In June, Aguilera joined Justin for the Justified & Stripped Tour.

Christina Aguilera’s back to basics

In the past, Christina was 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 publicly expressed her feelings of disgust toward the shady rapper.

In 2005, however, the “Dirrty” girl settled down with music executive Jordan Bratman. The two were married in a November 19th ceremony, and had a baby boy in January 2008.

The newlywed’s more jazzy and soul-inspired Back to Basics was released in 2006, and Christina’s first single, “Ain’t No Other Man,” went on to win a 2007 Grammy Award in the Best Female Pop Vocal category.

Albums

Studio albums

Other albums

Singles

This is a list of all the singles released by Christina Aguilera. The singles from her studio albums are shown separately from her soundtrack singles and from her singles as a featured artist. Aguilera is one of the best-selling single artists since she began her career, having multiple number one singles in the most important charts. According to Billboard Magazine,[34] Aguilera is the second top selling single artist of the decade, being behind only of Madonna.

As featured artist

Soundtrack/other releases

Spanish singles

Collaborations

• 1995: “All I Wanna Do” with Keizo Nakanish
• 2001: “What’s Going On” with others apart of MTV’s All-Star Collaboration
• 2005: “A Song for You” with Herbie Hancock
• 2006: “Somos Novios (It’s Impossible)” with Andrea Bocelli

Music videos

Filmography

Awards

Gold Awards (500,000 copies)

• 1999: “Christina Aguilera” (album)
• 1999: “Genie in a Bottle” (single)
• 1999: “What a Girl Wants” (single)
• 2000: “Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)” (single)
• 2000: “Lady Marmalade”
• 2000: “Mi Reflejo” (album)
• 2000: “My Kind of Christmas” (album)
• 2002: “Stripped” (album)
• 2006: “Beautiful” (single)
• 2006: “Fighter” (single)
• 2006: “Back to Basics” (album)
• 2006: “Ain’t No Other Man” (single)
• 2007: “Hurt” (single)
• 2007: “Candyman” (single)

Platinum Awards (1,000,000 copies)

• 1999: “Christina Aguilera” (album)
• 1999: “Genie in a Bottle” (single)
• 2000: “Mi Reflejo” (album)
• 2000: “My Kind of Christmas” (album)
• 2002: “Stripped” (album)
• 2006: “Back to Basics” (album)
• 2007: “Ain’t No Other Man” (single)

Multi-Platinum Awards (2 million or more)

• 2000: “Christina Aguilera” (album) 8x Platinum (9 million)
• 2000: “Mi Reflejo” (album) 6x Platinum (600,000)
• 2005: “Stripped” (album) 4x Platinum (4 million)

To buy a cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?