Christina Aguilera
Real Name: Christina Maria Aguilera
Date of Birth: 18 December 1980
Place of birth: Staten Island, New York
Profession: Actress - Musician
This gifted singer was born to an Ecuador father and a Canadian mother who has German, English, Irish and Dutch ancestry. Her father, Fausto Wagner Xavier Aguilera, was an US Army Sergeant and her mother, Shelly Lorane Fidler, was a Spanish teacher. The couple met when Fausto Wagner was serving at Air force Base in Newfoundland, Canada.
Christina’s parents divorced when she was only six years old. Having a parent who is involved with the military service often has a dramatic affect on family life and Christina’s life was no exception. Her father, Sergeant Fausto, was very controlling and to a certain extent, mentally abusive. After the divorce of her parents, young Christina moved to Pittsburgh with her mother and younger sister Rachel to live with her grandmother in a middle class suburb of Pennsylvania. Christina expressed her disturbed childhood in her songs “I’m OK” in Stripped and “Oh Mother” in Back To Basics. Though Christina appears to have experienced an unhappy childhood, it hasn’t affected her professional success.
Christina’s grandmother is the person who first recognized her vocal skills. She encouraged Christina to participate in local talent shows and music festivals. As a small child, she adored Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbara Streisand and Madonna. In one of the talent shows, she was awarded the title of “little girl with a big voice”. However, peer pressure and professional jealousy eventually forced her to relocate. She remained out of the limelight for a while with the intention of returning at an appropriate time which she later did. Her short sojourn to Japan resulted in the first break of her career. Her duet with Japanese singer, Keizo Nakanishi, turned the song “All I Wanna Do” into an instant success.
Christina began her entry into pop music when she was 18 and sang Whitney Houston’s classic song “Run to You”. Ironically, she recorded this particular song using an old tape recorder in her bathroom! Success soon followed and she was selected to sing the song “Reflection” for the Disney animated production, Mulan. This eventually led to a contract with RCA records. “Reflection” was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
When Christina was 22, she focused her attention on increasing her sex appeal and adopting a very sexually provocative image. She appeared nude and semi nude in several publications. She denies all accusations that she chose to do this strictly to gain publicity. Many people also questioned whether Christina was bisexual due to some of the explicit comments she made regarding her sexuality in the British tabloid, Zoo. One of her controversial comments included “if that means girls, so be it”.
In addition to singing, Christina has performed in several commercials. She appeared in a European Sony Ericsson commercial. She also appeared with an Arab singer and Korean pop singer in a Pepsi commercial.
Christina appears to have settled down after marrying Jordan Bratman in March of 2005. The couple happily celebrated their first anniversary in 2006.
