Christina Maria Aguilera was born December 18, 1980 and is an American pop singer-songwriter. Colloquially known as Xtina, she is most notable for her vocal abilities as well as her unorthodox sense of fashion. Christina Aguilera's vocal skills have been compared to those of singers such as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. She has achieved four number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has won three Grammy Awards and one Latin Grammy Award, as well as two top five albums in the United States. Christina Aguilera is now married to record executive Jordan Bratman.



Christina Aguilera's Early Life and Career

Christina Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York but grew up mainly in the Pittsburgh suburb of Wexford, Pennsylvania attending North Allegheny School District, after living in various places around the world such as Texas and Japan. Her father, Fausto Wagner Xavier Aguilera, is a U.S. Army sergeant; he was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador and moved to Staten Island when he was 19. Her mother, Shelly Loraine Fidler, is a Spanish-language translator and violinist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of German ancestry on her father's side and of Irish, Welsh and Dutch descent on her mother's. Christina Aguilera's parents met while Fausto was serving at Earnest Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador; when her parents married, her mother was 20 years old and her father was almost 32.


Christina Aguilera lived with her father and mother until she was six or seven years old, when her parents divorced and her mother took her and her younger sister Rachel to her grandmother's home in Pittsburgh. According to Christina Aguilera and Shelly Fidler, her father was very controlling, as well as physically and emotionally abusive. Since then, Shelly Fidler has married a paramedic named Jim Kearns, and has changed her name to Shelly Kearns.


Christina's grandmother was the first person to really notice her beyond-her-years mature voice. Since Christina Aguilera was able to talk, she set a goal to become a professional singer. She grew up as a fan of artists such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Judy Garland, Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey. As a child Christina Aguilera performed at block parties and in talent competitions — defeating opponents with little effort. Christina Aguilera soon gained media attention, and was known to some as "the little girl with the big voice".


According to VH1's Driven, this label eventually became cross-productive. When competitors learned they would be up against her in any given week, they immediately backed out, prompting insiders to claim it was "like sending a lamb to the slaughter." Her peers soon became jealous of her and would frequently subject her to ridicule, ostracism, and, in one gym class, attempted assault. Acts of vandalism around her house included the slashing of the tires on the family car. Eventually the family relocated and, by her own order, swearing to secrecy about her talent lest another backlash occur.


On March 15, 1990, Christina Aguilera appeared on Star Search singing Ella Fitzgerald's "A Sunday Kind of Love", but failed to win. Soon after losing on Star Search, she returned home and appeared on Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV's Wake Up with Larry Richert to perform the same song again. Later on, she would sing "Vision of Love", Mariah Carey's first single, and astonished everybody in attendance by hitting every riff and note, including Carey's trademark whistle register note. People remarked that the then-ten year old "sounded twenty".


Throughout her youth in Pittsburgh, Christina Aguilera sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Pittsburgh Steelers football and Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games. Her first major role in entertainment came in 1993 when she joined the Disney Channel's variety show The New Mickey Mouse Club. Her co-stars included Britney Spears, as well as Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez (both of whom went on to join *NSYNC), Rhona Bennett (who later became a member of En Vogue), Ryan Gosling, and Keri Russell (who would go on to become the star of Felicity). According to the documentary Driven, Christina Aguilera was called the Diva by her Mickey Mouse Club co-stars. She was a confident and strong performer A memorable performance involved Christina singing "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston thus showcasing her vocal ability.


Rumors began to circulate that Christina fought constantly with co-star Britney Spears. It has also been rumoured that the two bickered about dating Justin Timberlake. (Christina herself has remarked, however, that the two of them have laughed about it a number of times, leading many to believe that it is largely untrue.) Christina Aguilera began recording demos in an attempt to get signed to a record label.