Christina Aguilera became a well-established pop star from her debut in the late nineties, but what was her first song?
Christina Aguilera’s first song was Genie In A Bottle, the lead single on her 1999 debut album, Christina Aguilera. She also recorded a title for Disney, Reflection, for the 1998 animated film, Mulan.
Read on to learn more about Christina Aguilera’s star studded musical life.
Genie In A Bottle
Given that her mother was a musician, there was little surprise when a young Christina Aguilera gravitated to music. At a young age, she was drawn to emotional music, and practiced signing as a child.
At just eight years of age, Aguilera won her first set of talent shows, performing Whitney Houston’s tracks. Her parents nurtured the musician in her, and from the age of ten she was appearing on televised competition shows.
Christina found early success with the Disney show, the Mickey Mouse Club. She joined the cast in 1993, working for around a year as part of the roster. On the show, she’d perform musical tracks and comedy pieces.
Coincidentally, this show helped to launch the careers of other young, budding performers. Some of the show’s “alumni” includes Ryan Gosling, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Time went on, and when she was just a teenager she relocated to Japan and featured on a prominent artist’s track.
Full of confidence and boasting a remarkable voice, Aguilera moved back to the US in 1998. She was determined to secure a recording contract, and sent around a demo tape. This tape ended up in the hands of Disney executives.
In 1998, Aguilera was selected to record the main theme for the Mulan movie, Reflection. It was this song that would gain her independent recognition. In 1999, Christina Aguilera was rushed to record a full studio album, including her lead single, Genie in a Bottle.
This track would become iconic and landed Aguilera an instant hit. Her image, the lyrics and the performance she gave wowed critics and fans alike. You can see the music video for Genie in a Bottle on YouTube below.
Teen Pop, All Grown Up
At the time, recording labels were eager to secure ‘teen talent’. In the late nineties and early noughties, teen pop was all the rage. The world had seen the success of personalities such as Britney Spears, and they wanted a piece of the pie.
Christina Aguilera was a candidate for this very genre. Her rush to stardom came as a result of executives wanting this budding, teen pop image on the front page. It was a massive success, and helped catapult Aguilera into the public spotlight.
As time went on, she’d massively develop her voice and performance acumen. In fact, by 2018, Aguilera would have released eight full studio albums, headlined five tours, and starred in three movies.
She turned to empowerment, and began garnering a more sexualized image with subsequent releases. Her 2002 album, Stripped, featured subtones of this. In reality, Aguilera was trying to break away from the teen pop image as soon as she could.
However, another instantly recognizable hit was spawned on this album. The track “Beautiful” was recorded as part of Stripped, and was an overwhelming success. It spoke lyrics of support to the LGBT community, relatively long before it was a mainstream topic.
The success train ploughed on, and by 2020 Christina Aguilera would be worth over $160 million. She’d received a plethora of awards and accolades for her work, and had formed a broad legacy. She worked with philanthropic ventures, helping out those less fortunate.
It seemed that twenty years after her debut, she certainly was a genie out of a bottle.