Born in State Island, New York in 1980, Christina Aguilera is one of the most recognizable voices of her generation. In addition to that, Christina is one of the most respected female artists in the entertainment industry. She gets some of her talent from her mother, who was also a musician. However, Christina’s father was a soldier in the U.S. Army. Since she was an “Army brat,” Christina and her family moved around a lot, living in Japan, New Jersey, Texas, and New York, just to name a few places. Her life wasn’t made easier by the fact that her father was physically and emotionally abusive, and little Christina turned to music as a healthy escape from the abuse.
When she was six years old, Christina’s parents divorced. At that time, she and her mother moved in with her maternal grandmother, who lived in Rochester, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Christina did make the decision to reconcile with her father many years later, but by that time, her childhood escape into music had become her passion in life. As a child, she was drawn to blues and soul music that her grandmother bought. Christina practiced her singing with those albums, and the people in her neighborhood called her “the little girl with the big voice.” She even won a talent show when she was eight years old by singing Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”
Interestingly, Christina Aguilera’s big break came in the form of “The Mickey Mouse Club.” She didn’t meet the age requirements for her first audition, but two years later she joined a cast that included people like Ryan Gosling, Keri Russell, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake. She performed sketch comedy and music on the show until it was canceled in 1994. When her music career began in earnest, she was mostly a pop entertainer, but later, she turned to more serious work. At first, she was a teen idol, but she grew gradually in popularity as a more serious artist.
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In the video below, you can see the incomparable diva performing with Colin Smith the song “Say Something” by the American pop duo A Great Big World. This is an incredibly moving performance by two talented young entertainers.
