Christina Aguilera - Biography

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.

At the age of 12, Christina landed a coveted spot on the popular variety show The Mickey Mouse Club as a Mousketeer, with fellow castmates 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, who were also on the playlist.

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.

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's no need to fret -- 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."