Christina Maria Aguilera was born on the 18th of December 1980 in Staten Island, New York, USA. Christina's parents divorced when she was young and she carried on living with her mom. As soon as Aguilera was able to talk, she has aspired to become a professional singer. As a child she performed at block parties and in talent competitions — defeating opponents easily. Aguilera soon gained media attention, and was known to some as "the little girl with the big voice".
At the age of 12, Christina was invited to audition for "MMC" (1989), she ended up getting through and stayed there for a couple of years. In 1999, she had her breakthrough hit, "Genie in a Bottle" sold millons of records and has won many awards, including a Grammy for best new female artist. Christina has even made a Latin album and a Christmas album has also been released. She is a bilingual singer mixed with Irish and Ecuadorian roots. Her self titled debut album went 10x platinum. She has received many honors including 6 Grammy Nominations and one win for Best New Artist. 2 MTV Video Music Awards, a Radio Music Awards, 2 VH1 Awards, and a Teen Choice Award with Lil'Kim, Mya and Pink and the smash hit "Lady Maramalade". Her vocal skills have been compared to those of singers such as Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
After failed relationships with Latin dancer Jorge Santos and an unnamed producer speculated to be Dallas Austin, she started dating music executive Jordan Bratman. Aguilera is now married to Bratman, and changed her legal name to Christina Maria Bratman.
