Top Ten Songs by Christina Aguilera
On December 18, 1980 Christina Aguilera was born. Christina appeared on several television shows, including The Mickey Mouse Club, Star Search, and Wake Up with Larry Richert. She also performed at several local block parties, sporting events and local talent shows. Christina Aguilera has an amazing voice that scales over four octaves. While growing up, Christina received a lot of ridicule as a child and young teenager for being so talented. She did find some peace when she became a member of The Mickey Mouse Club in the early 1990’s. Over the years Christina has released several singles that have landed in the top 10 of popular music charts. Many of her songs have become known as signature songs that are about female empowerment and an anthem for women and girls of all ages to listen to that still small voice inside telling each one of them that she is strong and worth caring about.
On June 22, 1999, Christina Aguilera’s first single was released. “Genie in a Bottle” was an upbeat song that many critics viewed as very sexually based. Christina actually wanted a different song to be released as her debut single but being young and new to the business she agreed that “Genie in a Bottle” should be the debut single. Produced by David Frank and Steve Kipner and co-written with Pamela Sheyne, “Genie in a Bottle” landed at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also hit number one in the and .
Produced by Guy Roche and co-written with Shelly Peiken, “What a Girl Wants” was released on December 28, 1999. With Christina singing lead vocals “What a Girl Wants” landed in the number one spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales. “What a Girl Wants” was the first song to top the US Billboard Hot 100 at the turn of the millennium, landing a great position in music history. The success of “What a Girl Wants” also proved that it was not by chance that “Genie in a Bottle” succeeded and Christina was not just a one-hit wonder and would be around for awhile.
On June 13, 2000 Christina released “I Turn to You” as a cover the song originally released by “All-4-One” for the “Space Jam” soundtrack. Written by Diane Warren and produced by Guy Roche “I Turn to You” topped the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart and peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was greatly promoted, however did not have the great success that they were looking for.
“Come On Over Baby” was released on September 26, 2000 and landed in the number spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Come On Over Baby” was produced by Ron Fair, C. Blackmon, R. Cham and E. Dawkins and was co-written by Johan Aber, Paul Rein, Christina Aguilera, Shelly Peiken and Guy Roche. The song is about a girl telling her new love interest to come over because he is all she wants.
Christina took a small break, however in September 2002 she released “Dirrty” as a single. “Dirrty” is from her second album entitled “Stripped” which she took creative control over. “Dirrty” was not meant as a sexual song but more as a song of female empowerment. It was meant to allow young women to know that they can be powerful physically and strong of mind. The video however does depict scenes of sexuality which caused to kind of shy away from the song. “Dirrty” peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales but landed at 48 on the US Billboard Hot 100. That didn’t really matter though because “Dirrty” landed at number one on the charts in , , and the United World, number 2 in The Netherlands, number 3 in and , number 4 in and and number 5 in and . “Dirrty” was a turning point in the music world allowing women to be more sexual and powerful.
In December 2002, Christina released a soul filled ballad that is considered one of her signature songs. “Beautiful” is a song about not letting the harsh words of the people around break your spirit and lose your self respect. It is a song about knowing each person is beautiful in an individual way. Linda Perry wrote and produced “Beautiful” and Christina brought it to life with her amazing voice and ability to connect to several different types of people. “Beautiful” peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in the number one position on the US Adult Contemporary, the US Top 40 Mainstream, the US Top 40 Tracks and the US Hot Dance Club Play charts.
“Fighter” was released in April 2003. Christina helped produce “Fighter” with Scott Storch and they both co-wrote the song with E. Dawk. “Fighter” had more of rock edge to it then any of the other songs that Christina had released. The song is about a woman wanting to thank the man to did her wrong rather then insult him, because he helped make her stronger and work harder, thus making her a fighter. “Fighter” peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream, number 9 on the US Billboard Top 40 Tracks, number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay and number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100. “Fighter” became the official anthem for the 2003 NBA Playoffs.
Christina released “Can’t Hold Us Down” in August 2003. The Song featured Lil’ Kim and was a song full of female empowerment. The song is about the double standards of men and women on the busy sexual lives people lead. To some it is ok for men to have busy sexual lives and they are often looked up to because of that fact and for women if they lead a busy sexual life they are considered trashy. Well Christina and Lil’ Kim gave women a song they can relate to and that would empower them to be strong and not let men put them down because of being sexual. Co-written with Matthew Morris, Christina and Scott Storch co-produced “Can’t Hold Us Down” with E. Dawk. The song peaked at number 3 on the US Top 40 Mainstream, number 4 on the US Top 40 Tracks and number 12 on both the US Billboard Hot100 and the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay.
“The Voice Within” was another ballad that showcased Christina Aguilera’s vocal abilities and was released in November 2003. Christina co-wrote “The Voice Within” with Glen Ballard who also produced the single. “The Voice Within” is a song that reminds us to look inside and listen to that still small voice telling us to keep going on when there is no one else to trust. The song landed at number 11 on the US Top 40 Mainstream, number 16 on the US Adult Contemporary and at number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts.
In September 2004, Christina teamed up with Missy Elliott to do a cover version of Rose Royce’s single “Car Wash” for the DreamWorks‘ film “Shark Tale.” In the computer animated film, Christina and Missy are depicted at animated fish working at the car wash. The cover version was written by Norman Whitfield with unaccredited contributions but Missy Elliott. “Car Wash” was produced by Missy Elliott, Christina Aguilera, Ron Fair, T. Hezbert, C. Styles, Bang Out and Silence. Although the single only peaked at number 63 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Car Wash” landed at the number 4 position on the UK Top 40 Singles.
One of Christina’s most recent releases is proving to be just as successful or even more so then some of her past hits. “Ain’t No Other Man” was released on June 13, 2006 and has already had a successful ride, peaking at number 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 4 on the US Billboard Pop 100 and topping both the US Billboard Hot Dance Airplay and the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play charts in the number one position. This song is about having a man who fulfills your every need that you don’t need anyone else.
Christina Aguilera has proved to be one of the best vocalists of all time. She has wowed us with amazing stage performances and stolen our hearts with her soul filled ballads. Christina has gone above and beyond the “one-hit wonder” speculations in the beginning and blown us away with her angelic voice that spans over four octaves. Christina will surely be recording and releasing new hits that are heard around the world for years to come.
