the middle (seg.1)
On August 24, 1999, Christina released her first ever self-titled album. With the help of manager Steve Kurtz, the album quickly reached the top of the Billboard 200 and Canadian album charts, selling 8 million copies in the U.S. and over twelve million copies worldwide.
Her big singles were “Genie in a Bottle“, “What a Girl Wants” and “Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You)“. They topped the charts for 1999 and 2000, and were followed up by “I Turn to You“, a hit that reached #3 with lightning speed. Aguilera won the “Best New Artist” award at the 2000 Grammy Awards, and was nominated for “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance” for “Genie in a Bottle”.
To show us just what she was made of, Christina performed many times after the release of “Christina” with only an acoustic guitar and a room full of people. She ended the year on a high note performing for MTV’s 2 Large New Year’s Special as MTV’s first artist of the millennium.
Following the Latin pop trend of the time, Aquilera decided to show her roots. After”Christina”, she released her first Spanish album, “Mi Reflejo“ on September 12, 2000. The album consisted of Spanish renditions of songs from her English debut as well as completely new tracks. Not quite as popular as “Christina”, it peaked at #27 on the Billboard 200. However, it landed a number one spot on the Latin album charts, and in 2001 it won Aguilera a Latin Grammy Award for “Best Female Pop Vocal Album”. Selling 2.5 million copies worldwide, ”Mi Reflejo” has been certified Gold(500,000) in the USA and 3x Platinum (600,000* Latin album). Not bad for an album that was considered to be less beloved than her first.
She also won the World Music Award as the best selling Latin artist that year. On October 24, 2000, My Kind of Christmas was released. It also shot to the top margin on the charts and was certified platinum in the U.S. With all of her success, specifically within the Latino culture, it was no surprise when Ricky Martin asked her to duet with him on the track “Nobody Wants to Be Lonely” from his album “Sound Loaded“.
Continuing on her path to success, Aguilera teamed up with a few other popular stars in 2001. Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, and Pink were selected to remake Patti LaBelle’s 1975 single “Lady Marmalade” for the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack. The hit went straight to the top at number one on the Hot 100. It held its top position for 5 weeks, and it earned all four performers a Grammy Award for “Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals“.
Unfortunately, not everything was sunshine and puppies for Christina in the years 2000-2001…
to be continued…
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