Name	RCA RecordsRCA Victor
Parent	Sony Music Entertainment
Founded	1901
Founder	Emile BerlinerEldridge R. Johnson
Status	Active
Distributor	RCA/Jive Label GroupRCA Label Group (UK)
Genre	Various
Country	United States
Url	http://www.rcarecords.com/

RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor) is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America (later renamed RCA Corporation), which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.

RCA's Canadian unit (formerly Berliner Gramophone Canada) is Sony's oldest label in Canada, as it was only one of two Canadian record labels to survive the Great Depression.

The RCA family of labels

RCA is the name of three different co-owned record labels. RCA Records is the pop music, rock music and country music label. RCA Victor is the blues music, world music, jazz, musicals and other musical genres which do not fit the pop music mold label. RCA Red Seal is the renowned classical music label with a reissue sub-label called RCA Gold Seal.

Defunct labels include budget labels RCA Camden, RCA Victrola, RCA International, and RCA Italiana.

Besides manufacturing records for themselves, RCA Victor also operated RCA Custom which was the leading record manufacturer for the independent labels. RCA operated three strategically located record manufacturing plants in the U.S. and advertised overnight delivery to record distributors. RCA Custom also pressed record compilations for The Reader's Digest Association.

Currently, Legacy Recordings, Sony Music's catalog division, reissues classic albums for RCA.

History

In 1929, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company, then the world's largest manufacturer of phonographs (including the famous "Victrola") and phonograph records (in British English, "gramophone records"). The company then became RCA-Victor. With Victor, RCA acquired New World rights to the famous Nipper trademark. While in Shanghai China, RCA-Victor was the main competitor with Baak Doi.

In 1931, RCA Victor's British affiliate the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company to form EMI. This gave RCA head David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board. Also in late 1931, RCA Victor developed and released the first 33⅓-rpm records to the public (known as "Program Transcriptions"). These had the standard groove size identical to the contemporary 78-rpm records, rather than the "microgroove" used in post-World War II 33⅓ "Long Play" records. The format was a commercial failure at the height of the Great Depression, partially because the records and playback equipment were expensive. The system was withdrawn from the market after about a year. (This was not the first attempt at a commercial long play record format, as Edison Records had marketed a microgroove vertically recorded disc with 20 minutes playing time per side the previous decade; the Edison long playing records were also a commercial failure.)

During the early part of the depression, RCA made a number of attempts to produce a successful cheap label to compete with the 'Dime Store Labels' (Perfect, Oriole, Banner, Melotone, etc.). In 1932, Bluebird Records was created as a sub-label of RCA Victor. It was originally an 8" record with a dark blue label, alongside an 8" Electradisk label (sold at Woolworth's). Neither were a success. In 1933, RCA reintroduced Bluebird and Electradisk as a standard 10" label (Bluebird's label was redesigned as it became known as the 'buff' label). Another cheap label, Sunrise, was produced (although nobody seems to know for whom it was produced, as Sunrise records are exceptionally rare). The same musical couplings were issued on all three labels, and Bluebird survived long after Electradisk and Sunrise were discontinued. RCA also produced records for Montgomery Ward during the 1930s.

RCA sold its interest in EMI in 1935, but EMI continued to distribute RCA recordings on the HMV label. RCA also manufactured and distributed HMV classical recordings on the HMV label in North America.

World War II era

During World War II, ties between RCA and its Japanese affiliate JVC were severed. The Japanese record company is today called Victor Entertainment and is still a JVC subsidiary.

From 1942 to 1944, RCA Victor was seriously impacted by the American Federation of Musicians recording ban. Virtually all union musicians could not make recordings during that period. One of the few exceptions was the eventual release of recorded performances by the NBC Symphony Orchestra with Arturo Toscanini. However, RCA lost the Philadelphia Orchestra during this period; when Columbia Records settled quickly with the union, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphians signed a new contract with Columbia and began making recordings in 1944.

In 1949, RCA-Victor developed and released the first 45 rpm record to the public, answering CBS/Columbia's 33⅓ rpm "LP". The 45-rpm record became the standard for pop singles with running times similar to 10-inch 78-rpm discs (less than four minutes per side). However, RCA also released some "extended play" (EP) discs with running times up to 7 minutes per side, primarily for classical recordings. (One of the first of the extended 45-rpm recordings was a disc by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra featuring Tchaikovsky's Marche Slave and Ketèlbey's In a Persian Market.)

Competition with Columbia

In 1950, realizing that Columbia's LP format had become successful and fearful that RCA was losing market share, RCA Victor began issuing LPs themselves. Among the first RCA LPs released was a performance of Gaîté Parisienne by Jacques Offenbach, played by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra, which had actually been recorded in Boston's Symphony Hall on June 20, 1947; it was given the catalogue number LM-1001. Non-classical albums were issued with the prefix "LPM." When RCA later issued classical stereo albums (in 1958), they used the prefix "LSC." Non-classical stereo albums were issued with the prefix "LSP."

In the 1950s, RCA had three subsidiary or specialty labels: Groove, Vik and "X". Label "X" was founded in 1953 and renamed Vik in 1955. Groove was an R&B; specialty label founded in 1954.

Through the 1940s and 1950s, RCA was in competition with Columbia Records. A number of recordings were made with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, usually conducted by Arturo Toscanini; sometimes RCA utilized recordings of broadcast concerts (Toscanini had been recording for the label since the days of acoustic recordings, and the label had been recording the NBC Symphony since the late 1930s). When the NBC Symphony was reorganized in the fall of 1954 as the Symphony of the Air, it continued to record for RCA, as well as other labels, usually with Leopold Stokowski. RCA also released a number of recordings with the Victor Symphony Orchestra, later renamed the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, which was usually drawn from either Philadelphia or New York musicians, as well as members of the Symphony of the Air. By the late 1950s RCA had fewer high prestige orchestras under contract than Columbia had: RCA recorded the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Pops, whereas Columbia had the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

On October 6, 1953, RCA held experimental stereophonic sessions in New York's Manhattan Center with Leopold Stokowski conducting a group of New York musicians in performances of Enesco's Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1 and the waltz from Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin. There were additional stereo tests in December, again in the Manhattan Center, this time with Pierre Monteux conducting members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In February 1954, RCA made its first commercial stereophonic recordings, taping the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Münch, in a performance of The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz. This began a practice of simultaneously taping orchestras with both stereophonic and monaural equipment. Other early stereo recordings were made by Toscanini and Guido Cantelli respectively, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra; the Boston Pops Orchestra under Arthur Fiedler; and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner. Initially, RCA used RT-21¼ inch tape recorders (which ran at 30 inches per second), wired to mono mixers, with Neumann U-47 cardioid and M-49/50 omnidirectional microphones. Then they switched to an Ampex 300-3½ inch machine, running at 15 inches per second (which was later increased to 30 inches per second). These recordings were initially issued in 1955 on special stereophonic reel-to-reel tapes and then, beginning in 1958, on vinyl LPs with the logo "Living Stereo." Sony Music and successor companies have continued to reissue these recordings on CD.

In September 1954, RCA introduced 'Gruve-Gard' where the center and edge of a disc are thicker than the playing area, reducing scuff marks during handling and when used on a turntable with a record changer. Most of RCA Victor Records' competitors quickly adopted the raised label and edges.

The Toscanini stereo albums, however, were never issued by RCA (they were the last two concerts he conducted with the NBC Symphony Orchestra). They were not issued until 1987 and 2007 respectively, when they appeared on compact disc on the Music and Arts label, and betrayed no sign whatsoever of the Maestro's apparent memory loss in the last concert, probably because the rehearsals had also been taped in stereo and portions of them were included in the final edit.

In 1955, RCA purchased the recording contract of Elvis Presley from Sun Records for the then astronomical sum of $35,000. Elvis would become RCA's biggest selling recording artist. His first gold record was Heartbreak Hotel, recorded in January 1956.

In 1957, RCA ended its 55-year association with EMI and signed a distribution deal with Decca Records, which caused EMI to purchase Capitol Records. Capitol then became the main distributor for EMI recordings in North and South America, with RCA distributing its recordings through Decca in the United Kingdom on the RCA (later RCA Victor) label. This had the lightning bolt logo instead of the His Master's Voice Nipper logo (now owned by HMV Group plc in the UK as EMI transferred trademark ownership in 2003). RCA set up its own British distribution in 1971.

Also in 1957, RCA opened a state-of-the-art recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee which recorded hit after hit for RCA and other labels for 20 years and is now open for tours as RCA Studio B. Elvis Presley made most of his recordings in this studio.

Debut of Compact 33

In 1960, RCA announced the Compact 33 double and singles. In January 1961, these discs hit the market. The Compact 33 discs were released simultaneously with their 45 rpm counterparts. The long-term goal was to phase out the 45 rpm. This campaign eventually failed by early 1962.

In 1963, RCA introduced Dynagroove which added computer technology to the disc cutting process, ostensibly to improve sound reproduction. Whether it was actually an improvement or not is still debated among audiophiles.

In September 1965, RCA & Lear Jet Corp. teamed up to release the first Stereo 8-Track Tape Music Cartridges (Stereo 8) which were first used in the 1966 line of Ford Automobiles and were popular throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. (The initial release comprised 175 titles from RCA Victor and RCA Camden's catalog of artists.)

In late 1968, RCA modernized its image with a new futuristic-looking logo (the letters RCA in block modernized form), replacing the old lightning bolt logo, and the virtual retirement of both the Victor and Nipper trademarks. The background of the labels, which had always been black for its regular series (as opposed to its Red Seal line), switched to bright orange (becoming tan later in the early 1970s). Possibly in response to customers' complaints, RCA Records reinstated Nipper to most of its record labels beginning in 1976 in countries where RCA had the rights to the Nipper trademark. The famous "shaded" label used on RCA's "Living Stereo" albums was revived in the 1990s for a series of CDs devoted to the historic triple-track stereophonic recordings.

In late 1969 RCA introduced a very thin, lightweight vinyl LP known as DynaFlex (the name has nothing to do with the gyroscope). This type of pressing claimed to overcome warping and other problems in conventional thicker pressings, but it had a controversial reputation in the industry. At about the same time John Denver recorded his first RCA LP: Rhymes and Reasons.

Debut of Quadraphonic releases

In April 1970 RCA announced the first Quadraphonic 4-Channel 8-Track Tape Cartridges (Quad-8, later called just Q8). RCA then began releasing quadraphonic vinyl recordings in 1971, primarily of classical music, in the CD-4 format developed by Japan Victor Corporation (JVC), and made commercially practical by Quadracast Systems Inc. (QSI). RCA's trade name became Quadradisc. The CD-4 format required a special cartridge that had a +/-1db frequency response out to 50 kHz, a CD-4 demodulator which decoded the difference between the front and rear channels from a 30 kHz subcarrier, four separate amplifier channels, and four separate speakers for the left and right front and left and right rear. Both the CD-4 Quadradisc and Quad-8 tape cartridge systems were true discrete 4-4-4 quadraphonic systems. Columbia introduced a Pseudo quadraphonic matrix system, SQ, which also required a "decoder", 4 channel amplifier and the four speakers. The SQ system was not true Quadraphonic because it only had 2 channels and was referred to as a 4-2-4 matrix system. The Warner Music labels also adopted the Quadradisc format, but they, RCA and Columbia abandoned quadraphonic recording within a few years; some of the RCA sessions were later remastered for Dolby encoding (same as Peter Schieber's original matrix system) and released on CD. This included Charles Gerhardt 's series of albums devoted to classic film scores by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Alfred Newman, Dimitri Tiomkin, Max Steiner, Franz Waxman, and others, performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra in London's Kingsway Hall.

Acquisition by Bertelsmann

In 1983, Arista Records owner Bertelsmann sold 50% of Arista to RCA. In 1985, Bertelsmann and RCA formed a joint venture called RCA/Ariola International. BMG brought back the lightning bolt logo that was last used in 1968 to make clear that RCA Records was no longer co-owned with the other RCA entities which GE sold or closed. The only RCA unit GE kept was the National Broadcasting Company. BMG also revived the "RCA Victor" label for musical genres outside of country, pop and rock music.

Many artists such as Eurythmics, indie-popsters The Bongos, and Rick Astley recorded with RCA in the 80s. Charlie Rich had several recordings produced by RCA as well as Charley Pride. Co-writer Marvin Walters worked closely with both artists producing hit songs such as "Set Me Free" for Rich and "Pretty Girl" for Pride. Walters left RCA when it sold its interest to BMG.

Later Years

In the '90s, RCA's corporate structure basically remained the same. Also, RCA had marked success in the contemporary jazz genres with artists such as Roy Hargrove, Marcus Roberts, Opafire and Hugh Masekela, as well as an explosion of urban talent, such as Tyrese, SWV, Chantay Savage, and others. Some of these artists, such as Mobb Deep, recorded for the RCA label via a distribution deal with Loud Records, which remained distributed by RCA until 1999. Many of these artists have since left RCA for a number of reasons, such as SWV's breakup and Tyrese's move to J Records. Also, artist of other genres, such as Christina Aguilera and The Dave Matthews Band were launched by the RCA label in the '90s. The Foo Fighters joined the label in 1999.

RCA saw continued success with artists such as Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews Band, the Foo Fighters, and later The Strokes. New acts that signed to the label included Kings of Leon and various American Idol contestants such as Kelly Clarkson and David Cook. Early in the decade the label became part of the RCA Music Group which also included Arista Records and J Records. The company was headed by Clive Davis until April 2008.

Merger

In 2004, BMG and Sony merged their music holdings into a joint venture called Sony BMG. Because Sony Music was the successor to the old CBS record division, this merger meant that RCA Records, once owned by parent RCA, was now under the same umbrella as the label once owned by RCA's rival, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), Columbia Records.

In 2006, Sony BMG merged its Broadway music labels, including RCA Victor to the new Masterworks Broadway Records.

In 2008, Sony acquired Bertelsmann's interest in the record company which was officially renamed Sony Music Entertainment at the start of 2009. RCA became part of the newly formed RCA/Jive Label Group (also known as RCA Records Group) as a result.

American Idol ending its ties

The 2010s see RCA as part of the new RCA/Jive Label Group which is headed by Barry Weiss. More recently RCA has introduced Ke$ha as one of its new artists on its roster. She has enjoyed widespread commercial success. Starting in 2011, RCA will no longer be signing contestants from American Idol, but the company continues to achieve great success with Idol alumni such as Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, David Cook, and Adam Lambert. The RCA/Jive Label Group has been signing contestants from the show since it started in 2002 when the music group was still BMG. In 2011 Idol contestants will be signing to Interscope-Geffen-A&M; Records of the Universal Music Group.

Broadway and Hollywood

RCA has produced several notable Broadway cast albums as well, among them the original Broadway recordings of Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, the Mary Martin Peter Pan, Damn Yankees, Hello, Dolly!, Oliver!, and Fiddler on the Roof. RCA has also recorded and released recordings of revival stagings of musicals. These include the musical productions staged at Lincoln Center such as the 1966 revivals of Show Boat and Annie Get Your Gun, the 1987 revival of Anything Goes and the 1998 Broadway revivals of Cabaret and The Sound of Music. Call Me Madam was recorded by RCA Victor with all of its original cast except for its star Ethel Merman, who, due to contractual obligations, could not be released from her American Decca Records contract. She was replaced on the RCA album by Dinah Shore. RCA was also responsible for the film soundtrack albums of Damn Yankees, South Pacific, Exodus, and The Sound of Music. The album made from the 1965 hit Julie Andrews film was (and is) one of the best selling soundtracks of all time. RCA also released the original American cast album of Hair.

RCA Victor made several studio cast recording albums as well, included a Lerner and Loewe series with Jan Peerce, Jane Powell, and Robert Merrill, as well as a 1963 album of excerpts from George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, with its 1952 revival leads, Leontyne Price and William Warfield, but a different supporting cast. They also issued two earlier versions of Show Boat, one with Robert Merrill, Patrice Munsel, and Rise Stevens and the other with Howard Keel, Anne Jeffreys, and Gogi Grant.

All of these recordings are now under Masterworks Broadway Records, which has remastered and reissued many of these albums.

Spoken word albums

RCA Victor also issued several spoken word albums in the 1950s and 60s, notably the soundtracks of the films Richard III, A Man for All Seasons and The Taming of the Shrew, as well as complete versions of the National Theatre of Great Britain stage productions of Othello (starring Laurence Olivier) and Much Ado About Nothing (starring Maggie Smith, who also played Desdemona in the Olivier Othello). None of these albums have appeared on compact disc, but the films of Richard III, A Man For All Seasons, The Taming of the Shrew and the Olivier Othello have all been issued on DVD.

Criticisms & Controversy

RCA Victor decided to demolish their Camden warehouse in the early 1960s. This warehouse held four floors' worth of catalog and vault masters (most of them were pre-tape wax and metal discs), test pressings, lacquer discs, matrix ledgers, and rehearsal recordings. A few days before the demolition took place, some collectors from the USA and Europe were allowed to go through the warehouse and salvage whatever they could take with them for their personal collections. Soon after, collectors and RCA Records officials watched from a nearby bridge as the warehouse was demolished, with many studio masters still intact in the building. The remnants were bulldozed into the Delaware River and a pier was built on top of them. In 1973, when the company decided to release all of Rachmaninoff's recordings on LPs (to celebrate the centennial of the composer's birth), RCA was forced to go to record collectors for materials, as documented by Time.

In the early 1920s, Victor was slow about getting deeply involved in recording and marketing black jazz and vocal blues. By the mid to late 1920s, Victor had signed Jelly Roll Morton, Bennie Moten, Duke Ellington and other black bands and were becoming very competitive with Columbia and Brunswick, even starting their own V-38000 "Hot Dance" series that was marketing to all Victor dealers. They also had a V-38500 "race" series, a 23000 'hot dance' continuation of the V-38000 series, as well as a 23200 'Race' series with blues, gospel and some hard jazz. However, throughout the 1930s, Victor's involvement in jazz and blues slowed down and by the time of the musicians' strike and the end of the war, Victor was neglecting the R&B; (race) scene, which is one of the reasons so many independent companies sprang up so successfully.

In the 1970s the label let much of its catalog go out of print. This pattern affected its jazz catalog most greatly, followed by its classical music catalog.

In the compact disc era a small proportion of its jazz catalog has been reissued. (For example, Jelly Roll Morton albums were reissued; but they were removed from circulation in less than ten years.) Similarly, only a fraction of its vast classical catalog has remained available on compact disc.

Canadian rockers Triumph were practically all but ignored by the label. When the band wanted out of their deal with RCA, the label refused. Then MCA Records executive Irving Azoff demonstrated his faith in the trio by co-opting their debts and buying the band out of their RCA contract and signed them for five albums.

Recently in November of 2010, singer Avril Lavigne explained the reason for the long delay of her fourth album which she says was completed a year ago. She says she "experienced a bunch of bureaucratic BS" prior to the label recently deciding to release it.

Kelly Clarkson

In 2007 reports said that many RCA workers including mogul Clive Davis were unhappy with Kelly Clarkson's album My December. Davis was even said to offer Clarkson $10 million to scrap five of her songs, but she refused. Months of controversy concluded with Clarkson's tour being rescheduled, My December becoming the lowest-selling album of her career, and Clarkson joining Starstruck Entertainment. In 2009 RCA decided to release "Already Gone" as the third single off her album "All I Ever Wanted". Clarkson objected to this because it sounded very similar to Beyoncé's song, "Halo". Both songs were co-written by Ryan Tedder. RCA persisted in the release of the single. The press noted the similarities between the two songs.

Kenny Rogers

After singer Kenny Rogers left the label, RCA was accused of trying to ruin his career. Rogers signed to RCA in 1983 for an advance sum of $20 million (the largest deal ever in country music at that time) when Bob Summers was head of the label. Shortly after Rogers' first album for the label Summers was fired (for unrelated reasons) by RCA. Deciding it would make the label look bad for firing Summer if Rogers continued to be a major success—his duet with Dolly Parton, "Islands in the Stream", had been one of the biggest hits of 1983—Rogers received very little support from the label during the next several years he was with them. Although Rogers and RCA parted ways many years ago the results of the conflict can still be seen today. In 1989, RCA deleted all of Rogers' solo albums soon after he signed back to Reprise, where he used to record when he was a rock artist with his former group, The First Edition. Rogers, in turn, took the rights to those albums with him as RCA refused to keep them), with only Once Upon A Christmas (a 1984 album of seasonal duets with Parton) remaining in print. Recent CD reissues of that album have omitted the tracks on which Rogers sang solo.

Current labels

RCA Music Group: In 2002, BMG was reorganized in the United States, creating the RCA Music Group, which combined RCA Records, Arista Records and J Records, with Clive Davis heading the reorganized unit. After BMG was fully merged into Sony Music Entertainment, BMG sister group the Zomba Label Group was renamed to Jive Label Group and was brought together with RCA Music Group to form the RCA/Jive Label Group; however, both groups continue to operate as standalone division under the greater RCA/Jive Label Group umbrella.

RCA Records (UK): A division of Sony Music UK, since 2006, which acts as an import label of American and multinational Sony Music artists, and also signs UK artists. Head of the department is Charlie Lycett

RCA Records Nashville: A division of Sony Music Nashville.

RCA Red Seal Records: The prestigious RCA Red Seal classical music label is now part of Sony Masterworks.

RCA Records (France): A division of Sony Music France. Founded as RCA Cinematre in 1978. Renamed to its current name in 2006.

RCA Records (Italy): A division of Sony Music Italy. Founded as RCA Italiana in 1949. It went bankrupt in 1987 and was bought by BMG. Reactivated in 2006.

RCA Records (Australia): A division of Sony Music Australia. Founded in 1963 for Australian artists. Renamed to RCA Limited Australia and New Zealand in 1976 for Australian & New Zealandian artists. Renamed to its current name in 2006.

Past labels

RCA Victor Label Group: The RCA Victor label group consisted of the RCA Victor, Windham Hill and Bluebird labels.

RCA distributed labels: Colgems, Calendar/Kirshner, Metromedia, Chelsea, Windstar, Midland International, Wooden Nickel, and Millennium.

See also

List of RCA Records artists

RCA Studio B

List of record labels

References

External links

Historic photo gallery of RCA in Camden, N.J.

Official RCA Records website

Official RCA Label Group UK website

Official RCA Music France website

Video Interview with Bob Jamieson, former CEO & Chairman of RCA

RCA Victor Discography

Internet Archive: Command Performance (1942) - How RCA records are made, narrated by Milton Cross.

Berliner Gramophone Company, whose Canadian operation became RCA Victor of Canada

Camden Building History

History of RCA Victor record label designs

The Rise and Fall of the Compact 33

Category:American record labels Category:Record labels established in 1901 Category:Pop record labels Category:Rock record labels Category:Sony Music Entertainment Category:RCA Records Category:Companies based in New York City

Name	Adam Lambert
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Adam Mitchel Lambert
Born	January 29, 1982Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Origin	San Diego, California, U.S.
Genre	Pop rock, pop The Times identified Lambert as one of the few openly gay mainstream pop artists to launch a career on a major label in the United States.
Name	Lambert, Adam
Alternative names	Glambert
Short description	Singer
Date of birth	January 29, 1982

Category:1982 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Actors from California Category:American Idol participants Category:American Jews Category:American male singers Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American rock singers Category:American stage actors Category:Gay actors Category:Idol series runners-up Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish musicians Category:Jewish singers Category:LGBT Jews Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:Living people Category:Musicians from California Category:People from Indianapolis, Indiana Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:RCA Records artists

Name	Landon Pigg
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Landon Pigg
Born	August 06, 1983 (age 27)
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee,U.S.
Genre	Indie pop, Easy Listening
Occupation	Singer, Songwriter, Actor
Label	RCA
Url	LandonPigg.com

Landon Pigg (born August 6, 1983) is a singer-songwriter and actor from Nashville, Tennessee.

Early years

Pigg was born in Nashville, Tennessee. When Pigg was a child, his family moved to Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and he and two of his siblings, Cari-Ann and Gabriel, sang commercial jingles with their father's direction. They all attended Grace Lutheran School in River Forest, Illinois. Landon returned to Nashville as a teenager. He attended Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville. During Landon's adolescence, his father offered him informal music education and encouraged his curiosity with music. He also credits his mother for nourishing his poetic side.

Career

After one of his songs was featured on Grey's Anatomy and subsequently went into national rotation, Pigg began a publicity tour in summer 2006 which found him booked on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Last Call with Carson Daly, and other media outlets including a radio tour and appearances in Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Performing Songwriter. In late August, Landon appeared on The Early Show where he played "Can't Let Go", the first track from his latest album, LP.

On February 14, 2007 his song "Great Companion" was played throughout several scenes of the One Tree Hill (TV series) episode "Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers".

Pigg has also performed on some television shows, including the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In 2007, his song "Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop" was featured in a De Beers commercial, and later on an AT&T; telephone commercial.

In 2009, Landon appeared in A Fine Frenzy's video for Happier, playing Alison Sudol's love interest.

Landon recently co-wrote the song "Darling I Do" with Lucy Schwartz. The song is the title track for the motion picture Shrek Forever After, which released in the theaters May 21, 2010.

Film

Landon appeared in Drew Barrymore's roller derby movie Whip It as Ellen Page's guitar-playing love interest, Oliver. The movie is based on the Shauna Cross novel Derby Girl. It was his feature-film debut, and also Barrymore's first outing as a director. It opened in October 2009. Landon's appearance in this created more popularity for him, viewers started listening to his music and his popularity grew.

Discography

Albums

Demonstration (2002)

LP (2006)

The Boy Who Never (2009) #191 Billboard 200, #8 Top Heatseekers

EPs

This Is a Pigg (2006)

Connect Sets (2006)

Live in the Alice Lounge (2007)

Coffee Shop (2008)

Singles

"Can't Let Go" (2006) #19 Adult Pop Songs

"Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop" (2007)

"Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop" (New Mix) (2009)

"Speak To The Keys" - Promo Single (2009)

"The Way It Ends" - iTunes Single (2010)

"Gardenia (duet with Mae Whiteman" - iTunes Single (2010)

Soundtrack appearances

"Nowhere Man" - Imagine That Soundtrack (2009)

"High Times" (with Turbo Fruits) - Whip It Soundtrack (2009)

"Darling I Do" (with Lucy Schwartz) - Shrek Forever After Soundtrack (2010)

Music videos

"Can't Let Go" (Promo Version) (2006)

"Can't Let Go" (2006)

"Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop" (Performance Version) (2007)

"Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop" (2009)

"Darling I Do" (with Lucy Schwartz) (2010)

References

External links

Official Web site

VH1.com bio

billboard.com bio

ArtistDirect.com bio

AOLMusic bio

Yahoo!Music

Category:1983 births Category:American film actors Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Living people Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee

Name	Avril Lavigne
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Avril Ramona Lavigne
Born	September 27, 1984Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Napanee, Ontario, Canada
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano, drums
Genre	Pop rock, power pop, pop punk
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, actress, fashion designer, philanthropist
Years active	1998–present
Label	Arista, RCA
Associated acts	Evan Taubenfeld, Deryck Whibley
Url
Notable instruments	Squier Signature Telecaster model

Avril Ramona Lavigne (; born 27 September 1984) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, fashion designer, actress and philanthropist. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent the majority of her youth in the small town, Napanee, Ontario. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain, and by 16, Lavigne had signed a recording contract with Arista, now RCA Records. Record executive Antonio "L.A." Reid offered her a two-album deal worth more than $2 million. When she was 17 years old, Lavigne broke onto the music scene with her debut album, Let Go, released in 2002.

Let Go made Lavigne the youngest female soloist to reach #1 in the UK, and the album was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. As of 2009, over 16 million copies had been sold worldwide, more than 6 million of which were sold in the United States. Her breakthrough single, "Complicated", peaked at #1 in many countries around the world, as did the album Let Go. Her second album, Under My Skin, was released in 2004 and was her first album to peak at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 , eventually selling more than 10 million copies worldwide. The Best Damn Thing, Lavigne’s third album, was released in 2007. This album gave Lavigne her third #1 album in the UK Albums Chart and featured her first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 single, "Girlfriend". Lavigne has scored a total of five #1 singles worldwide, including "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi", "I'm With You", "My Happy Ending" and "Girlfriend". Lavigne has sold more than 30 million copies of her albums worldwide and is currently one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the U.S., with over 10.25 million copies certified by the RIAA. Billboard named Lavigne the #10 pop artist in the "Best of the 2000s" chart, and she was listed as the 28th overall best act of the decade based on album sales, chart success, and cultural relativity in the U.S. Her fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, will be released in March 2011, with the first single to be released in January.

Lavigne branched out from recording music, pursuing careers in feature film acting and designing clothes and perfumes. She voiced a character in the animated film, Over the Hedge, in 2006. That same year, she made her on-screen feature film debut in Fast Food Nation. In 2008, Lavigne introduced her clothing line, Abbey Dawn; and in 2009, she released her first perfume, Black Star, which was followed by her second perfume, Forbidden Rose, in 2010. Her third fragrance is due out in August 2011. In July 2006, Lavigne married her boyfriend of two years, Deryck Whibley, lead singer and guitarist for Sum 41. The marriage lasted a little over three years, and in October 2009, Lavigne filed for divorce. Whibley and Lavigne have continued to work together after the divorce, with Whibley producing her upcoming fourth album, as well as Lavigne's single, "Alice", written for Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland.

Early life

Avril Ramona Lavigne was born in Belleville, Ontario, the daughter of Judith-Rosanne "Judy" (née Loshaw) and Jean-Claude Lavigne. Her father, who is of French Canadian descent, named her Avril after the French word for the month of April. She has an older brother, Matthew, and a younger sister, Michelle. A daughter of a working-class family, Lavigne, at the age of two, began singing church songs along with her mother. When Lavigne was five years old, the family moved to Napanee, Ontario, a town with an approximate population of 5,000. Although she struggled with paying attention in school, sometimes kicked out of class for misbehaving, her parents were supportive of her singing. Her father bought her a microphone, a drum kit, a keyboard, several guitars, and converted their basement into a studio. When Lavigne was 14, her parents would take her to karaoke sessions. Lavigne also performed at country fairs, singing songs by Garth Brooks, The Dixie Chicks, and Shania Twain. She also began writing her own songs. Her first song was called "Can't Stop Thinking About You", about a teenage crush, which she described as "cheesy cute". }} In 1998, Lavigne won a radio contest to perform with fellow Canadian singer Shania Twain at the Corel Centre (now Scotiabank Place) in Ottawa, before an audience of 20,000 people. Twain and Lavigne sang "What Made You Say That", and Lavigne told Twain she was going to be "a famous singer". During a performance with the Lennox Community Theatre, Lavigne was spotted by local folk singer Stephen Medd. He invited her to contribute vocals on his song, "Touch the Sky", for his 1999 album, Quinte Spirit. She later sang on "Temple of Life" and "Two Rivers" for his follow-up album, My Window to You, in 2000. In December 1999, Lavigne was discovered by her first professional manager, Cliff Fabri, while singing country covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kingston, Ontario. Fabri sent out VHS tapes of Lavigne's home performances to several industry prospects, and Lavigne was visited by several executives. Mark Jowett, co-founder of the Canadian management firm Nettwerk, received a copy of Lavigne's karaoke performances recorded in her parents' basement, and arranged for Lavigne to work with Peter Zizzo in New York during the summer of 2000, where she wrote the song "Why?". It was on a subsequent trip to New York that Lavigne was noticed by Arista Records.

Music career

2000–03: Let Go

In November 2000, Ken Krongard, an A&R; representative, invited Antonio "L.A." Reid, then-head of Arista Records, to producer Peter Zizzo's Manhattan studio to hear Lavigne sing. Her 15-minute audition "so impressed" Reid, he immediately signed her to Arista with a deal worth $1.25 million for two albums and an extra $900,000 for a publishing advance. By this time, Lavigne had found that she fit in naturally with her hometown high school's skater clique, an image that carried through to her first album, but although she enjoyed skateboarding, school left her feeling insecure. Armed with a record deal, she dropped out to focus on her music career, but she still had to inform her parents of her decision. "I wasn't going to turn [the record deal] down. It's been my dream all my life. They knew how much I wanted this and how much I've put into it."

Lavigne released her debut album, Let Go, on 4 June 2002 in the U.S., where it reached #2 on the Billboard 200. It peaked at #1 on the Australian, Canadian and United Kingdom charts. This made Lavigne, at 17 years old, the youngest female soloist to have a #1 album in the UK until that time. By the end of 2002, the album was certified four-times platinum by the RIAA, making her the bestselling female artist of 2002 and Let Go the top-selling debut of the year. By May 2003, Let Go had accumulated over 1,000,000 sales in Canada, receiving a diamond certification from the Canadian Recording Industry Association. As of 2009, the album has sold over 16 million units worldwide, and the RIAA has certified the album six-times platinum, denoting shipments of over six million units in the U.S. }} Lavigne's debut single and the album's lead single, "Complicated", peaked at #1 in Australia and #2 in the U.S. "Complicated" was one of the bestselling Canadian singles of 2002, and it was also featured on the teen television show, Dawson's Creek. "Complicated" later ranked on the Hot 100 Singles of the Decade list at #83.

Subsequent singles, "Sk8er Boi" and "I'm With You" reached the top ten in the U.S. Thanks to the success of her first three singles, Lavigne was the second artist in history to have three #1 songs from a debut album on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40. For the music video to "Complicated", Lavigne was named Best New Artist at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. She won four Juno Awards in 2003 out of six nominations, received a World Music Award for "World's Bestselling Canadian Singer", and was nominated for eight Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Complicated" (2003).

In 2002, Lavigne made a cameo appearance in the music video to "Hundred Million" by the pop punk band Treble Charger. In March 2003, Lavigne posed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and, later in May, performed "Fuel" during MTV's Icon tribute to Metallica. During her first headlining tour, the Try To Shut Me Up Tour, Lavigne covered Green Day's "Basket Case".

Lavigne was featured in the 2003 game, , as a non-playable celebrity.

2004–05: Under My Skin

during the "Live and By Surprise" mall tour]] Lavigne co-wrote "Breakaway" with Matthew Gerard, which was recorded by Kelly Clarkson for the soundtrack to the 2004 film . "Breakaway" would later be included on Clarkson's second album and released as the album's lead single. Lavigne covered the Goo Goo Dolls song "Iris", performed with the band's lead singer John Rzeznik at Fashion Rocks, and she posed for the cover of Maxim in October 2004. She also recorded the theme song for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. "I made the song a little more edgy," Lavigne said. "There are a lot of loud guitars, and we picked the tempo up a little and sang it with a little more attitude." Lavigne rearranged the song with the help of producer Butch Walker.

Lavigne's second studio album, Under My Skin, was released on 25 May 2004, debuting at #1 in several countries, including Australia, Mexico, Canada, Japan, the UK, and the U.S. The album has sold more than 10 million copies. Lavigne wrote most of the album's tracks with Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk. Kreviazuk's husband, Our Lady Peace front man Raine Maida, co-produced the album, along with Butch Walker and Don Gilmore. Lavigne went on the "Live and By Surprise" twenty-one city mall tour in the U.S. and Canada to promote the album, accompanied by her guitarist, Evan Taubenfeld. Each performance consisted of a short live acoustic set of songs from the new album. At the end of 2004, Lavigne embarked on her first world tour, the Bonez Tour, with stopovers in almost every continent and which lasted for the entire 2005 year. }} "Don't Tell Me", the first single off the album, went to #1 in Argentina and Mexico and reached the top five in the UK and Canada and the top ten in Australia and Brazil. "My Happy Ending", the album's lead single, went to #1 in Mexico and the top five in the UK and Australia. In the U.S., it reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and went to #1 in the Mainstream Top 40, making it her fourth-biggest hit there. The third single, "Nobody's Home", did not make the top 40 in the U.S., reaching #1 only in Mexico and Argentina. The fourth single from the album, "He Wasn't", reached top 40 positions in the UK and Australia and was not released in the U.S.

Lavigne won two World Music Awards in 2004 for "World's Best Pop/Rock Artist" and "World's Bestselling Canadian Artist". She received five Juno Award nominations in 2005, and picked up three, including "Artist of the Year". She won the award for "Favorite Female Singer" at the eighteenth annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and was nominated in every MTV Award show shown around the world.

2006–08: The Best Damn Thing

On 26 February 2006, Lavigne represented Canada at the closing ceremony of the Torino Olympics, performing her song "Who Knows" during the eight minute Vancouver 2010 portion.

While Lavigne was in the studio for her third studio album, Fox Entertainment Group approached her to write a song for the soundtrack to the 2006 fantasy-adventure film Eragon. She wrote and recorded two "ballad-type" songs, but only one, "Keep Holding On", ended up being used for the film. Lavigne admitted that writing the song was challenging, making sure it flowed along with the film. She emphasized that "Keep Holding On", which later appeared on the album, was not indicative of what the next album would be like. in Beijing at Wukesong Indoor Stadium.]] Lavigne's third album, The Best Damn Thing, was released on 17 April 2007, which Lavigne immediately promoted with a small tour. Its lead single, "Girlfriend", topped the Billboard Hot 100 the same week The Best Damn Thing debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. "Girlfriend" was Lavigne's first single to reach this #1 position. The single was a worldwide hit; it also peaked at #1 in Australia, Canada, Japan, and Italy and reached #2 in the UK and France. "Girlfriend" was recorded in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Japanese, and Mandarin. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry ranked "Girlfriend" as the most-downloaded track worldwide in 2007, selling 7.3 million copies, including the versions recorded in eight different languages. "Girlfriend" ranked on the Hot 100 Singles of the Decade list at #94.

"When You're Gone", the second single, went to #3 in the UK, the top five in Australia and Italy, the top ten in Canada, and was very close to reaching the top twenty in the U.S. In December 2007, Lavigne, with annual earnings of $12 million, was ranked number eight in the Forbes "Top 20 Earners Under 25". "Hot" was the third single and has been Lavigne's least successful single in the U.S., charting only at #95. In Canada, "Hot" made the top ten, and in Australia, the top 20. The Best Damn Thing has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

During this era, Lavigne won nearly every award she was nominated for, including two World Music Awards for "World's Bestselling Canadian Artist" and "World's Best Pop/Rock Female Artist". She took her first two MTV Europe Music Awards, received one Teen Choice Awards for "Summer Single", and was nominated for five Juno awards. red carpet.]] In mid-2007, Lavigne was featured in a two-volume graphic novel, Avril Lavigne's Make 5 Wishes. She collaborated with artist Camilla D’Errico and writer Joshua Dysart on the manga, which was about a shy girl named Hana who, upon meeting her hero Avril Lavigne, learned to overcome her fears. Lavigne said, "I know that many of my fans read manga, and I'm really excited to be involved in creating stories that I know they will enjoy." The volumes were released on 10 April (one week prior to the release of The Best Damn Thing) and in July, respectively. The publication Young Adult Library Services nominated the series for "Great Graphic Novels for Teens".

In March 2008, Lavigne undertook a world tour named The Best Damn Tour to support the album. In that same month, she also appeared on the cover of Maxim for the second time of her career. In mid-August, Malaysia's Islamic opposition party, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, attempted to ban Lavigne's show in Kuala Lumpur, judging her stage moves "too sexy". Her concert on 29 August was considered as promoting wrong values ahead of Malaysia's independence day on 31 August. On 21 August 2008, MTV reported that the concert had been approved by the Malaysian government.

2009–present: Goodbye Lullaby

Only a month after completing The Best Damn Tour, Lavigne began recording in her home studio in November 2008 with the song "Black Star", written to help promote her first fragrance of the same name. By July 2009, nine tracks had been recorded for the new album, including the songs "Fine", "Everybody Hurts" and "Darlin". Several of the tracks were written in Lavigne's youth. "Darlin" was the second song Lavigne wrote as a 15-year-old while living in Napanee, Ontario. Lavigne described the album as being about "life". She stated, "It's so easy for me to do a boy-bashing pop song, but to sit down and write honestly about something that's really close to me, something I've been through, it's a totally different thing." The album is expected to be a return to Lavigne's older musical style and may be largely acoustic. With the exception of the album's lead single, "What the Hell", Lavigne described the songs on the album as different from her earlier material: "I'm older now, so I think that comes across in my music, it's not as pop-rock".

In January 2010, while simultaneously writing and recording for her new album, Lavigne worked with Disney on Alice in Wonderland-themed clothing designs, inspired by Tim Burton's feature film, Alice in Wonderland. She asked the executives if she could write a song for the film. The result was the song "Alice", which was played over the end credits and included on the soundtrack, Almost Alice.

On 28 February, Lavigne gave a performance at the concert portion of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony, performing "My Happy Ending" and "Girlfriend". Lavigne was honoured to perform at the ceremonies, but she regretted not being able to attend the U.S. vs. Canada hockey match. "They had us on lockdown. We weren't allowed to leave our trailers, for security purposes."

In September, Lavigne's third single from her debut album, "I'm With You", was sampled by Rihanna on the track "Cheers (Drink to That)", which is featured on Rihanna's fifth studio album, Loud.

The release dates for Goodbye Lullaby and its lead single were pushed back several times. In response to these delays, Lavigne said, "I write my own music and, therefore, it takes me longer to put out records 'cause I have to live my life to get inspiration," and that she had enough material for two records. In November, Lavigne was featured in Maxim, where she revealed that Goodbye Lullaby took two and a half years to complete, but she cited her record company as the reason for the album's delays, stating that the album had been completed for a year.. Goodbye Lullaby is scheduled to be released on 8 March. The lead single, "What the Hell", will premiere on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on 31 December.

In December 2010, American singer Miranda Cosgrove released "Dancing Crazy", a song written by Lavigne, Max Martin and Shellback. It was also produced by Martin. The track is assumed to be an unused song from Goodbye Lullaby.

Musical style and songwriting

}} Themes in Lavigne's music are usually self-empowerment messages from a female or adolescent point of view. Lavigne has stated "my songs are about being yourself no matter what and going after your dreams even if your dreams are crazy and even if people tell you they're never going to come true." On her debut album, Let Go, Lavigne preferred the less-mainstream songs, such as "Losing Grip", instead of her more radio-friendly singles, such as "Complicated", stating "the songs I did with The Matrix, yeah, they were good for my first record, but I don't want to be that pop anymore." Lavigne's second album, Under My Skin, had more personal themes, with Lavigne stating "I've gone through so much, so that's what I talk about....Like boys, like dating or relationships". In contrast, her third album, The Best Damn Thing, was not very personal to her, "Some of the songs I wrote didn't even mean that much to me. It's not like some personal thing I'm going through. They're just songs." Goodbye Lullaby, Lavigne's fourth album, is expected to be much more personal than her earlier records, with Lavigne stating "the album is more stripped down, deeper. All the songs are very emotional".

Lavigne has an alto vocal range. Growing up Lavigne listened to Blink-182, Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox Twenty and Shania Twain. Her influences include Courtney Love and Janis Joplin. Due to Lavigne’s influences, musical genre and personal style, the media frequently referred to her as a punk, something she denied. Lavigne’s close friend and guitarist, Evan Taubenfeld, stated "Its a very touchy subject to a lot of people, but the point is that Avril isn't punk, but she never really pretended to claim to come from that scene. She had pop punk music and the media ended up doing the rest". Lavigne stated "I have been labeled like I'm this angry girl, [a] rebel... punk, and I am so not any of them."

While Lavigne denied being angry, her interviews were still passionate about the media's lack of respect for her songwriting. "I am a writer, and I won't accept people trying to take that away from me", adding that she'd been writing "full-structured songs" since she was 14. Despite this, Lavigne’s songwriting has been questioned throughout her career; The songwriting trio, The Matrix, who Lavigne wrote with for her debut album, stated that they were the main songwriters of Lavigne’s singles, "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi" and "I'm With You". Lavigne denied this, implying she was the primary songwriter for every song on the album, stating "none of those songs aren't from me". In 2007, Chantal Kreviazuk, who wrote with Lavigne on her second album, accused Lavigne of plagiarism and criticised her songwriting, "I mean, Avril, songwriter? Avril doesn't really sit and write songs by herself or anything". Lavigne denied this and stated that she was considering taking legal action due to a "clear defamation of my character". Kreviazuk then apologised, stating "Avril is an accomplished songwriter and it has been my privilege to work with her". Shortly after Kreviazuk apologised, Tommy Dunbar, the founder of the 1970s band the Rubinoos, sued Lavigne, her publishing company and Lukasz "Dr.Luke" Gottwald for allegedly stealing parts of her song "Girlfriend" from the Rubinoos’ "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend". Gottwald defended Lavigne, stating "me and Avril wrote the song together….It has the same chord progressions as 10 different Blink-182 songs, the standard changes you'd find in a Sum 41 song. It's the Sex Pistols, not the Rubinoos." In January 2008, the lawsuit was closed after a confidential settlement had been reached.

Other work

Film career

on 30 April 2006.]] Lavigne became interested in appearing on television and in feature films. The decision, she said, was entirely her own. Although her years of experience in making music videos would be to her advantage, Lavigne admitted that it was the singing that actually removed any fear of performing before the camera. She specifically mentioned that the video "Nobody's Home" had the most amount of actual "acting" in it. Her first television appearance was in a 2002 episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, performing "Sk8er Boi" with her band in a nightclub. She later made a cameo appearance in the 2004 film Going the Distance. The main characters bump into her backstage at the MuchMusic Video Awards after her performance of "Losing Grip".

She moved into feature film acting cautiously, choosing deliberately small roles to begin with. In November 2005, after going through an audition to land the role, Lavigne travelled to New Mexico to film a single scene in the 2007 film, The Flock. She starred as Beatrice Bell, the girlfriend of a crime suspect, appearing alongside Claire Danes and Richard Gere. Gere gave Lavigne acting tips in-between takes. On her role in The Flock, Lavigne said, "I did that just to see how it was and to not jump into [mainstream acting] too fast". The Flock would not be released in American theaters, and because it would not be released in foreign markets until late 2007, it would not be considered Lavigne's debut. The film made $7 million in the foreign box office.

Lavigne's feature film debut was voicing an animated character in the 2006 film Over the Hedge, based on the comic strip of the same name. She voiced the character Heather, a Virginia Opossum. The process of recording the characters' voices was devoid of interaction with other actors. Lavigne stated, "All the actors went in individually, and [director] Tim and [screenwriter Karey] and directors were there with me every time I went in, and they made it go so smoothly; they made me feel comfortable.... That was the interesting part, going in by yourself, with no one else to kind of feed off of." Lavigne found the recording process to be "easy" and "natural", but she kept hitting the microphone as she gestured while acting. "I'd use my hands constantly and, like, hit the microphone stand and make noises, so Tim and Karey had to tell me to hold still.... It's hard to be running or falling down the stairs and have to make those sounds come out of your mouth but keep your body still." Lavigne believed she was hired to perform Heather due to her rock star status. "[The director] thought I'd give my character... a bit of attitude". The film opened on 19 May 2006, making $38 million over its opening weekend. It went on to gross $336 million worldwide.

In December 2005, Lavigne signed on to appear in Fast Food Nation, based on the book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. The fictionalized adaptation, directed by Richard Linklater, traces fast-food hamburgers contaminated with cow feces back to the slaughterhouses. Lavigne starred in her on-screen acting debut as a high school student intent on freeing the cows. The film opened on 17 November 2006 and remained in theaters for 11 weeks, grossing $2 million worldwide.

Both Over the Hedge and Fast Food Nation opened at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, which Lavigne attended. Lavigne felt honoured to be able to attend and was proud of her work. When asked if she would pursue her film career, she stated that she wanted to take her time and wait for the "right parts and the right movies." Lavigne was aware of the roles she had chosen. "I wanted to start off small and to learn [that] I wouldn't just want to throw myself into a big part." In August 2006, Canadian Business magazine ranked her as the seventh top Canadian actor in Hollywood in their second-annual ranking Celebrity Power List. The results were determined by comparing salary, Internet hits, TV mentions, and press hits.

Entrepreneurship

In July 2008, Lavigne launched the clothing line Abbey Dawn, featuring a back-to-school collection. It is produced by Kohl's, which is the brand's exclusive U.S. retailer. Named after Lavigne's childhood nickname, Abbey Dawn is designed by Lavigne herself. Kohl's describes Abbey Dawn as a "juniors lifestyle brand", which incorporates skull, zebra, and star patterns, purples and "hot pinks and blacks". Lavigne, who wore some of the clothes and jewellery from her line at various concerts before its official launch, pointed out that she was not merely licensing her name to the collection. ""I actually am the designer. What's really important to me is that everything fits well and is well-made, so I try everything on and approve it all."}} The designs were also featured on the Internet game Stardoll, where figures can be dressed up as Avril Lavigne. On 14 September 2009, Lavigne took her latest collection for her clothing line to be a part of the New York Fashion Week. "It's fun to be a chick and design clothes and things I'd like for myself. I design things I [can't] find." In December 2010, the clothing line was made available to over 50 countries via the line's official website. At the end of 2008, Lavigne signed a contract with Canon Canada to appear in ad campaigns and commercials to promote the latest line of cameras, along with a full range of other accessories.

Lavigne released her first fragrance, Black Star, created by Procter & Gamble Prestige Products. The fragrance was announced via Lavigne's official website on 7 March 2009. Black Star, which features notes of pink hibiscus, black plum and dark chocolate, was released in summer 2009 in Europe, and later in the U.S. and Canada. When asked what the name meant, Lavigne replied, "I wanted [the bottle] to be a star, and my colors are pink and black, and Black Star resembles being different, and standing out in the crowd, and reaching for the stars; the whole message is just about following your dreams, and it's okay to be unique and be who you are." Black Star won the 2010 Best "Women's Scent Mass" by Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW). Black Star was followed by a second fragrance in July 2010, Forbidden Rose, which took two years to develop. It features notes of red apple, winepeach, black pepper, lotusflower, heliotrope, shellflower, praline agreement, sandalwood, and vanilla. Its message is an extension of Black Star's "follow your dreams", though the tagline for the new perfume is "Dare to Discover". The commercial takes place in a gothic garden setting, where Lavigne, upon entering the garden, finds a single, purple rose. Lavigne is to launch a third fragrance in August 2011 and filmed the commercial for it in late 2010.

In January 2010, Lavigne began working with Disney to incorporate Alice in Wonderland-inspired designs into her Abbey Dawn line of clothing. Her designs were exhibited at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in California beginning in May through September, alongside Colleen Atwood's costumes from the 2010 film.

Philanthropy

Lavigne has been involved in a number of charitable activities, such as Make Some Noise, Amnesty International, Erase MS, AmericanCPR.org, Camp Will-a-Way, Music Clearing Minefields, U.S. Campaign for Burma, Make-a-Wish Foundation and War Child. She has also appeared in ALDO ads with YouthAIDS to raise money to educate people worldwide about HIV/AIDS. Lavigne took part in the Unite Against Aids concert presented by ALDO in support of Unicef on 28 November 2007 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In November 2010, Lavigne attended the Clinton Global Initiative.

Lavigne worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organisation, for her 2005 east coast tour. She covered "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" for War Child's Peace Songs compilation, and she recorded a cover of the John Lennon song "Imagine" as her contribution to the compilation album . Released on 12 June 2007, the album was produced to benefit Amnesty International's campaign to alleviate the crisis in Darfur.

On 5 December 2009, Lavigne returned to the stage in Mexico City during the biggest charity event in Latin America, "Teleton". She performed acoustic versions of her hits "Complicated" and "Girlfriend" with Evan Taubenfeld and band member, Jim McGorman. In 2010, Lavigne was one of several artists who contributed their voices to a cover of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" as a benefit single to help raise money for several charity organisations related to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

On 14 September 2010, Lavigne introduced her charity, "The Avril Lavigne Foundation". The next day, the foundation's official website was launched. The foundation aims to help young people with serious illnesses and disabilities and works with leading charitable organisations; The foundation partners with the Easter Seals, Make-A-Wish foundation and Erase MS, the latter two being charities Lavigne has previously worked with. Her work with the Make-A-Wish foundation was the inspiration behind her own charity, with Lavigne stating, "I just really wanted to do more". Lavigne said on the foundation's website, "I have always looked for ways to give back because I think it’s a responsibility we all share". Philanthropist Trevor Neilson's 12-person firm, "Global Philanthropy Group", advises Lavigne with her foundation as well as several other celebrities, including musician John Legend.

Personal life

Public image

}} When Lavigne first gained publicity, she was known for her tomboyish style, in particular her necktie and tank-top combinations. She preferred baggy clothes, skater shoes or Converses, wristbands, and sometimes shoelaces wrapped around her fingers. During photo shoots, instead of wearing "glittery get-ups", she preferred wearing "old, crumpled T's". In response to her fashion and musical influences, the media would call her the "pop punk princess". Press and fans regarded her as the "anti-Britney", in part because of her less-commercial and "real" image, but also because she was noticeably headstrong. "I’m not made up and I’m not being told what to say and how to act, so they have to call me the anti-Britney, which I’m not." By November 2002, however, Lavigne stopped wearing ties, claiming she felt she was "wearing a costume". Lavigne made a conscious effort to keep her music, and not her image, at the forefront of her career. "I'm just saying, I don't want to sell sex. I feel that's sort of lame and low. I've got so much more to say."

Lavigne eventually took on a more gothic style as she began her second album, Under My Skin, trading her skating outfits for black tutus and acquiring an overall disposition of angst. During The Best Damn Thing years, Lavigne changed directions entirely, dying her hair blonde with a pink streak and wearing more feminine outfits, including "tight jeans and heels," and modelling for magazines like Harper's Bazaar. Lavigne defended her new style: "I don't really regret anything. You know, the ties and the wifebeaters and all... It had its time and place. And now I'm all grown up, and I've moved on". She now tries to eat healthy foods and participate in athletic activities, including yoga, street hockey, soccer, rollerblading, and surfing.

Tattoos

Only a few of Lavigne's tattoos are unique to her; the rest are matching tattoos, shared with friends. Lavigne had a star tattooed on the inside of her left wrist that matched the style of the one used for her first album artwork. It was created at the same time as friend and musical associate Ben Moody's identical tattoo. In late 2004, she had a small pink heart around the letter "D" applied to her right wrist, which represented her boyfriend at the time, Deryck Whibley. Lavigne and Whibley each received matching tattoos again in March 2010, in celebration of his 30th birthday. In April, Lavigne added another tattoo on her wrist, that of a lightning bolt and the number 30, and her boyfriend, Brody Jenner, received a matching lightning bolt tattoo under his ear. }} Her love of tattoos, however, gained media attention in May 2010, after Lavigne and Jenner received matching tattoos of the word "fuck" on their ribs. Lavigne appeared in the June/July cover story for Inked magazine, where she discussed and showed off her tattoos, including an "Abbey Dawn" on her left forearm and an "XXV" and star on her right. Although she confirmed the "fuck" tattoo verbally in the article, calling it her "favorite word", she had it applied after the magazine's photo shoot. She added that she wanted to eventually get a "big-ass heart with a flag through it with a name.... I'm going to wait a few years and make sure I still want it then. I have to wait for that special someone to come back into my life." In July 2010, Lavigne had the name "Brody" tattooed beneath her right breast.

Marriage to Deryck Whibley

Lavigne and Deryck Whibley, lead singer and guitarist for punk band Sum 41, began dating when she was 19 years old, after being friends since she was 17. Only a few weeks before they met, Lavigne had publicly stated that she was having trouble meeting boys because her bodyguards scared them away. In June 2005, Whibley surprised Lavigne with a trip to Venice, including a gondola ride and a romantic picnic, and on 27 June, he proposed to her.

She initially wanted to have a "rock n' roll, goth wedding", but she admitted to having doubts about going against tradition. "I've been dreaming about my wedding day since I was a little girl. I have to wear the white dress.... People thought that I would [wear a] black wedding dress, and I would have. But at the same time, I was thinking about the wedding pictures, and I wanted to be in style. I didn't want to be thinking, 20 years later, 'Oh, why did I wear my hair like that?'"

The wedding was held on 15 July 2006. About 110 guests attended the wedding, which was held at a private estate in Montecito, California. Lavigne, wearing a gown designed by Vera Wang walked down the aisle with her father, Jean-Claude, to Mendelssohn's "Wedding March". Lavigne chose a colour theme of red and white, including red rose petals and centerpieces of distinctly coloured flowers. The wedding included cocktails for an hour before the reception and a sit-down dinner. The song "Iris", by the Goo Goo Dolls, was played during Lavigne and Whibley's first dance.

Seven months into their marriage, Lavigne stated that she was "the best thing that's ever happened to him", and suggested that she helped Whibley stay off drugs since they'd begun dating. "He doesn't do drugs. Clearly, he used to, because he talked about it, but I wouldn't be with someone who did, and I made that very clear to him when we first started dating. I've never done cocaine in my life, and I'm proud of that. I am 100 percent against drugs." The marriage lasted a little more than three years. It was announced on 17 September 2009 that Lavigne and Whibley had split up and that divorce papers would soon follow. On 9 October 2009, Lavigne filed for divorce, releasing the statement, "I am grateful for our time together, and I am grateful and blessed for our remaining friendship." The divorce was finalized on 16 November 2010, officially ending the marriage.

Backing band

;Current members

Al Berry – bass guitar, backing vocals (2007–present)

Rodney Howard – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2007–present)

Steve Ferlazzo – electronic keyboard, backing vocals (2007–present)

Jim McGorman – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2007–present)

Steve Fekete – lead guitar, backing vocals (2008–present)

Sofia Toufa – backing vocals, dancer (2007–present)

Lindsay Bluafarb – backing vocals, dancer (2007–present)

;Past members

Mark Spicoluk – bass guitar, backing vocals (April–September 2002)

Jesse Colburn – rhythm guitar (2002–January 2004)

Evan Taubenfeld – lead guitar, backing vocals (2002–September 2004)

Craig Wood – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, vocals (2004–January 2007)

Matt Brann – drums, percussion, vocals on (2002–February 2007)

Charlie Moniz – bass guitar (2002–February 2007)

Devin Bronson – lead guitar, backing vocals (2004–08)

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Title!! Role !! Notes |- | 2002 || ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch || Herself || Cameo; performed "Sk8er Boi" |- | 2004 || Going the Distance|| Herself || Cameo; performed "Losing Grip" |- | rowspan=2|2006 || Fast Food Nation || Alice || High school activist |- | Over the Hedge || Heather || Voice only |- | 2007 || The Flock || Beatrice Bell || Suspect's girlfriend |- | 2010 || American Idol || Herself || Guest judge (L.A. auditions) |}

Discography

Let Go (2002)

Under My Skin (2004)

The Best Damn Thing (2007)

Goodbye Lullaby (2011)

See also

List of Avril Lavigne concert tours

List of awards and nominations received by Avril Lavigne

References

External links

Category:1984 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:Juno Award winners Category:Arista Records artists Category:Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Category:Canadian female guitarists Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian child singers Category:Canadian film actors Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:Canadian television actors Category:Canadian voice actors Category:English-language singers Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Franco-Ontarian people Category:Musicians from Ontario Category:People from Belleville, Ontario Category:People from Lennox and Addington County, Ontario Category:RCA Records artists Category:Rhythm guitarists Category:World Music Awards winners

Name	Lee DeWyze
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Leon James DeWyze, Jr.
Born	April 02, 1986Mount Prospect, Illinois, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano, drums, bass
Genre	Rock, alternative rock
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist
Years active	2007–present
Label	WuLi Records, RCA
Associated acts	Louis Svitek, Lee DeWyze Band
Url	www.LeeDeWyzeOfficial.com

Leon James "Lee" DeWyze, Jr. (born April 2, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter from Mount Prospect, Illinois, and the winner of the ninth season of American Idol. Prior to Idol, DeWyze had a solo career and formed the Lee DeWyze Band. He had also released two independent albums called So I'm Told in 2007 and Slumberland in 2010, both on WuLi Records. His post-Idol album Live It Up was released on November 16, 2010, through 19 Entertainment and RCA Records.

Biography

Early life

DeWyze was born in Mount Prospect, Illinois, the eldest son of Kathleen (née Donahue) and Lee DeWyze, Sr., who worked as a postal carrier in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. He has two older sisters, Sarah and Shannon, and a younger brother, Mike. His musical influences include Cat Stevens, Eric Clapton, Ben Harper, and Simon & Garfunkel.

Education

DeWyze attended Saint James Catholic Elementary School in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Prospect High School up until his senior year. After leaving Prospect High, he attended Forest View Alternative School in Arlington Heights, having been inspired both by his teachers and his interest in music to return to his studies. While he never graduated from either high school, he eventually got his GED. He has three other tattoos, including a silhouette of the Chicago flag and tree of life on his right arm and a Shel Silverstein illustration on his left arm.

DeWyze is the second cousin of current Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Pre-Idol career

After leaving school, DeWyze worked as a paint salesman. He also worked as a trading floor clerk at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in 2007-2008 before returning to work at the Mount Prospect Paint" store until he auditioned for American Idol and making it through to the Hollywood rounds of the show. The store continued to support him during his American Idol run by selling tee shirts encouraging fans to vote for Lee.

DeWyze started singing at an early age and was discovered by Louis Svitek, who saw DeWyze, then 17, playing guitar and singing at a house party in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. Svitek signed DeWyze to WuLi Records, the independent record label he runs with Ryan McGuire in Chicago. Dewyze formed the "Lee DeWyze Band" with Svitek, McGuire and Jeff Henderson. DeWyze recorded two albums, So I'm Told (2007) and Slumberland (2010), both produced by Ryan McGuire. In 2008, as a favor to band member Jeff Henderson, DeWyze and the band recorded a disc for Square One Organic Baby Food Company, a company owned by Henderson's wife. DeWyze recorded six songs on the "Square One Organic" promotional CD, also produced by Ryan McGuire.

As a result of touring in the area and performing at many venues, DeWyze and his band's music were known locally, even getting radio play on WXRT long before he auditioned for American Idol.

DeWyze also had an acting role in 2006 in a low-budget short horror film Deadscapes: Broken Road. He played one of a trio of survivors in a land overrun with the undead.

American Idol

DeWyze auditioned in Chicago at the United Center for the ninth season of American Idol on June 22, 2009, after encouragement from his friend Vincent Ferrara who was also trying out for the contest in Chicago. He auditioned with the song "Ain't No Sunshine". He was one of only 13 people from Chicago, the lowest number out of all 7 audition cities, to make it through to Hollywood week. During Hollywood week his group included Aaron Kelly and Crystal Bowersox, all of whom made the Top 24 and subsequently the Top 5. Crystal Bowersox and DeWyze made it to that top two, in which he won.

His closest friend among the competitors is Andrew Garcia. Garcia was his roommate throughout the season until he was eliminated in the Top 9. Lee stated that he was generally close to all the Top 10 Idols, but he is also especially close to Siobhan Magnus, Katie Stevens, Michael Lynche, Aaron Kelly, and Alex Lambert and Lacey Brown from Top 16. Before every performance, DeWyze would call his family.

DeWyze was one of two contestants in Season 9 to never land in the bottom three, the other being Crystal Bowersox. The judges praised him for shedding his shy persona throughout the season and showing, with confidence, that he was "in it to win it."

On May 14, 2010, DeWyze performed at the Arlington Park Race Track in Arlington Heights, Illinois, with more than 41,000 people attending as part of his American Idol Homecoming day. Along with performing at the race track he had a parade in Mount Prospect, performed at a local AT&T; store, and threw out the opening pitch at a Chicago Cubs baseball game.

On May 26, DeWyze was crowned the winner of American Idol Season 9. As a result of winning the season, DeWyze also won a recording contract.

Performances/results

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- !Week # !Theme !Song choice !Original artist !Order # !Result |- |Audition |Auditioner's Choice |"Ain't No Sunshine" |Bill Withers |N/A |Advanced |- |Hollywood |First Solo |"One of Us" |Joan Osborne |N/A |Advanced |- |Hollywood |Group Performance |"Get Ready" |The Temptations |N/A |Advanced |- |Hollywood |Second Solo | "You Found Me" | The Fray |N/A |Advanced |- |Top 24 (12 Men) |rowspan="3"|Billboard Hot 100 Hits |"Chasing Cars" |Snow Patrol |7 |Safe |- |Top 20 (10 Men) |"Lips of an Angel" |Hinder |10 |Safe |- |Top 16 (8 Men) |"Fireflies" |Owl City |1 |Safe |- |Top 12 |The Rolling Stones |"Beast of Burden" |The Rolling Stones |9 |Safe |- |Top 11 |Billboard #1 Hits |"The Letter" |The Box Tops |1 |Safe |- |Top 10 |R&B;/Soul |"Treat Her Like a Lady" |Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose |8 |Safe |- |Top 9 |Lennon/McCartney |"Hey Jude" |The Beatles |9 |Safe |- |Top 9 |Elvis Presley |"A Little Less Conversation" |Elvis Presley |4 |Safe |- |Top 7 |Inspirational Songs |"The Boxer" |Simon & Garfunkel |2 |Safe |- |Top 6 |Shania Twain |"You're Still the One" |Shania Twain |1 |Safe |- |Top 5 |Frank Sinatra |"That's Life" |Frank Sinatra |5 |Safe |- |Top 4 |Songs of the Cinema SoloDuet |"Kiss from a Rose" — Batman Forever"Falling Slowly" — Once with Crystal Bowersox |SealGlen Hansard & Markéta Irglová |13 |Safe |- | Top 3 | Contestant's ChoiceJudges' Choice | "Simple Man""Hallelujah" | Lynyrd SkynyrdLeonard Cohen | 36 | Safe |- | Top 2 | Contestant's ChoiceSimon Fuller's ChoiceCoronation song | "The Boxer""Everybody Hurts""Beautiful Day" | Simon & GarfunkelR.E.M.U2 | 135 | Winner |} Due to the judges using their one save to save Michael Lynche, the Top 9 remained intact for another week. Song selected by Simon Cowell.

Post-Idol career

DeWyze signed with Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment and RCA Records. His first post-Idol album will be on RCA Records, scheduled for a November 16, 2010 release. When describing the upcoming album Lee says:

}}

His first single, a cover of U2's "Beautiful Day," was released as a digital single on May 27, 2010. DeWyze has said about the song: "I like that song a lot; it's a really good song (...) Is it something that is necessarily in my genre? No. There were songs on the table, and I went with the one I thought would represent the moment the best."

DeWyze's old label, WuLi Records plans on remastering and remixing his pre-Idol music to re-release his first album, So I'm Told as well as a brand new album of previously unreleased songs.

DeWyze performed the national anthem at the Staples Center for Game 2 of the 2010 NBA Finals on June 6, 2010.

As a result of winning American Idol he became the headliner of the 2010 American Idols LIVE! tour. The songs he chose to perform for the tour include "Beautiful Day," "Rocket Man," "Treat Her Like a Lady," "Hallelujah," and "Use Somebody."

DeWyze won "Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star" at the Teen Choice Awards on August 8, 2010.

DeWyze returned to Arlington Park Race Track in Arlington Heights, Illinois, for a post-Idol homecoming concert on September 24, 2010, where he performed for more than 20,000 people. His 12-song set of cover songs and pre-Idol originals also included a new song, “Only Dreaming”.

Live It Up (2010-present)

On October 7, 2010, DeWyze announced that his debut album will be called Live It Up and the first single, also called "Live It Up," will debut October 13 on On Air with Ryan Seacrest.

October 12, 2010, he announced that his single "Live It Up" will be held off for release. Instead a new single titled Sweet Serendipity aired in its place on October 13, 2010. DeWyze's album, Live It Up, was released on November 16, 2010.

On November 29, 2010 DeWyze returned to his roots in the Chicagoland area and spoke in depth on his experience in music so far.

Discography

Albums

Digital albums

Singles

Digital singles

Collaborations

2008: Square One Organic Baby Food Company promotional CD (6 of the songs are sung by Lee DeWyze).

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Lee DeWyze Official Site at Sony Music

Lee DeWyze at American Idol

Lee DeWyze at Billboard.com

Lee DeWyze site at WuLi Records

Category:1986 births Category:2010s singers Category:American Idol participants Category:American Idol winners Category:American pop guitarists Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock pianists Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Illinois Category:People from Mount Prospect, Illinois

Name	Christina Aguilera
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Christina María Aguilera
Alias	Xtina
Born	December 18, 1980Staten Island, New York United States
Origin	Wexford, Pennsylvania United States
Genre	Pop, R&B;, soul, dance-pop, hip hop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, actress
Instrument	Vocals, piano
Years active	1993–present
Label	RCA
Url

Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994. Aguilera signed to RCA Records after recording "Reflection", the theme song for the animated film Mulan (1998).

In 1999, Aguilera came to prominence following her debut album Christina Aguilera, which was a commercial success spawning three number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100—"Genie in a Bottle", "What a Girl Wants", and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)." A Latin pop album, Mi Reflejo (2001), and several collaborations followed which garnered Aguilera worldwide success, though she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image. After parting from her management, Aguilera took creative control over her second studio album, Stripped (2002). The album's second single, "Beautiful," was a commercial success and helped the album's commercial performance amidst controversy over Aguilera's image. Aguilera followed up Stripped with Back to Basics (2006), which was released to positive critical acclaim and included elements of soul, jazz, and blues music. Aguilera's fourth studio album Bionic (2010), which incorporated aspects of R&B;, electropop, and synthpop, was met with mixed reviews and poor sales.

Aside from being known for her vocal ability, music videos and image, musically, she includes themes of dealing with public scrutiny, her childhood, and female empowerment in her music. Apart from her work in music, she has also dedicated much of her time as a philanthropist for charities, human rights and world issues. She made her feature film debut in the musical Burlesque (2010), earning Aguilera a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song. Aguilera's work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, four Grammy Awards and a Latin Grammy Award, amongst fifteen and three nominations respectively. Rolling Stone ranked her number fifty-eight on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, ranking as the youngest and only artist on the list under the age of thirty. She was ranked the 20th Artist of the 2000–09 decade by Billboard and is the second top selling single artist of the 2000's behind Madonna. Aguilera has sold nearly 50 million albums worldwide making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

Life and career

1980–1998: Early life and career beginnings

Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York, to Fausto Wagner Xavier Aguilera, a sergeant in the US Army at the time, and Shelly Loraine (née Fidler), a teacher of Spanish. Aguilera's father was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador and her mother is of German, Irish, Welsh, and Dutch ancestry. Her father was stationed at Earnest Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador and Japan. Aguilera lived with both her father and mother, up until their divorce when she was seven years old. Aguilera then lived with her mother, and her younger sister Rachel, at her grandmother's home in Rochester, Pennsylvania, a town outside of Pittsburgh. According to both Aguilera and her mother, her father was very controlling, as well as physically and emotionally abusive. She later sang about her difficult childhood in the songs "I'm OK" on Stripped, and "Oh Mother" on Back to Basics. Although her father has written to Aguilera, she has ruled out any chance of reuniting with him. Since then, her mother has married a paramedic named Jim Kearns, and has changed her name.

As a child, Aguilera aspired to be a singer. She was known locally as "the little girl with the big voice", singing in local talent shows and competitions. She attended Marshall Middle School near Wexford and North Allegheny Intermediate High School until she was later home schooled. On March 15, 1990, she appeared on Star Search singing "A Sunday Kind of Love", but lost the competition at number 2. Soon after losing on Star Search, she returned home and appeared on Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV's Wake Up With Larry Richert to perform the same song. Throughout her youth in Pittsburgh, Aguilera sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Pittsburgh Penguins hockey, Pittsburgh Steelers football and Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games, including during the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals. Following her television appearances Aguilera experienced resentment and bullying from her peers including an incident in which her peers slashed the tires on her family's car. Aguilera recalls, "doing what I did and maybe being a little smaller, I was definitely picked on and bullied for the attention that I got. It was definitely unwanted attention and there was a lot of unfairness about it."

In 1991 Aguilera auditioned for a role on The Mickey Mouse Club, however, she did not meet the age requirements. Two years later, she joined the cast performing musical numbers and sketch comedy, until the show's cancellation in 1994. Her co-stars included Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling and Keri Russell where they nicknamed her "the Diva" for her performance style and voice. At the age of fourteen, Aguilera recorded her first song, "All I Wanna Do", a hit duet with Japanese singer Keizo Nakanishi. In 1997, she represented the United States at the international Golden Stag Festival with a two-song set. Aguilera entered talent contests on "teen night" at the Pegasus Lounge, a gay and lesbian nightclub in Pittsburgh and later at Lilith Fair. In 1998, Aguilera sent in a demo of her singing Whitney Houston's "Run to You" to Disney who were looking for a singer to record the song "Reflection" for their animated feature film Mulan (1998). The demo caught the attention of producer and label executive Ron Fair who would later mentor her throughout her career and led to Aguilera earning a contract with RCA Records the same week. The album is also included in the Top 100 Albums of All Time list of The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) based on US sales. Released during the teen pop era of 1999 the album was well received by several critics, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic writes that Aguilera's debut "remains firmly within the teen-oriented dance-pop genre, but done right." Concluding that the album is "lightweight in the best possible sense -- breezy, fun, engaging, and enjoyable on each repeated listen. Out of the deluge of teen-pop albums in 1999, this feels like the best of the lot." Her debut single, "Genie in a Bottle" was an instant hit reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in several countries worldwide. Her follow-up singles "What a Girl Wants" and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" topped the Hot 100 as well during 1999 and 2000 while "I Turn to You" reached number three. She is one of the few artists to have multiple #1 singles from a debut album in Billboard's history. She made a cameo appearance on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, performed on MTV's New Year's Special as MTV's first artist of the millennium, and the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show. At the 42nd Grammy Awards Aguilera received a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy nomination for "Genie in a Bottle" and despite earlier predictions, she won the award Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

In 2000, Aguilera began recording her first Spanish-language album with producer Rudy Pérez in Miami. Later in 2000, Aguilera, first emphasized her Latin heritage by releasing her first Spanish album, Mi Reflejo on September 12, 2000. This album contained Spanish versions of songs from her English debut as well as new Spanish tracks. Though some criticized Aguilera for trying to cash in on the Latin music boom at the time. According to Pérez, Aguilera was only semi-fluent, while recording. She understood the language, because she has grown up with her father, who is a native of Ecuador. He added "Her Latin roots are undeniable".

in 2000.]] Aguilera's first concert tour, (also known as "Christina Aguilera: In Concert") began in the summer of 2000 in the US and ended early 2001 where she toured South America and Asia. A concert special aired on ABC titled My Reflection and was released to DVD and certified Gold in the US. Aguilera was rumored to have dated MTV VJ Carson Daly. Rumors of their relationship were fueled after the release of Eminem's song, "The Real Slim Shady" in which he also insinuated a romance between her and rocker Fred Durst. Aguilera responded saying the lyrics were "disgusting, offensive and, above all, not true." Their feud ended two years later backstage at the Video Music Awards after Aguilera presented the rapper an award onstage. She dated Puerto Rican dancer Jorge Santos. Santos appeared on her tour and music videos throughout 2000. They dated for nearly two years until the relationship ended on September 11, 2001. He remained her dancer well into 2002.

Ricky Martin asked Aguilera to duet with him on the track "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" from his album Sound Loaded; released in 2001 as the album's second single. The single reached number one on the World Chart and top ten in several countries. In 2001, Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Pink were chosen to remake Labelle's 1975 single "Lady Marmalade" for the film Moulin Rouge! and its soundtrack. The song peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks and was the most successful airplay-only single in history. It also reached number one in eleven other countries and earned all four performers a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Aguilera's appearance in the music video was compared to that of Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. The video won two MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year in 2001, where Aguilera accepted the award saying, "I guess the big hair paid off."

That same year, the single "Just Be Free" emerged into record stores which was one of the demos Aguilera recorded when she was around fifteen years old. When RCA Records discovered the single, they advised fans not to purchase it. Months later, Warlock Records was set to release Just Be Free, an album which contains the demo tracks. Aguilera filed a breach of contract and unfair competition suit against Warlock and the album's producers to block the release. Instead, the two parties came to a settlement to release the album. Aguilera lent out her name, likeness and image for an unspecified amount of damages. Many of the details of the lawsuit remain confidential. When the album was released in August 2001, it had a photograph of Aguilera when she was fifteen years old.

Although Aguilera's debut album was commercially successful, she was dissatisfied with the music and image her management had created for her. Aguilera was marketed as a bubblegum pop singer because of the genre's upward financial trend. She mentioned plans of her next album to have much more depth, both musically and lyrically. Aguilera's views of Steve Kurtz's influence in matters of the singer's creative direction, the role of being her exclusive personal manager and overscheduling had in part caused her to seek legal means of terminating their management contract. In October 2000, Aguilera filed a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit against her manager Kurtz for improper, undue and inappropriate influence over her professional activities, as well as fraud. According to legal documents, Kurtz did not protect her rights and interests. Instead, he took action that was for his own interest, at the cost of hers. The lawsuit came about when Aguilera discovered Kurtz used more of her commissionable income than he was allotted, and had paid other managers to assist him. She also petitioned the California State Labor Commission to nullify the contract. She revealed while recording her then upcoming album, "I was being overworked. You find out that someone you thought was a friend is stealing money behind your back, and it's heartbreaking. I put faith in the people around me, and unfortunately, it bit me in the butt." Kurtz was terminated as her manager. After terminating Kurtz's services, Irving Azoff was hired as her new manager.

2002–04: New image, Stripped and musical hiatus

On October 29, 2002, Aguilera's second English studio album, Stripped, was released. The album sold more than 330,000 copies in the first week and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. Unlike her previous work, the album showcased Aguilera's raunchier side. The majority of Stripped was co-written by Aguilera (who had recently signed a global music publishing contract with BMG Music Publishing), and was influenced by many different subjects and music styles, including contemporary R&B;, gospel, soul, balladry, pop rock, and hip hop. The majority of the album was produced by Scott Storch and singer-songwriter Linda Perry who produced her more personal records. Rockwilder and singer Alicia Keys also contributed a track each. Upon initial release, the album was very well-received by critics, although Aguilera's vocals were overlooked as she began to cultivate a more sexually provocative image. After the release of the album, she took part in photoshoots for magazines, many of these photographs featured her nude or semi-nude. Her cover for Rolling Stone, featured the singer only wearing boots and a well-placed electric guitar. It was during this time Aguilera referred to herself as "Xtina", even getting a tattoo of her nickname on the back of her neck and several piercings.

in 2003.]] Initially, the raunchy image had a negative effect on Aguilera in the U.S., especially after the release of her controversial "Dirrty" music video. It appeared at number ten on Billboard's year-end album chart and she was Billboard's top female artist for 2003. Kelly Clarkson's second single "Miss Independent" was co-written by Aguilera, having been half-finished for Stripped.

Aguilera joined Justin Timberlake that June on the final leg of his international Justified tour, held in the U.S. This portion of the tour became a co-headliner called the Justified/Stripped Tour. In August, an overhead lighting grid collapsed from the ceiling of the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, causing major damage to the sound and video equipment below. Because the collapse occurred hours before the show, only a few stagehands were injured, but a few shows were cancelled or postponed. In the fourth quarter of that year, Aguilera continued to tour internationally without Timberlake, and changed the name of the tour to the Stripped World Tour. She also dyed her hair black. It was one of the top-grossing tours of that year, and sold out most of its venues. Rolling Stone readers named it the best tour of the year. That same year she hosted the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards and was a special guest performer with the Pussycat Dolls' dance troupe performing at the Roxy Theatre and Viper Room in Los Angeles. She also appeared on a Maxim spread alongside them, her second Maxim cover that year set record sales for the issue making it the top selling issue to date. By the end of the year she topped the annual Hot 100 list later saying, "We had fun working with certain clothes, or the lack thereof."

Aguilera's first DVD live-recording from a concert tour, Stripped Live in the U.K., was released in November 2004. In light of the tour's success, another U.S. tour was scheduled to begin in mid-2004 with a new theme. The tour however was scrapped because of the vocal cord injuries Aguilera suffered shortly before the tour's opening date. In a tribute to Madonna's performance at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards, Aguilera performed a kiss with the singer-actress at the 2003 edition of the ceremony in August. The incident occurred during the opening performance of Madonna's songs "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood" with fellow popstar Britney Spears.

Aguilera later decided to embrace a more mature image; this move was met with more praise than criticism, with articles using punch lines such as "From Crass to Class." She eventually dyed her hair cherry blonde and recorded a jingle, "Hello", for a Mercedes-Benz ad. Shortly after, she dyed her hair flaxen blonde and cut it short, and took on a Marilyn Monroe look; she is one of the main proponents (along with Dita Von Teese, Gwen Stefani, and Ashley Judd) in bringing back the 1920s–1940s Hollywood glamour look. In late summer 2004, Aguilera released two singles. The first, "Car Wash", was a remake of the Rose Royce disco song recorded as a collaboration with rapper Missy Elliott for the soundtrack to the film Shark Tale. She voiced a small singing part in the film playing a Rastafarian jellyfish in the film's closing musical number. The second song was also a collaboration, but this time as a second single from one of Nelly's double-release albums, Sweat'', titled "Tilt Ya Head Back". Both singles failed commercially in the U.S., but did considerably better in other parts of the world.

2005–07: Marriage, Back to Basics and motherhood

Aguilera began dating music marketing executive Jordan Bratman in 2002. Their engagement was announced in February 2005, and they married on November 19, 2005, in a Napa Valley estate. Aguilera collaborated with jazz artist Herbie Hancock on a cover of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" recorded for Hancock's album Possibilities, released in August 2005. Aguilera and Hancock were later nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. She helped open the 50th Anniversary for Disneyland performing "When You Wish upon a Star", and she also collaborated with Andrea Bocelli on the song "Somos Novios" for his album Amore.

Story festival in 2006.]] Aguilera's third English studio album, Back to Basics was released August 15, 2006. The album debuted at #1 in the US, the UK and eleven other countries. Aguilera described the double CD as "a throwback to the 20s, 30s, and 40s-style jazz, blues, and feel-good soul music, but with a modern twist." The album received generally positive reviews, although many critics commented on the album's length saying, "At one disc, this would have been nothing short of masterful." A review in AllMusic adds, "Back to Basics also makes clear that Stripped was a necessary artistic move for Christina: she needed to get that out of her system in order to create her own style, one that is self-consciously stylized, stylish, and sexy." The critically acclaimed lead single "Ain't No Other Man" was a substantial success, reaching #2 on the World Chart, #6 in the U.S., and #2 in the UK. Producers on the album included DJ Premier, Kwamé, Linda Perry, and Mark Ronson. The follow-up singles did very well in different regions, "Hurt" in Europe and "Candyman" in the Pacific. She co-directed both music videos, the former with Floria Sigismondi who directed her "Fighter" video, and the latter, "Candyman", with director/photographer Matthew Rolston which was inspired by The Andrews Sisters. Back to Basics'' has sold 4.5 million units worldwide, with over 1.7 million sold in the US.

In late 2006 Aguilera collaborated with Sean "Diddy" Combs on a track, titled "Tell Me", from his album Press Play. She also began the Back to Basics Tour in Europe followed by a 41-date North American tour in early 2007. After this, she toured Asia and Australia, where it was supposed to end on August 3, however she canceled her dates in Melbourne and her final two in Auckland due to an illness. Her extravagant arena tour included cabaret, three-ring circus and juke joint sets and 10 piece costumes designed by Roberto Cavalli. She released her concert DVD the following year. The tour grossed nearly 50 million by the end of the year in North America and an additional 40 million worldwide in her Europe and Australia dates, grossing almost 90 million by the end of the tour. It was the most successful US tour by a female in 2007.

At the 49th Grammy Awards, Aguilera again won the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Ain't No Other Man". She made a noteworthy performance at the ceremony paying tribute to James Brown with her rendition of his song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". In January 2007, she was named the 19th richest woman in entertainment by Forbes, with a net worth of US$60 million. Aguilera performed "Steppin' Out With My Baby" with Tony Bennett on his NBC special Tony Bennett: An American Classic and on Saturday Night Live. They performed at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards where both specials received Emmys. "Steppin' Out" was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.

Aguilera confirmed she was pregnant on November 4, 2007, though Paris Hilton accidentally revealed her pregnancy several weeks prior during a party Aguilera hosted. She gave birth to her son, Max Liron Bratman, in Los Angeles, California early the following year and held a bris for Max Liron with Bratman, who is of Jewish descent, where he was circumcised in accordance with Jewish ritual. Aguilera was reportedly paid $1.5 million by People magazine for her baby pictures, which according to Forbes places fifth on the list of the most expensive celebrity baby photos.

2008–10: Greatest hits album, Bionic and Burlesque

In 2008 Aguilera appeared in the Martin Scorsese documentary Shine a Light which chronicles a two day Rolling Stones concert in New York City's Beacon Theatre. The film features Aguilera performing "Live With Me" alongside Mick Jagger. Shine a Light premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and was released worldwide on April 4, 2008. She also had brief cameo in the comedy film Get Him to the Greek, and appeared as a guest judge on the sixth season of Project Runway on Lifetime Television. She and designer Bob Mackie were the inspiration for the challenge in which they had to design a stage outfit for Aguilera.

To commemorate Aguilera's ten years in the music industry, RCA Records released, on November 11, 2008 exclusively at Target stores in the U.S. The greatest hits included her first three number one singles, and other songs released from her previous three albums. "Lady Marmalade" and several Spanish singles from Mi Reflejo were included in the worldwide releases. The album's only single, "Keeps Gettin' Better", was premiered at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, and debuted and peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, her highest debut on the chart. Aguilera was one of Billboard's Top 20 Artists of the Decade in their year-end charts.

Aguilera's fourth English studio album, Bionic, was released on June 8, 2010. The album's producers included Tricky Stewart, Samuel Dixon, Polow da Don, Le Tigre, Switch, Ester Dean, songwriters Sam Endicott, Sia Furler, Claude Kelly, Linda Perry and collaborations with M.I.A., Santigold, Nicki Minaj, and Peaches. The album's only two singles, "Not Myself Tonight" and "You Lost Me" peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Charts but were unsuccessful elsewhere. Bionic's material consisted of many mainstream and pop records along with electronic and dance music. The album was released to mixed reviews from music critics, with Jon Pareles of The New York Times writing that the singer's new music direction "makes her sound as peer-pressured as a pop singer can be." Allison Stewart of The Washington Post described the album as being "noisy, robotic and overstuffed" and felt that one of the disc's "greatest disappointments" is its "virtual abandonment" of Aguilera's voice. She concluded that Aguilera attempts "to do it all," which was to try to "revel in her newfound domesticity, to wrest her crown from Gaga and to reestablish her sex kitten bona fides," but overall thought that the plan backfired on Bionic. The album has sold 260,000 units in the US to date. Shortly after the album's release, further promotion ended and a scheduled summer tour for the album was cancelled due to "inadequate rehearsal time". "You Lost Me" was her first single to not chart the Hot 100 while Bionic was her first English studio album not to receive a Grammy nomination. Aguilera responded to the album's performance in an interview saying, "I was really proud of that record. I think there was a lot of promotion issues, coming from a standpoint of how everything resulted. Nothing is ever a setback. If anything, it just motivates you for what’s next."

Aguilera confirmed news reports that she and Bratman had separated, saying in a statement, "Although Jordan and I are separated, our commitment to our son Max remains as strong as ever." Aguilera filed for divorce from Bratman on October 14, 2010, seeking joint legal and physical custody of their son, and specifying September 11, 2010 as the date of separation. The following month she appeared as herself on the Entourage season seven finale as a client/friend of Ari Gold. On November 15, 2010, Aguilera received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

It was confirmed in 2009 that Aguilera would appear in her first feature film, the musical Burlesque, released in November 2010. She portrayed a small town girl, Ali Rose, who finds love and success in a Los Angeles neo-burlesque club. Aguilera performed eight of the ten tracks on the film's soundtrack released on November 22, 2010. Aguilera co-wrote a number of the tracks working with producers and writers including Tricky Stewart, Sia Furler, Samuel Dixon, Linda Perry, Claude Kelly, Danja, and Ron Fair. The remaining two tracks were sung by Cher, who co-starred in the film. The film, distributed by Screen Gems, was directed by actor and director Steve Antin who also wrote the script. Antin wrote the role of Ali specifically for Aguilera. The film also featured Cam Gigandet as her love interest, Eric Dane, Kristen Bell and Stanley Tucci. Several critics praised Aguilera's performance. A review in TIME states, "Aguilera might not be to your taste, or mine, but in terms of sheer power, she's impressive. If Ali were real, she'd have already been discovered on American Idol." While Variety wrote, "Aguilera, while undeniably entertaining when her character is onstage, cannot spin the slight backstory into anything resembling a full-blooded person." Though Burlesque was released to mixed reviews from critics, the film received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture - Musical or Comedy and earned Aguilera, alongside co-writer Sia Furler and producer Samuel Dixon, a nomination for Best Original Song for the track "Bound to You".

2011-present: Current projects

Aguilera collaborated with rapper T.I. on the track, "Castle Walls" which is included on his album No Mercy. There are currently no plans or a tenative release date for Aguilera's fifth English studio album. She will perform the national anthem during the Super Bowl XLV.

Artistry

Vocal ability

in 2006.]] Aguilera has been referred to as the "voice of her generation" and a blue eyed soul singer. Aguilera also topped COVE's list of the 100 Best Pop Vocalists with a score of 50/50 and came fifth in MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music. Her rendition of "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" at the 49th Grammy Awards ranked third in the Grammy's Greatest Moments List behind Celine Dion's performance of "My Heart Will Go On" and Green Day's performance of "American Idiot". In an interview, Dion described Aguilera as "probably the best vocalist in the world." Rolling Stone ranked Aguilera at 58 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, the youngest singer on the list. Los Angeles Times writer Margaret Wappler adds Aguilera can deliver "a well-executed legato."

Since her debut in 1999 Aguilera has been compared to the likes of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. David Browne of The New York Times writes, "Aguilera has been one of the foremost practitioners of the overpowering, Category 5 vocal style known as melisma. Ms. Carey, Ms. Houston and Ms. Aguilera, to name its three main champions, are most associated with the period from the late ’80s through the late ’90s." A review in the Los Angeles Times compared Aguilera's vocal stylings to Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, and Aretha Franklin adding, "Aguilera's Streisand-esque tendencies are a good thing; they're helping her figure out how to become the "great singer" she's been dubbed since she released her first single, the wise-beyond-its-years "Genie in a Bottle", at 18." Although praised for her vocals, Aguilera has been labeled for oversinging in her songs and concerts. Longtime producer and writer, Linda Perry, commented on working on the record, "Beautiful", saying, "I tried to keep it straight. I told her to get rid of the finger waves. Every time she'd start going into "hoo-ha", I'd stop the tape. I'm like, 'You're doing it again.'" Perry ended up using the first take saying, "She had a hard time accepting that as the final track. It's not a perfect vocal – it's very raw. She knows her voice really well, and she knows what's going on. She can hear things that nobody else would catch."

Themes and musical style

" in her Back To Basics Tour in 2006.]] The constant theme in Aguilera's music and lyrics is love, although she has written on other subjects including spirituality, female empowerment, and grief. Aguilera has also written about her childhood in two of her records which dealt with domestic abuse. In an interview Aguilera admitted she feels responsible to reveal her most vulnerable feelings and to share the darker sides of her life adding "People that can relate might not feel as alone in the circumstance." She has been noted to constantly changing her sound in her music and lyrical content. Originally marketed as a bubblegum pop singer during the late 90's pop scene, she quickly departed into a broad range of musical genres for her follow-up album Stripped. A review states, "Clearly afflicted with Premature Serious Artist Syndrome, Aguilera wants to demonstrate the range of her interests – vampy soul, quasi-metal, piano-bar intimacy, quiet-storm R&B;, bounce-bounce hip-hop, and semi-exotic rock, all of it dutifully accomplished."

The majority of the songs are characterized by Aguilera's loud vocals, though she has used breathy and soft vocals. Her 2006 release, Back to Basics included producer DJ Premier. The New York Times exclaims, "Her decision to work with the low-key DJ Premier was also a decision to snub some of the big-name producers on whom pop stars often rely." Aguilera has often cited that she prefers working with producers that aren't in popular demand, saying "I don't necessarily go to the main people that are the No. 1 chart-toppers in music." The album included live instrumentation and samples of past jazz and soul records. Some tracks on the album included non-traditional forms of pop music such as swing jazz and big band, drawing comparisons to Madonna's I'm Breathless and the musical film Cabaret. Her first feature film, Burlesque, influenced by Cabaret, featured mainstream producers Tricky Stewart and Danja on the soundtrack where several established songs were updated and worked into dance numbers, a style similar to 2001's Moulin Rouge! "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" was performed by Aguilera in the film, a musical number also performed by Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge!

Influences

One of Aguilera's major influences and idol is blues singer Etta James, whose classic song "At Last" has been covered by Aguilera throughout her career. Aguilera says, "Etta is my all-time favorite singer. I've said it for the last seven years — since I had my first debut record out — in every interview. I mean, all of Etta's old songs, countless songs I could name, I grew up listening to." The majority of her album, Back to Basics, pays tribute to James and other pop standard singers who many originated from the 1950s. In her early years she listened to vintage jazz, blues, and soul music. The album included an unreleased song, "Slow Down Baby", which sampled a Gladys Knight & the Pips song. A review in The Guardian declared, "Practically everything recorded before Aguilera was born blurs into one amorphous genre, which she categorises, somewhat inadequately, as "fun music". Aguilera has also named Madonna and Janet Jackson as two of her biggest influences "for being re-inventive and being brave as strong females, to explore whatever, even if they do get bad press. It's just like they were fearless." Her other musical influences include Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Nina Simone.

Aguilera cites the musical The Sound of Music and its lead actress, Julie Andrews as an early inspiration for singing and performing. She mentioned the "Golden age of Hollywood" as another inspiration in which she says, "I'm referencing Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Carole Lombard, Greta Garbo, Veronica Lake". In her music video for "Ain't No Other Man" she plays her alter ego, "Baby Jane" in reference to the film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?. The film's stars included actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The third single off Back to Basics, "Candyman" was inspired by the 1941 song, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by The Andrews Sisters which was played during World War II. She was also inspired by pin-up girls and several paintings by Alberto Vargas. Aguilera has expressed interest in cultural icons Nico, Blondie and artists Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. She has often worked with photographer and close friend, David LaChapelle who once worked with Warhol. Chapelle has shot many of Aguilera's music videos, magazine shoots and advertisements. She is also a fan of graffiti artist Banksy. In 2006 she purchased three of Banksy's works during a private art exhibition, one of them included a pornographic picture of Queen Victoria in a lesbian pose with a prostitute. She has mentioned in several interviews that she is a fan of actress Angelina Jolie, and her Burlesque co-star, Cher.

Other ventures

In 2000, Aguilera was the face for make-up line Fetish where she worked in choosing colors and packaging for the line. She ended her contract the following year. Throughout her career Aguilera has endorsed several brands, including Skechers, Mercedes-Benz, Verizon Wireless, and soft drink giants Coca-Cola in 2001, and Pepsi in 2006. She became the muse and model for fashion house Versace appearing in a campaign for the 2003 fall line. In 2004 Aguilera earned £200,000GBP (about $300,000USD) for opening the summer sale at London's Harrods store which took in record breaking profits during the four week period. In 2005 she was reportedly paid $3.6 million to sing a three song set for Russian billionare Andrey Melnichenko's wedding. Aguilera signed a contract with European cell phone operator Orange to promote the new Sony Ericsson Walkman phone during the 2006 World Cup.

In 2008 jewelry designer Stephen Webster and close friend of Aguilera released "Shattered", a collection of sterling silver pieces, through Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Aguilera, who inspired the collection, was featured as a Hitchcock heroine saying, "Working together on this campaign and collection has been an incredible experience. I am honored to be a part of it all." They reprised their work together for Webster's 2009 spring line.

Aguilera released two fragrances throughout Europe, the first one Xpose, was released in late 2004 and sold relatively well. Through Procter and Gamble Aguilera released her signature fragrance, Simply Christina in 2007. In Christmas 2007, the fragrance became the number one perfume in the UK, and later in 2009 it became the 4th best selling perfume in the UK, and Germany where it topped sales for the year. The perfume won as the people's choice for favorite celebrity fragrance at the annual UK Fifi Awards 2008. She released her third fragrance, Inspire, accompanied with a body care collection, on September 1, 2008. The perfume hit shelves in the US, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Northern and Eastern Europe. It is Aguilera's first fragrance released outside of Europe. Her worldwide ad campaign included a television ad shot by David LaChapelle and was released in the US through Macy's department stores. The release coincided with Macy's 150th anniversary which featured Aguilera in commemorative photos. She released her fourth fragrance By Night in October, which became the third best selling fragrance in the UK in 2009. During her 2007 tour she unknowingly wore a fur stole during the beginning of her tour, which designer Roberto Cavalli provided without informing Aguilera. After receiving a video from PETA Vice President Dan Mathews on the treatment of foxes, she replaced the stole with faux fur for the remainder of her tour. Aguilera was reportedly upset adding, "I only ever wear fake fur". In 2010 Aguilera auctioned off tickets for her upcoming tour for Christie's A Bid to Save the Earth. Proceeds benefit nonprofit environmental groups Conservation International, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council, and The Central Park Conservancy. Aguilera also supports Defenders of Wildlife, Missing Kids, National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations, Women's Cancer Research Fund, and Cedars-Sinai Women's Cancer Research Institute. She has also worked alongside nonprofit organization Do Something saying, "Every individual has the power to inspire young people across the country." In 2010 she was nominated for a VH1 Do Something Award for her work with the organization and her efforts in the response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. She was featured in the campaign for photographer, Brie Childers with the goal of helping women of all ages, races and lifestyles feel beautiful and confident about themselves and the body and skin they were born with. Proceeds from benefit several women's charities nationwide.

Aguilera is still a major contributor in her hometown of Pittsburgh contributing regularly to the Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. According to her official website, she toured the center and donated $200,000 to the shelter. She also has auctioned off front row seats and back stage passes for the Pittsburgh-based charity. She has continued her donations and visits to the shelter, and plans to open an additional one. She also supports the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Refuge UK.

Aguilera is a supporter of the LGBT community and is considered a gay icon by many. She was honored at the GLAAD Awards for using gay and transgender images in her music video for "Beautiful". When accepting the award Aguilera said, "My video captures the reality that gay and transgender people are beautiful, even though prejudice and discrimination against them still exists." In 2005 she appeared on a compilation album titled, Love Rocks, proceeds benefit the Human Rights Campaign, an organization dedicated to fighting for equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. In 2008 she publicly spoke out against California's Proposition 8 which eliminates same-sex marriage in California saying, "Why you would put so much money behind something [aimed at] stopping from people loving each other and bonding together? I just don't understand it. It's hard for me to grasp. But I would've been out there with my rally sign as well."

Aguilera contributes in the fight against AIDS, by participating in AIDS Project Los Angeles' Artists Against AIDS "What's Going On?" cover project. In 2004, Aguilera became the new face for cosmetic company M·A·C and spokesperson for M·A·C AIDS Fund. Aguilera appeared in advertisements of the M·A·C's Viva Glam V lipstick and lipgloss, and was featured on Vanity Fair in recognition of her campaign work. In addition, Aguilera contributed to YouthAIDS by posing for a joint YouthAIDS and Aldo Shoes campaign for "Empowerment Tags" in Canada, the U.S. and the UK. She was featured with one of three ubiquitous slogans, "Speak No Evil?" and stated, "HIV is something that people don’t want to talk about, hear about, or face." Singer Elton John featured Aguilera in his charity book titled "Four Inches" benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Elton also hand-picked Aguilera, for his annual "Fashion Rocks" charity concert which accompanies music and fashion to benefit the fight against AIDS/HIV.

.]] In the run-up to the 2004 United States presidential election, Aguilera was featured on billboards for the "Only You Can Silence Yourself" online voter registration drive run by the nonpartisan, non-profit campaign "Declare Yourself". In these political advertisements, shot by David LaChapelle, Aguilera was shown with her mouth sewn shut, to symbolize the effects of not voting. She appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss the importance of voting. In late 2007 Aguilera became the spokesperson for "Rock the Vote" where she urged young people to vote in the 2008 presidential election. In partnership with "Rock the Vote", she appeared in a public service announcement which aired in summer 2008. The advert showed Aguilera with her son, Max Bratman, wrapped in an American flag, while singing "America the Beautiful".

In November 2005, all of her wedding gifts were submitted to various charities around the nation in support of Hurricane Katrina victims. That year she also performed at "Unite of the Stars" concert in aid of Unite Against Hunger in Johannesburg, South Africa and at the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund at the Coca-Cola Dome. In March 2007 Aguilera took part in a charity album (remaking Lennon's "Mother"), proceeds benefit Amnesty International's efforts to end genocide in Darfur. The album titled, , was released June 12, 2007 and featured various artists. In 2008 she headlined London's Africa Rising charity concert at Royal Albert Hall which raises awareness for finding substantial issues facing the continent. Later that year she appeared on the Turkish version of Deal or No Deal "Var mısın? Yok musun?" , where she won $180,000. Proceeds were donated to a charity program for orphans.

In 2009 Aguilera became the global spokesperson for World Hunger Relief appearing in advertisements, online campaigns and a public service announcement. Aguilera and her husband traveled to Guatemala with the World Food Programme to bring awareness to issues such as the high malnutrition rate in that country. She met with families of the villages and some of the beneficiaries of WFP's nutrition programs. Aguilera adds, "The people of WFP do such a great job helping hungry children and mothers. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be part of such a wonderful project." Since becoming a global spokeswoman Aguilera has helped raise over $22 million which helped provide over 90 million meals. She was honored at Variety's annual "Power of Women" luncheon in late 2009 alongside other women in entertainment for her contribution to philanthropic and charitable causes. In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Aguilera donated a signed Chrysler 300 which was auctioned for relief efforts. She was one of the many artists who appeared on the telethon on January 22, 2010, donations directly benefited Oxfam America, Partners In Health, Red Cross and UNICEF. She later appeared on a second public service announcement alongside sports icon Muhammad Ali to raise funds for the World Food Programme's efforts to bring food to survivors of the earthquake. Later that year Aguilera made her first visit to Haiti as an ambassador against hunger where she visited two schools in the town of Léogâne. During her time there she assisted in the ongoing efforts to help the badly damaged town where she served meals and highlighted reconstruction efforts in the country.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+Films ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 2004 || Shark Tale || Herself || Voice role |- | 2008 || Shine a Light || Herself || Cameo appearance |- | 2010 || Get Him to the Greek || Herself || Cameo appearance |- | 2010 || Burlesque || Ali Rose || Nominated — Golden Globe for Best Original Song |- |}

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+Television ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1993–1995 || The Mickey Mouse Club || Herself || 3 episodes |- | 1999 || Beverly Hills, 90210 || Herself || "Let's Eat Cake" |- | 2000–2006 || Saturday Night Live || Herself || Host, musical guest, 4 episodes |- | 2009 || Project Runway || Herself || Guest Judge, "Sequins, Feathers and Fur, Oh My!" |- | 2010 || Entourage || Herself || "Lose Yourself" |}

Discography

Christina Aguilera (1999)

Mi Reflejo (2000)

My Kind of Christmas (2000)

Stripped (2002)

Back to Basics (2006)

Bionic (2010)

See also

List of Christina Aguilera tours

List of best-selling music artists

List of awards and nominations received by Christina Aguilera

Honorific nicknames in popular music

References

External links

ChristinaAguilera.com — Christina Aguilera official website

Category:1980 births Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American child singers Category:American dance musicians Category:American female singers Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American music video directors Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:American people of Ecuadorian descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American pop singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:BRIT Award winners Category:English-language singers Category:Feminist artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hispanic and Latino American people Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:Living people Category:Military brats Category:Mouseketeers Category:Musicians from New York City Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:People from Staten Island Category:RCA Records artists Category:Sony BMG artists Category:Spanish-language singers Category:World Music Awards winners