The Stunning Transformation Of Christina Aguilera

It's been more than two decades since Christina Aguilera first burst onto the pop music scene as the petite blonde with the big voice. During that time, Aguilera has released nine albums, won five Grammys, sold over 50 million albums, starred opposite music legend Cher in 2010's "Burlesque," spent six seasons as a judge on NBC's "The Voice," and landed a Las Vegas residency (via People).

And that's without mentioning her five-year marriage to a music producer, finding love again on a movie set, and becoming a mom of two (per Paper Magazine). Throughout it all, Aguilera has managed to reinvent herself over and over again, staying true to her inner artist and her roots.

From a difficult childhood to appearing on "Star Search" and "The All New Mickey Mouse Club" (via IMDb) as a kid — alongside fellow future pop superstars Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake — to navigating her way in the competitive pop music scene, facing very public personal struggles after her 2011 divorce, and becoming the confident woman she is today, this is the stunning transformation of Christina Aguilera.

It wasn't long before Christina Aguilera wasn't just dreaming about singing like Julie Andrews — she was actually doing it. At 9, Aguilera competed on "Star Search" — and lost. In an interview with W Magazine, she reminisced, saying, "Do we even remember who I lost to? At that age, I always sang songs meant for older people. That fit my personality — I had pain to sing about."

It's a good thing Aguilera kept going despite that initial setback, since just being on a TV talent show is a major accomplishment. Just three years later, in 1993, a then-12-year-old Aguilera landed a sweet gig on the Disney Channel's "The All New Mickey Mouse Club" after making a lasting impression at an open call audition. She appeared on the show alongside fellow future pop superstars Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake and future A-list actor Ryan Gosling. Aguilera's co-star, Nikki DeLoach, recalled to E! News how watching young Aguilera sing was "almost like witnessing something divine."

According to Aguilera, the Disney Channel set was like a "safe haven" for her, since she experienced bullying in school and later changed elementary schools. "Going to a public school in a small town and not being around kids who did what I did made me feel like an outsider," she recalled to Rolling Stone. "The jealou[sy] got really bad. People just felt threatened."

Christina Aguilera always had an edge to her, and her self-titled debut album didn't reflect that — or who she was at all. In her opinion, the album and her cutesy look of "midriff-bearing tops" and flared jeans were, as she told Paper Magazine, "what an older label head male's perspective was," and she found herself "creatively unhappy at that time."

Apparently, the label planned to show Aguilera's musical progression over time "by virtue of the singles we put out," Jack Rovner, RCA Records executive vice president and general manager at the time of the 1999 Rolling Stone interview, explained. "You need an introduction and to be embraced by a fervent fan base, so we went with the more youth-oriented song, but ultimately we'll be getting to the big ballads," he said. Echoed Ron Fair, the record executive who signed her: "She is a badass genius of singing. She was put on this earth to sing."

And she was able to do that with her next hit, a collaboration with a few of the top artists of the early 2000s pop and hip hop scene.

In 2002, Christina Aguilera didn't just reinvent her image with the release of the edgy album "Stripped" — she also met the man she would go on to marry: Jordan Bratman, a music executive who worked for her management company.

In November 2005, she married Bratman in a stunning ceremony at a vineyard in Napa Valley, California (per People). Then, on January 12, 2008, Aguilera gave birth to the couple's first child, Max Liron, revealed exclusively by People, which also shared a heartfelt message she posted to her website that day: "Today is a very joyful and special day for Jordan and I as we welcome our first son into this world." The family of three called their Beverly Hills, California, mansion home, according to a 2011 W Magazine article, which claimed that "marriage had seemed to calm Aguilera down" — this could also be seen with the release of her next album (more on that in a bit).

Aguilera has been quoted multiple times over the years regarding motherhood. "We love to just get to lay in bed, cozy under the blankets and watch classic Disney movies," she described via Bustle. "There are two sides to me, which I like to keep very separate. There is a performing Christina, and then there [is] me as a mom."

Christina Aguilera and music exec Jordan Bratman tied the knot in November 2005, but, only five years later, her first marriage was over. A week after their separation went public, Aguilera spoke with Redbook. "It's not easy, and there have been a lot of tears and sadness. It's impossible to redefine yourself and your life overnight," she said, describing how grateful she felt for her support system — which included her mom and close friends — to help get her through it. "On days when it feels impossible to even get out of bed, much less function as a mother, their support and encouragement have kept me moving forward."

Aguilera was only 24 when she married and was, apparently, still growing into the person she would become. The star told People that, while filming 2010's "Burlesque," she "had an independence I'd never felt before. I was growing leaps and bounds daily. I went from being a girl to a woman." She said, in the end, she realized that the two "just weren't right for each other."

Then there was also the infidelity — on both sides. The singer admitted to W Magazine that both she and her ex-husband were "not angels," adding, "It got to a point where our life at home was reminding me of my own childhood ... I knew there would be a negative reaction in the press to my divorce, but ... I have to be myself."

Unfortunately, for Christina Aguilera, the year of 2011 would bring more negative press, both regarding her music and her personal life. Not only did she finalize her divorce from ex-husband Jordan Bratman (via HuffPost), but her 2010 album release, "Bionic," didn't fare any better than her previous album from 2006, "Back to Basics" — in fact, its critical and fan receptions were worse.

According to W Magazine, the album "ventured into new territory," noting that "its techno-fueled sound didn't utilize Aguilera's greatest strength," her powerful voice. The magazine cited Jon Pareles' New York Times review, which referred to the album as "one-dimensional," and even noted alleged rumors that her record label had wanted to cut ties with her at the time.

As Aguilera adjusted to life co-parenting with her ex-husband, she had her new beau, Matthew Rutler, to lean on. However, the media wasn't sure what to make of his presence, as he seemed to almost bring Aguilera bad luck. You might recall her messing up the lines when performing the national anthem at the Super Bowl that year (per Us Weekly). Then there was her March 2011 arrest for "public intoxication" (via The Guardian), which left many shaking their heads that Aguilera was even charged at all — Rutler, the driver of the car, was charged with a DUI — but Aguilera was in the passenger seat (per The Hollywood Reporter).

After wrapping up her Vegas residency in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Christina Aguilera had plenty of time at home to reflect. In 2021, she opened up to Health about all the reflecting she did while quarantined at home. "You figure out that life is too short to waste time thinking about what other people think about you," she said. The interviewer was surprised that Aguilera felt this way, especially since she always exuded such confidence in her song lyrics, to which the singer responded, "Yes, I've always been grounded in knowing myself. But even in owning your truth and power, there are moments of weakness."

Aguilera also admitted to Health that she loves her curves and that she "hated being super skinny" in her younger years. "I have a hard time looking at the early pictures of myself because I remember feeling so insecure," she said. "As you age, you stop comparing yourself to other people and start appreciating your own body."

Though Aguilera continues to experiment and reinvent herself, she now knows who she is. "Accepting yourself is what beauty is really about," she said in the interview, adding, "Being able to feel really good about who's staring back at you in the mirror, because you're owning all of it."

After wrapping up her Las Vegas residency in spring 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Christina Aguilera has enjoyed the slower pace and ability to work on other projects, like starring in a campaign for Nintendo along with her son, Max, and daughter, Summer, in a gig she described to Harper's Bazaar as "fun for the whole family" and "clearly not work."

She explained to the mag that the job "spoke authentically to what we do together," since Aguilera does, in fact, enjoy gaming in her spare time, as it "eases [her] mind," helps her "decompress," and "challenge[s]" her.

We all need some sort of creative or therapeutic outlet we enjoy to recharge, right? "I wear many different hats as a mom, as an entertainer, as a performer, and it can be overwhelming sometimes," she told Harper's Bazaar. "It's been very therapeutic to give myself that mental break." We'd say she deserves it.