It also defined her transition from teen queen to adult celebrity – a manoeuvre that rarely goes smoothly in the spotlight.Ĭhristina Aguilera: promoting Dirrty in New York in 2002.
At the very least, it differentiated her from Spears, her rival since their days as Disney Mouseketeers. We’re speaking exactly 20 years since her first solo album, and ahead of the second leg of her European tour, which suggests the move didn’t go too badly. I was proud of the fact that I've fought my way through this industry." That was me stepping up and saying I was a woman that's proud of my sexuality. So I came out with Dirrty, and that was my f**k-it moment. I really wanted to be honest and truthful. "And I wasn't about to play that game, I wasn't that girl. When we came out, there was an essence of innocence that you had to sort of portray blindly," Aguilera says, speaking from her home in LA. "It was that pop-star time of N'Sync, the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and me. I was proud of the fact that I've fought my way through this industry Directed by the revered David LaChapelle and taking place in a low-lit boxing club with risqué clothing and choreography, the deviant vibe came out of the blue, especially as it was the follow up to – if we’re amongst friends here – a cringey Christmas album.ĭirrty was me stepping up and saying I was a woman that's proud of my sexuality. It was that time around 2002, when, aged 21, she broke free of her management, strapped on the chaps, and unleashed Dirrty: the tune that showed us in no uncertain terms that her vanilla days were over. Her own f**k-it moment is unlikely to have passed us by. A life well lived should have what Christina Aguilera describes as a "f**k it moment" – that glorious decision of silencing the head and giving in to the heart, regardless of the consequences.