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Christina María Aguilera is proud of her Hispanic roots. Her father Fausto was born in Ecuador, and Aguilera grew up speaking the language.
She released her first Spanish record, Mi Reflejo, in 2000. It topped the Billboard Top Latin Albums for 19 consecutive weeks.
2021 saw the “voice of a generation” artist return to the language she first started singing in as a child – and her LA Pride 2022 performance has thrust her back into the spotlight. So, here are some of the finest examples of Aguilera flaunting her linguistic chops.
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Christina Aguilera released her first Spanish-language album in 2000
It was her second studio album, preceded only by her eponymous debut.
Following its runaway success – it hit number one on both Billboard’s Top Latin Albums and Latin Pop Albums charts – Aguilera described the experience of engaging with “different markets” and a “diverse fan base” as “beautiful”.
“My message,” she told Billboard in 2020, “as in all my music, stands for being fearless to explore who you are. It’s never too late to open a new door.”
“Although it’s scary to dive into territory that isn’t your first language,” she continued, “it still doesn’t erase who I am and how I want to express myself in all aspects of what intrigues and inspires me.”
Spanish may not have been Christina Aguilera’s first language, but she’s proud of her Latina roots, and was thankful for the opportunity “explore who I am now as a grown woman who doesn’t have to cover my own English material in Spanish”.
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Aguilera is her second Spanish-language album and came 22 years later
Split into three parts – La Fuerza (which came out in January 2022), La Tormenta (30 May) and La Luz (yet to be released) – Aguilera is Christina’s ninth studio album.
But it is only her second Spanish-language project.
She told Andy Cohen in 2019 that a follow-up to Mi Reflejo – i.e., another Spanish-language album – “has been on my to-do list forever”.
She dedicated Aguilera to her Ecuadorian heritage.
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The album represented a ‘reconnection’ to her Latina roots
During a 2021 interview with Health, she said: “I am re-inspired and have reconnected with myself. I’ve fallen in love with music all over again.”
Christina’s mother, despite being of German, Irish, Welsh and Dutch ancestry, was fluent in Spanish when Aguilera was growing up.
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“That’s how she met and connected with my dad, who’s from Ecuador”, the artist told Billboard earlier this year. “I heard the language so much. I always say, when it’s in you, it never leaves you.”
“I’ve always had it in me. I never stopped singing in Spanish.”
Aguilera performed at LA Pride 2022, alongside Paris Hilton and Kim Petras.
