#4 - 10 White Singers We Once Thought Were Black

Christina Aguilera

LOVE her. Maybe songs like “Genie in a Bottle” didn’t have you thinking her melanin count was up, but for years, I’ve heard older people who’ve heard her sing say they thought she was a black woman. To many, she has the compelling voice of a modern day soul singer who just happens to not “look” like one. Stepping out from the teeny-bopper pack with their rail thin voices, Aguilera’s pipes have acquired her a lot of love and recognition. She was ranked number 58 on the 100 Best Singer’s of All Time list by Rolling Stone,  making her the youngest singer on the list.

 

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",^[5] 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)."^[6] Her sophomore and her debut Latin-pop album, Mi Reflejo (2000), a Christmas third studio album, My Kind of Christmas (2000), and several collaborations followed which garnered Aguilera worldwide success, though she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image.^[7] After parting from her management, Aguilera took creative control over her fourth studio album, Stripped (2002).^[8] The album's second single, "Beautiful," was a commercial success and helped the album's commercial performance amidst controversy over Aguilera's image.^[9][10][11] Aguilera followed up Stripped with the soul, jazz and blues inspired, Back to Basics (2006), released to positive critical acclaim.^[12] The album had three commercially successful singles: "Ain't No Other Man", "Hurt" and "Candyman".^{[citation needed]} Four years later Aguilera released her sixth studio album, Bionic (2010), which incorporated aspects of R&B, electropop, and synthpop and was met with mixed reviews and low sales