Christina Aguilera-Stripped era

"Christina Aguilera-Stripped era"

In September 2001, Christina Aguilera began recording the album of new material that has the title of stripped. On October 29, 2002, after much delay, her 2nd full-length English album, Stripped, was released, selling more than 330,000 copies in the 1st week and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200. Unlike previous work, Stripped album showcased her raunchier side. The majority of Stripped was co-written by her (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 Stripped 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, Stripped album was very well-received by critics, although Christina Aguilera's vocals were overlooked as Christina Aguilera began to cultivate a more s*xually provocative image. After the release of the album, Christina Aguilera took part in photoshoots for magazines, many of these photographs featured her nade or semi-nade. Christina Aguilera cover for Rolling Stone, featured the singer only wearing boots and a well-placed electric guitar. It was during this time she referred to herself as "Xtina", even getting a tattoo of Christina Aguilera's nickname on the back of her neck and several piercings.

Initially, the raunchy image had a negative effect on Christina Aguilera in the U.S., especially after the release of her controversial "Dirrty" music video. Christina Aguilera denied that this change was a matter of publicity, claiming that the image better reflected her true personality than did the image she cultivated back in 1999. While the video for "Dirrty" became very popular on MTV, it disappointed on the U.S. singles chart. However, the single was a hit worldwide, reaching #1 in the UK and Ireland. The 2nd single, "Beautiful" received critical praise. The classically influenced ballad reached #1 in several countries and peaked at number two in the US. "Beautiful" earned Aguilera the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. 3 more singles ("Fighter", "Can't Hold Us Down" featuring Lil' Kim, "The Voice Within") were released in the following two years and were hits that helped the album stay on the charts for the next two years. Stripped stayed on the U.S. and UK album charts well into 2004, and went on to be certified four-times platinum in the U.S. with over twelve million copies sold worldwide. It appeared at number ten on Billboard's year-end album chart. Kelly Clarkson's 2nd single "Miss Independent" was co-written by her, having been half-finished for Stripped.

She 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, Christina Aguilera continued to tour internationally without Timberlake, and changed the name of the tour to the "Stripped World Tour". Christina Aguilera 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. She was a special guest performer with the Pussycat Dolls' dance troupe and appeared on a Maxim spread alongside them. Christina Aguilera's 2nd Maxim cover that year set record sales for the issue, 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." After much delay, her 1st DVD live-recording from a concert tour, Stripped Live in the UK, 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 Christina Aguilera suffered shortly before the tour's opening date. In a tribute to Madonna's performance at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards, she 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.
Source: wikipedia

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