Photo Credit: Christina Aguilera’s YouTube / Spotify
Christina Aguilera is celebrating 25 years since her debut album with a revamped reimagining featuring Sabrina Carpenter and MGK.
Christina Aguilera released her breakthrough debut album 25 years ago, and to celebrate, she’s dropped a special reimagining for her fans. On Monday, September 23, the pop star released a project on her YouTube channel, teaming up with Spotify for the platform’s Spotify Anniversaries series. In the 26-minute special, Aguilera welcomes guests including Machine Gun Kelly and Sabrina Carpenter.
The video features MGK for a “Genie in a Bottle” guitar solo, as well as Aguilera’s reunion with producer Ron Fair and songwriter Heather Holly from the original album. Holly also joins Aguilera for a performance of “Obvious,” which the two penned together. The special ends with pop newcomer and “Espresso” singer Sabrina Carpenter for a duet of “What a Girl Wants.”
Carpenter tells Aguilera that she was a huge inspiration to her as a child. She explains that her mother showed her a video of Aguilera singing as a young child when she appeared on Star Search in 1990. The show was hosted by Ed McMahon and was a stepping stone for many future stars including ALanis Morisette, Ray Romano, Martin Lawrence, LeAnn Rimes, Dennis Miller, and Sinbad.
“That was just the most inspiring thing to me ever as a young girl who wanted to sing but didn’t know I could do it at that age at all.” She continues, “You were a child! I was like, ‘How is that [voice] coming out of that body?’ It was the main reason I started singing and wanted to become a singer.”
Christina Aguilera’s self-titled debut album was released on August 24, 1999, reaching #1 on the Billboard 200 with three chart-topping hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — “Genie in a Bottle,” “What a Girl Wants,” and “Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You).”