Christina Aguilera Speaks Out About Father's Alleged Abuse In Explosive New Interview

Pop queen Christina Aguilera was born in Staten Island, NYC, during the winter of 1980, but she didn’t stay there for long.

Growing up, the "Lady Marmalade" artist bounced around from Texas to New Jersey, even spending time in Japan.

In a new interview celebrating the 25th anniversary of her hit "Genie in a Bottle," Christina Aguilera dropped the bombshell that her father was allegedly abusive and explained how she coped with her traumatic childhood.

Her father was an Army man, but Aguilera alleged he was also abusive. To escape, she said she would sing songs from "The Sound of Music" while gazing out the window, imagining a better life for herself and her mom.

“I don’t know if I would be the singer or performer I am, or have the success I do, had I not been through my childhood,” Aguilera told Glamour. “It gave me a real purpose of, I’m going to fight my way through these feelings. I’m going to fight my way past someone that has wronged me.”

This isn't the first time the pop star has opened up about her childhood. On the "Call Her Daddy" podcast in 2023, the artist revealed, "I grew up in a chaotic upbringing as a very young child, always feeling like a protector and all that, and always felt isolated in my situation."

She recalled the "fear" she began to feel at home. "You have to listen to your body, and fear is something that you innately feel, so right then and there something doesn't feel good, and it's not right," she explained on the podcast. "Trauma never leaves you. You just figure out ways to try and heal it, and to me, it's therapeutic to speak about it."

Aguilera also recalled seeing her mom "go through so much" and said it "instilled a level of purpose" within her. "I always want to try and empower other people and people in situations where they feel voiceless and unheard. I just have such a deep-rooted need to try and use my voice," she said.

"It takes a lot for a woman to leave those situations as well, and my heart goes out because some of them don't leave them, and that could vary in a lot of ways," Aguilera continued. "Sometimes it's financial, sometimes it's fear of authorities not helping, and then it getting worse. Sometimes it feels like there's no way out."

But singing became a "release" and "form of expression" for her as a kid.

That fighting spirit drove nine-year-old Aguilera to compete on the hit talent show "Star Search" and later scored a spot on "The Mickey Mouse Club," performing alongside stars Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Ryan Gosling.

By the time she turned 15, she was in New York City with a single mission: to land a record deal.

"Genie in a Bottle" changed Aguilera's life forever.

Many 90s babies remember how the track took over the charts in the summer of '99 as it topped charts worldwide, went double platinum, and scored Aguilera her first Grammy nomination.

By 2000, Aguilera was on fire—opening for R&B girl group TLC, planning her first headlining show, and recording both a Spanish album and a Christmas album.

“It’s easy to say that Christina’s legacy is her vocals, but for me it’s been more than that,” Demi Lovato, who collaborated with Aguilera on the 2018 track "Fall in Line" from her "Liberation" album, told Glamour. “She’s taught me to never dim my light and to always be myself, whether that’s with my sexuality or my confidence. Her legacy is teaching people to stay true to who they are.”

The popular podcast "Pop Pantheon" recently focused an episode on Aguilera’s influence, and its creator and host, DJ Louie XIV, revealed that people in his life still talk about how profoundly they were impacted by her album, "Stripped."

The fact that the "Beautiful" video showed same-sex relationships and Christina’s own presentation was going against certain beauty standards of that period had a large impact on endearing people to her long-term,” he said, per Glamour. “She realized there were people feeling othered by how ‘prom king and queen’ pop had become at that moment.” ​​​​