This summer will mark 25 years since Christina Aguilera’s first single and debut album arrived to transform the pop paradigm. Since then, she’s gone retro and futuristic; been both a Disney darling and a champion of chaps. Now 43, Aguilera – who admits when we speak that she’s been a workhorse since childhood – has built a legacy on a voice and reinvention cycle that consistently pushes boundaries. And this year marks a triumphant new era for her: she’s making progress on her next album as she zips back and forth between LA and her new residency in Las Vegas. (After a short break, her show continues in early February.)
Despite battling the flu, Aguilera is warm and energised when we speak, still on a high from her opening weekend at the Venetian’s new Voltaire theatre. The cabaret-style venue affords fans an intimate experience with the artist, and the show is a celebration of her impressive body of work – the classics (“Fighter”, “Genie in a Bottle”, “Beautiful”) and the cult-favourites (“Not Myself Tonight”, “Lady Marmalade”).
“The biggest challenge working with Christina is that she has done everything,” her stylist, Chris Horan, tells me of collaborating on looks for her new show. “So the question was, how do we do something that feels new?” Avoiding anything “too showgirl”, the two worked together on custom pieces by Thierry Mugler, Yogie Pratama, and Asher Levine. The result: she looked as spectacular as she sounded. “When you’re in that room, you could just feel that she knows that she is killing it,” Horan says.
Vogue caught up with the star to chat about her new chapter.
Photo: Denise Truscello/Getty Images
Congratulations on your new residency! I got to see the show, and it was incredible.
We had such an amazing opening week, and it just couldn’t have gone better. I was so proud of my band and my dancers. Everyone kind of gave up their holiday to put on the show by New Year’s. I was so appreciative of everyone’s time on it and dedication to the project. It’s a more intimate, immersive show where I get to do these songs up close and personal, which I never really get to do. This is a different opportunity for me to build this creative, storytelling show and do songs I don’t normally do. It’s been fun.
This year will mark 25 years since your debut album, Christina Aguilera, came out. How does it feel to be where you’re at right now, looking back at the scope of your career?
It’s a beautiful thing. I’ve always had so much respect and admiration for artists that have different chapters that represent stages of their life, and the growth that they have with their audiences and their fans. I couldn’t be more grateful to have that kind of career for myself, and to keep doing it and pushing and challenging myself in new ways. It’s a blessing. I am truly lucky to do something that I love and that I feel I am born to do, and it’s really great when you can look back at a body of work that you’re proud of.
You rang in the new year on stage during the second night of your show. Is there a word that represents 2024 for you?
So, after my show on New Year’s Eve, will.i.am comes backstage and my daughter’s there [Summer Rain, 9]. She’s so enraptured by the world behind the scenes and the production of everything, and she loves the band and the background singers. She wants to take drum lessons – she is about it. She gives me so much love and support. Before I go on stage, she knows I get nervous, and she’s like, “You’re going to do great, mama.” My manager will be like, “She’s coming for my job!” And on the way to school the other day with her dad, she said, “When I grow up, I want to either be mama’s photographer or mama’s manager.” It’s so funny. So we told will.i.am that, and he was like, “Oh my God, she’s your daught-ager.” So daught-ager is the word of the year. It’s just so cute. I’ve never felt so loved by probably anyone in my life as I do my little angel face. She’s just so supportive, such a light.
I love that term, daught-ager.
That’s 100 per cent what she is. If I’m running late for something or have an appointment, she’s like, “You know they’re waiting, mama. We need to go.” It’s hilarious. I was working with someone who predicted her birth to me, a very intuitive person, and she said, “You’re going to have a daughter, and she’s going to be your protector. She’s going to be on this earth to watch over you and protect and support you.” And I’m like, oh, really? And literally she’s embodying that, and it’s just the most beautiful… I could cry thinking about it. I don’t want to cry today! [Laughs.] She marches to the beat of her own drum, and she’s just a little firecracker.
Photos: left, Denise Truscello/Getty; right, courtesy of Mugler
Photos: left, Denise Truscello/Getty; right, courtesy of Asher Levine
What was the creative process of designing this show like? Did it teach you anything new about yourself?
I feel like this is a chapter in my life where I’m more in tune and focused on exactly what I want to do. I’ve always been a very open artist as far as wanting to create things I haven’t tapped into yet, discovering more about myself, and the next area of growth I want to pursue. My mom actually got diagnosed with lupus early on, and thank God I have the means to be able to support her. But I want to make sure that I do everything to stay activated in my mind and my body, and creatively as an artist. I think it’s easy for people to get complacent or comfortable.