“For us, this is the launch of a signature artist,” mused RCA Records' then-VP of marketing Nick Cucci on July 24, 1999. Advertising sign issue by Christina Aguilera, whose self-titled debut album arrived a month later. “She's not a teenage artist who burns out quickly. We plan on her being around for a long time. We are pursuing performance opportunities to showcase her as an artist of extraordinary depth.”
The following week, Aguilera, then 18, was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the LP's lead single, “Genie in a Bottle.” Starting with the chart dated July 31, it reigned for five weeks.
Aguilera's debut album subsequently debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 253,000 copies sold in the United States in its first week, according to Luminate.
Per Advertising signLarry Flick's story, written by Larry Flick, in the July 24, 1999 issue, RCA had presented Aguilera in June in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Las Vegas, and Minneapolis, as she performed the album with piano backing only. “It was a very effective way to introduce her,” said George Harrison, then assistant music director at KSNE Las Vegas. “She has the voice of a young Whitney Houston. By the middle of the first song, it was clear she was going to be a big, big star.”
With “Genie in a Bottle”, Aguilera released the first of five Hot 100 No. 1 and 11 Top 10. Her introductory set also yielded the chart-topping “What a Girl Wants” and “Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You).”
On the Billboard 200, Aguilera boasts two No. 1s among seven top 10s, through the top No. 6 Liberation in 2018. Her chart history also includes her second LP, the Spanish-language Mi Reflejowhich ruled the Top Latin Albums for 19 weeks in 2000-01.
Aguilera's discovery sparked her Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2000. Among others, she triumphed in the category over Britney Spears, with whom she starred in The brand new Mickey Mouse Club in the early 90s (and whose debut album, …Baby one more time, had reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in January 1999). Aguilera's experience on the show also led to the recording of “Reflections,” the theme to Disney's hit 1998 film Mulan.
“It was a great way to grow up,” Aguilera said Advertising sign in 1999 for being Mousekeeper. “I have the most incredible education, both in terms of who I wanted to be as an artist and how the business works. It gave me the focus I needed to make this album.”
Until today, Aguilera, who served as a coach at NBC The voice in 2011-16, she has sold 17.6 million albums in the U.S. Her songs have attracted 28.5 billion radio audiences and 3.1 billion official on-demand streams. Her upcoming tour dates include shows in Las Vegas and Japan, with the eight-month-old Christina Aguilera in Voltaire residency at The Venetian in Las Vegas running through August 31.
About “Genie in a Bottle” – which was written by David Frank, Steve Kipner and Pamela Sheyne – Aguilera said Advertising sign in 1999, “At first, I was a little afraid that some people might not quite get where I'm coming from,” referring to the song's “occasionally seductive lyrical tone,” per Flick. (“Powered by a tight groove and richly layered vocals, the tune is punctuated by an imperative 'rub me the right way,'” he wrote.)
“The song is not about sex,” Aguilera said. “It's a matter of self-respect. It's about not giving in to temptation until you're respected. It's time for something different. It's time the music makes[s] Children feel confident and safe.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/christina-aguilera-genie-in-a-bottle-chart-rewind-1999-1235743585/
