25 years on, Christina Aguilera is “grateful” for teen pop stardom, but says, “Creatively, it was one-dimensional”25 years on, Christina Aguilera is “grateful” for teen pop stardom, but says, “Creatively, it was one-dimensional”

Christine Hahn

It’s been 25 years since Christina Aguilera released her teen pop classic “Genie in a Bottle,” and she tells the new issue of Glamour magazine about her feelings about her life back then.

“I didn’t love the bubblegum thing, where you had to play a virgin but not act like one,” she says. “When I was performing ‘Genie’ and ‘What a Girl Wants’ and ‘Come on Over,’ I got bored easily. Creatively, it was one-dimensional.” She notes, “Literally every second [of my life] was accounted for in a schedule. You can’t just live your life for work where it’s unenjoyable. You get burnt out.” 

But the worst part was the incessant scrutiny of her appearance. “When you’re a teenager, you have a very different body than when you’re in your 20s,” she says. “I started to fill out, and then that was unacceptable because it was like, ‘Oh, she’s getting thicker.’ Then I had industry people [saying] ‘They liked your body and how you were as a skinny teenager.’”

Despite all that, Christina tells Glamour, “I think the biggest word that sums up that first record for me is grateful. Being thankful because it got my foot in the door. After 25 years I’m so proud of it.”

Christina also tells Glamour that after three Spanish-language projects, she has a new English-language album  on the way, though there’s no release date yet. “I’ve been accumulating [songs],” she says, not sharing details. “I’m actually dying to get it out. I just haven’t fully had time.” 

However, don’t hold your breath waiting for a tour. The mother-of-two says right now she prefers the stability of her Las Vegas residency, but adds, “I don’t want to say that out loud because my fans would be very sad.”

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