Often imitated but never duplicated, Christina Aguilera has evolved to become one of pop music's most influential voices. Over the course of two decades, she has remained consistent and relevant as a staple of pop culture, going as far as to branch off from music and into a judging chair for The Voice. She's become an inspiration to both fans, songstresses in her field, and entertainers alike.
Aguilera's image in the public eye has inspired many, but how many of her employees has she inspired behind closed doors? What do those who worked for her have to say about the Grammy winner? The answer fluctuates with different employees and may surprise you.
10 Always Concerned For Her Employees
Priscilla Valle has been hired to work on Christina Aguilera's hair ever since they were both 18-19 years old, but their relationship does not just start and end when the Liberation singer getting her hair done. She actually genuinely cares for her employee.
Retelling a story from early into their relationship, Valle recounted to Refinery29, "I was going through a bad breakup. I'd go in, do her hair, and leave, but this time she asked me if I was okay. The next day, she sent me a beautiful floral arrangement with the sweetest card. From that point on, I continued to work with her."
9 Loves Soft Spoken Employees
In that same afformentioned Refinery29 interview, Valle spoke on the very beginnings of her relationship with Aguilera when it came to when they first met two decades ago. While Valle was just starstruck at meeting one of the world's biggest pop stars, she was just as much in awe of the fact that Aguilera told Valle's boss that she liked how soft-spoken the hairstylist was.
If this info is anything to go off of, we should be able to assume that Aguilera loves working around soft-spoken people.
8 By Becoming Her Employee, You Become Her Friend
One thing that Valle reiterated constantly in her Refinery29 interview is how easy it is to befriend Christina Aguilera upon working with her. She does not just see her employees as employees, but as friends and the working relationships she creates becomes life long friendships.
Valle realized that her relationship with Aguilera was "the strongest friendship [she's] ever had" during the last leg of her Xperience tour when Aguilera would rather celebrate the fact that Valle had opened a new salon over just celebrating making it to the last show of the tour.
7 She's Collaborative
David Babaii serves as Christina Aguilera's regular hairstylist for when she is on the set of The Voice. In reflecting on the experience, Babaii told the Real Style Network that the two have extensive conversations about her looks on TV and while she does chime, she is just as open to any new ideas that her stylist has in mind for her.
"Christina and I have lots of conversations ahead of time to plan out her looks," Babaii said in his own words. "I listen to what she has in mind plus I share my thoughts. Together we come up with looks that best suit wardrobe, make up, and if she will be performing."
6 Must Be Much, Much Bigger Than Her
Usually, when celebrities hire security guards, they tend to look at skill set over the guards' actual size. Just look at Kanye West's former bodyguard, for example. Not the biggest guy in the room, but he has - to quote Liam Neeson in Taken - a particular set of skills to protect his client.
Christina Aguilera, however, prefers size, as it is clear that the main requirement to be her bodyguard is that her guard must be wider and taller than her and everyone else in the room.
5 Open To Learning New Things
This trails back to what Babaii said earlier about Aguilera being open to trying new looks and hearing suggestions, but Aguilera's openness does not stop with her music career. It can be reiterated whenever she tries something outside of her field, including movies.
"She has such an amazing work ethic that, if she was on set and there to work, whatever scene it was, she was fully there," Cam Gigandet spoke to Collider about filming Burlesque with Aguilera. "She was open to learn. There was no ego surrounding her, as a music artist when she came on the set to be an actress."
4 She Earns Respect Fast
Staying on Burlesque for a second, upon the release of the film, one person who worked for and with Christina Aguilera during the production is Cher, who co-starred in the film and collaborated with Aguilera on the soundtrack.
When talking about what the experience was like working with the Liberation singer, Cher admitted in a tweet that she did not so much as even meet or know Aguilera prior to the film taking shape, it didn't take long for Aguilera to earn Cher's "respect and a great deal of [Cher's] love."
3 She Amplifies Voices
No pun intended for the Voice judge, but this is entirely in regards to what Ron Fair told Bravo in 2016. For those unaware, Ron Fair is a record producer who also pulled double duty as a mentor to Christina Aguilera, being the first person she ever signed to.
In reflecting on how he used to work for Aguilera, Fair basically compared Aguilera to his Elvis "because "I finally had a voice and an artist that was so magnificent so people could say, 'Oh, that’s what he does' ... She’s the greatest of all time in my book and always will be. She’s really the one who defines who I am."
2 She Knows Where To Find Hits
Christina Aguilera has given us a lot of classic songs from her discography, but she has not written all of those songs. Sometimes, she hires someone else to write hit records for her. During the hiring process, she typically looks towards her peers in the music industry. One of those peers is Candice Pilley.
Pillay has written a few songs for different musicians. She wrote a song for Rihanna - which Pillay originally wrote for herself - called "Cockiness," which especially became popular. So much so that Pillay, as she explained to HipHopDX, compelled Aguilera to call her up saying, "I want a 'Cockiness.'" So Pillay wrote eight songs for Aguilera's Lotus album.
1 Working For Her Can Be Intense
Another artist who Christina Aguilera hired to write for her was Alison Goldfrapp of the Goldfrapp's. She worked on Aguilera's Bionic album. When asked how "intense" the whole process was, Goldfrapp recalled having to work in the studio for four days straight and not being filled in afterward if those songs were ever finished by other producers.
She elaborated by saying the experience was "a bit like when you’re writing music for movies or something. It’s that you’re kind of giving them a flavor, saying, “Here, what do you think about this?"
