CHRISTINA AGUILERA - AGUILERA'S REBELLION

CHRISTINA AGUILERA views her mega-successful STRIPPED album as a form of a rebellion against the pop music she was pushed into singing at the start of her career.

The singer was keen to move away from her bubblegum GENIE IN A BOTTLE image and explore issues closer to her heart - such as those of a sexual and empowering nature.

She explains, "I had to break out of being confined by a record label who wanted to push me into a certain box.

"I was 17 when Genie In A Bottle came out and I was pushed to be something that I wasn't. Pop was exploding and they wanted me to be part of that.

"Stripped was about me shedding my skin. I've now grown up as a woman and whether that means I'm aggressive or sexually charged or vulnerable - such as in my song BEAUTIFUL - then so be it.

"Stripped was a cauldron of emotions about a woman growing into her own body and being expressive in her feelings, sexually, and wanting to empower herself."

Aguilera describes the 2002 release as a "biography" of her life at a time she says she had "hit rock bottom".

She adds, "I was thinking, 'When can I break out of this shell?' I was kind of breaking out as much as breaking down."