Christina Aguilera boasts a fierce four-octave vocal range, but it’s hardly the only thing that’s kept the superstar a dominant force in pop’s ever-changing landscape. The petite powerhouse, born on Staten Island on December 18, 1980, quickly rose from the Star Search stage to The Mickey Mouse Club to MTV with a high-flying, melismatic soprano and plenty of sass. Her 1999 self-titled debut album proved she could tease and tantalize with as much untouchable charm as fellow former Mouseketeer, Britney Spears, when “Genie in a Bottle,” “What a Girl Wants,” and “Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You)” all hit No. 1 on the pop charts. Since then, she’s stayed steadfastly in the spotlight—not just by meticulously reinventing her image, but also by organically revealing more and more of herself, letting us peek into her own journey of self-discovery while remaining an inimitable artist. In the process, she’s liberated herself more than once, starting with her metamorphosis into Xtina for 2002’s saucy R&B- and hip-hop-infused Stripped and its raunchy lead single “Dirrty (feat. Redman),” all the way to 2018’s genre-hopping Liberation and its feminist anthem “Fall In Line,” co-starring Demi Lovato. In between, she’s growled through brassy funk (“Ain’t No Other Man”) and heart-pumping electro-pop (“Not Myself Tonight”), trilled over intimate piano balladry (“Hurt”) and sizzling R&B (“Like I Do”), and collaborated with a wide spectrum of artists, songwriters, and producers, including Linda Perry, Lil’ Kim, A Great Big World, Maroon 5, Sia, Kanye West, Blake Shelton, and Burlesque co-star Cher. Through it all, Aguilera has used the power of her voice to empower listeners—to stand strong (“Fighter”), embrace their true essence (“Change”), and, ultimately, love themselves just a little bit more (“Beautiful”).