Glamour
Christina Aguilera has had her share of undeniably iconic pop-culture moments, but one that still has people talking is the infamous kiss she shared with Madonna and Britney Spears at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.
Aguilera—who appears on Glamour US’s August 2024 cover to celebrate her formative song “Genie in a Bottle” and its accompanying album turning 25 this year—discusses the culture-defining moment in detail in an accompanying video, calling the entire experience “magical.”
“Love a good makeout moment,” she says with a laugh. “I love a theme, I love a concept. I love a specific character to get into.”
The controversial kiss—which still incites discourse—remains a memorable piece of pop culture history for several reasons, but the fact that Madonna, long considered the undisputed queen of pop, seemed to pass the torch to a new generation was particularly momentous.
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“You know, Madonna playing the the role of the groom. It was such a cool…like, wow—we’re up here with Madonna and we’re part of this huge moment. It was really fun,” Christina Aguilera says. “The energy leading up to it, the rehearsals, everything. It was pretty magical.”
The 43-year-old also talks frankly about those early days of her meteoric career when “Genie” seemingly took over pop radio and programs like TRL. “I think the biggest word that sums up that first record for me is grateful,” she says. “Being thankful because it got my foot in the door. After 25 years I’m so proud of it. I think to sustain anything for a lengthy amount of time takes a lot of work and dedication and passion. There are many elements that go into being able to build something.”
But for all her early success, Aguilera admits she was placed into a specific mold—one shared by her peers at the time—and that didn’t sit well with her. “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.”