Linda Perry thought Christina Aguilera was the wrong singer for 'Beautiful' because she's 'a hot chick'

Raechal ShewfeltFri, May 22, 2026 at 12:34 AM UTC

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Linda Perry; Christina Aguilera
Credit: Maury Phillips/Getty; Stefanie Keenan/GettyKey Points -

Songwriter Linda Perry recently said she didn't want to give "Beautiful" to Christina Aguilera at first.

Perry thought the "Dirrty" singer was too pretty.

It took the artist hearing Aguilera's take on the track to get Perry's approval.

"Beautiful" is now one of Christina Aguilera's signature songs, but songwriter Linda Perry originally didn't want to give it to the singer who'd broken into pop music with her 1999 hit single "Genie in a Bottle."

The petite blonde visited Perry in her studio just after she'd come up with the self-acceptance anthem, and Aguilera wanted it as soon as she heard it. Perry wasn't so sure.

"I'm thinking in my mind, 'No, you're like, a hot chick. I'm not giving you this song," Perry said in a recent appearance on theZach Sang Show. "No way. Are you kidding me?'"

What saved Aguilera, though, was singing it, at the suggestion of a manager.

"That's when I discovered, 'Oh, beautiful people are actually insecure and are just as damaged as I am," Perry said. "She's just as f---ed up as I am. 'Okay.' And then it broke the ice between the both of us when I saw that."

Aguilera's vocal is actually the demo version that she did in the recording studio, which Perry insisted that she leave intact, rather than re-recording a more polished version.

"Her vocal on there is the demo," Perry said, "because that's the version that sold me, that made me believe she had emotions, that she was insecure, that she was lacking confidence in certain places, that she needed acceptance and approval."

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There were a few small changes, such as fixing a flub in the bridge and a word here and there.

Then Perry was satisfied. She said that Aguilera wanted another shot.

"And I'm like, 'Christina, trust me, this is the vocal," the songwriter said, adding that Aguilera would jokingly ask her why she had to be such an artist.

Perry and Aguilera in 2016
Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty

The two were finishing up their work on Aguilera's 2002 album Stripped, when Aguilera convinced Perry to let her attempt redoing "Beautiful."

"We go in the studio, tape is rolling, and it's like an Aston Martin from zero to, you know, 90 in like 10 seconds. and she like already is at her highest note, and I stopped and I started laughing. I'm like we are done here. And then she came in, and she laughed. She's like, you're right. I was just about to ruin that song."

Aguilera won the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her work. The song helped make the album a big hit, and it's a staple of her live performances.

Perry believes much of the song's success can be attributed to its "imperfect vocal" being so relatable. She said people still talk to her about it to this day.

on Entertainment Weekly

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”