15 times since 2010 that Christina Aguilera has proved she is still an icon

Poor Christina Aguilera may not have had much success as a solo artist on the charts since her last big album Back To Basics in 2006-2007, but her relevancy as a celebrity, her influence as a singer and her status as an icon are far from gone. Naysayers can argue all they want but facts speak for themselves. Below are 15 times Xtina can be reminded to keep her head held high while others bow down to her as a force still to be reckoned with, even if she never manages to reclaim her rightful place atop charts inundated with younger and hipper but oh-so-basic bitches.

1) She is credited by many for bringing Sia to worldwide mainstream recognition as a songwriter and eventual success as a solo artist after the work they did together on Bionic in 2010. Sia later went on to write for the likes of Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kylie Minogue, Rita Ora, Celine Dion, Katy Perry, Jessie J, J Lo and Shakira. #trendsettertina

2) Sia’s most recent major writing credit is on former Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello’s debut single “Crying in the Club”, which coincidentally samples the iconic “Genie in a Bottle” (which without would sound like utter shite, by the way). Camila and 5H have all expressed love for Xtina in the past.

3) Constantly considered a gay icon, she was the first person to be honoured on iconic club The Abbey’s Gay Walk of Fame in 2011. And in 2013, “Beautiful” was voted the most empowering song for gay people by Stonewall UK pipping the likes of Lady Gaga and erm, Boyzone, to the post.

4) VH1 ranked her number 8 on their list of “100 Greatest Women in Music” in 2012. She ranked higher than Britney, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Taylor Swift.

5) Not just a recipient of major music awards, she has also received awards for her humanitarian efforts – the George McGovern Leadership Award and Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Her passion and name helped raise $148 million for the World Food Programme by 2012, which she is still a part of and she was also given the “People’s Voice” award at the People’s Choice Awards in 2013.

6) Despite the fact that she rarely embraces her Latin roots and is often criticised for not being “Latina” enough, Xtina topped Latina magazine’s list of 50 Best Latino Singers of All Time in 2013. Shakira who? The American Latino Media Arts (ALMA) Awards also honoured her with the “Voice of a Generation” award in 2012.

7) In 2013 she was included in Time 100’s list of most influential people and was the only female singer on the list. Celine freakin’ Dion wrote a gushing piece about her for it!

8) Later that year she collaborated with the then little known duo A Great Big World on their song “Say Something”, which propelled them up the charts and to stardom. They won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in 2015, beating out huge but shitty in comparison competition from Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX, Coldplay, Jessie J, Ariana and Nicki, and Katy Perry – all of whom had had far more commercial success in recent years. In their acceptance speech the guys even said that without her they wouldn’t be there. Too right.

9) Most pop stars these days have to either collaborate with major fashion brands or go out of their way to create their own clothing lines in order to make it into the fashion industry, but how many other pop stars can say they’ve been paid homage to by designers who look up to them? Bobby Abley created two outfits inspired by his idol for his FW16 collection, with one of the models even sporting Xtina’s “Dirrty” dreads look from 2002. He also featured her image in his 2017 collection.

10) The test of true power in the celebrity world is when you inspire and influence people who aren’t even in the same field as you. As well as other artists and fashion designers, Christina has also found fans in the form of sports stars such as Johnny Weir and Dana Vollmer.

11) She broke the record for drawing the biggest crowd at Morocco’s Mawazine Rabat Festival, which she headlined in 2016. An estimated 250,000 people watched her perform; a huge increase from previous years with other singers including Rihanna, Mariah Carey, J Lo and Shakira.

13) “Telepathy”, a song she recorded for The Get Down soundtrack in 2016, reached No.1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, making it her ninth chart-topper on there even though it didn’t even get a proper release as a single (or even a full video). And let’s not forget “Let There Be Love” also achieved this feat in 2012, as did Your Body earlier that same year, despite failing to make a major impact on the Hot 100.

14) “Your Body” was also voted the best video of 2012 in a poll conducted by Fuse. It won the top spot over videos by Justin Bieber, One Direction and Katy Perry. Who said Fighters can’t compete with some of the craziest fanbases out there right now?

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

15) The influence her music and style has on other artists and celebrities continues to prove her star power, especially when Kylie Jenner dressed up as her from her “Dirrty” video for Halloween in 2016. Miley Cyrus had previously recreated the same look by wearing emblazoned chaps on her Bangerz tour. And Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez’ shoots for their albums Confident and Revival were inspired by the sexual, sensual and very naked black and white iconic imagery of Stripped.

Ok, so now we’ve established that you’re still an icon, WHERE IS THE GODDAMN ALBUM?! As we get closer to the end of 2017, we are still without a shred of hope or information… 😭