How Christina Aguilera Actually Feels About That VMA Kiss With Madonna and Britney

Christina Aguilera has had her share of undeniably iconic pop-culture moments, however one that also has folks speaking is the notorious kiss she shared with Madonna and Britney Spears on the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.

Aguilera—who seems on Glamour US’s August 2024 cowl to have fun her formative tune “Genie in a Bottle” and its accompanying album turning 25 this yr—discusses the culture-defining second intimately in an accompanying video, calling the whole expertise “magical.”

“Love a superb makeout second,” she says with fun. “I like a theme, I like an idea. I like a particular character to get into.”

The controversial kiss—which nonetheless incites discourse—stays a memorable piece of popular culture historical past for a number of causes, however the truth that Madonna, lengthy thought of the undisputed queen of pop, appeared to move the torch to a brand new technology was significantly momentous.

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“You understand, Madonna taking part in the the function of the groom. It was such a cool…like, wow—we’re up right here with Madonna and we’re a part of this large second. It was actually enjoyable,” Christina Aguilera says. “The power main as much as it, the rehearsals, every thing. It was fairly magical.”

The 43-year-old additionally talks frankly about these early days of her meteoric profession when “Genie” seemingly took over pop radio and applications like TRL. “I feel the most important phrase that sums up that first document for me is grateful,” she says. “Being grateful as a result of it received my foot within the door. After 25 years I’m so pleased with it. I feel to maintain something for a prolonged period of time takes lots of work and dedication and fervour. There are various components that go into having the ability to construct one thing.”

However for all her early success, Aguilera admits she was positioned into a particular mildew—one shared by her friends on the time—and that did not sit nicely along with her. “I didn’t love the bubblegum factor, the place you needed to play a virgin however not act like one,” she says. “After I was performing ‘Genie’ and ‘What a Woman Desires’ and ‘Come on Over,’ I received bored simply. Creatively, it was one-dimensional.”