Beautiful (Christina Aguilera song)

"Beautiful" is a song written by Linda Perry. It was eventually recorded by American singer Christina Aguilera and produced by Linda Perry for Aguilera's fourth studio album, Stripped (2002). A cello-driven, classically-flavored ballad, it tells the story of someone who is fighting against low self-esteem and insecurity issues; its main message is about inner beauty and not letting other people's opinions and words disturb one's peace of mind.

The song was released as the album's second single on December 24, 2002 and reached number one in several countries; becoming the most successful single from Stripped, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and Canada as well as peaking at number 2 in the United States.

Beautiful received general acclaim from critics and has been noted as one of Aguilera's strongest singles. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2004 ceremony and was also nominated for Song of the Year. It was ranked number fifty-two on Rolling Stones Top 100 songs of the decade.

It also was embraced by the LGBT community as an anthem; and the music video gained Aguilera a Special Recognition GLAAD Award for its positive portrayal of gay and transgender people. UK LGBT rights charity Stonewall named Beautiful the most empowering song of the decade for LGBT people.

Background and release

Perry had written "Beautiful" long before...
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