Songfacts®:

• This anthem of self-acceptance came at a time when the internet was amplifying the kind of bullying and shaming that was so hurtful to young people. Hearing the glamorous Christina Aguilera sing in a very heartfelt manner about finding the strength to tune these voices out and overcome our insecurities meant a lot. The message is simple:
  
  We are beautiful
  In every single way
  Yes words can't bring us down
• This was written by Linda Perry, frontwoman and songwriter in 4 Non Blondes, known for their 1992 hit "What's Up." After that group broke up, Perry started writing songs for herself and others, including the hit "Get The Party Started" for Pink. When she started working with Aguilera, she was still fleshing out the lyrics to "Beautiful" and figuring out what the song meant. In the studio, Aguilera asked Perry to play one of her songs to break the ice, so Perry put on her demo of "Beautiful." To her surprise, Aguilera asked to record it.
  
  Perry's initial reaction was, "You can't sing a song like this. You are beautiful." But the song clearly struck a chord with Christina, who had to overcome her own doubts and insecurities to sing it. She brought a friend into the vocal booth for support, and before doing her take, said to him, "Don't look at me."
  
  "As soon as she said that, I knew the song was meant for her and then the song became clear what it was about," Perry said on the Backstory Song podcast. "It was about somebody who didn't think they were beautiful. It was actually about somebody who is insecure and they're telling themselves, you are beautiful. We are beautiful. We are beautiful no matter what anybody says. Then this hot chick is singing a song and you're seeing all the vulnerability from her and insecurity. I was like, 'Oh, f--k.' Then the song became clear to me what it was all about. She nailed it one take."
  
  That "don't look at me" was included on the song.
• When Perry first met Aguilera, it was in the VIP section of a club, complete with bodyguard and rope. This is the kind of environment where everyone who enters tells the big star how great they are, but Perry told Aguilera she'd like to hear her tap into her darkness when she sings because she wasn't convincing emotionally. Aguilera seemed a little taken aback and Perry thought she'd never hear from her again, but then a week later her people called to set up the session where they recorded "Beautiful."
• Before recording the song, Aguilera and Perry talked, and Christina recalled suffering physical abuse at the hands of her father. Apparently, she began to cry and asked for the session to be abandoned, but Perry thought it was the perfect opportunity to record the song. She told Q magazine: "I know it sounds ghoulish, and she didn't think she could do it, but I made her do the song in tears." >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Adam - Dewsbury, England
• Aguilera wanted to re-do her vocals on this song to achieve technical perfection, but Linda Perry fought hard to keep the emotional but imperfect first take; after all, the song is about accepting who we are, so it shouldn't be polished to a sheen. It took months, but Aguilera finally agreed.
• The gay community embraced this song. The video, directed by Jonas Akerlund, shows a cross-dressing man and a homosexual kiss. It was honored by the Gay And Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for its positive portrayal of alternative lifestyles. The song's writer, Linda Perry, is a lesbian.
• The first single from the Stripped album was "Dirrty," with a lascivious video but not much of a beat. It didn't get much radio play and Aguilera was taking a lot of heat for the video, so "Beautiful" was quickly issued as the second single. The message of self-acceptance went over well and helped put the focus more on Christina's singing and less on her lack of clothing.
• This won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal, and Aguilera performed the song on the show. A week before The Grammys, Janet Jackson created lots of controversy when her breast was exposed during the halftime show. CBS, who also broadcast the Super Bowl, ran a 5-minute delay on the Grammy Awards to make sure nothing like that happened. They almost had to use the delay when Aguilera accepted her award - she was wearing a very revealing dress and looked like she was in danger of popping out. She made a few comments about it before accepting the award and thanking Perry for writing the song.
• Elvis Costello recorded a cover for a the 2005 "Autopsy" episode of the TV program House. His version was included on the show's soundtrack album in 2007. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Louise - Sheffield, England
• During this song a faint rhythm track can be heard in the background. This was caused by headphone bleed, which is sound leaking from her headphone monitor into the microphone. Dave Pensado, who mixed the song, explained: "The song was about being beautiful and honest in every way. That bleed is honest. It was one of the most honest vocal performances I had ever heard. It was actually the scratch vocal."
• This song was performed on the 16th episode ("Home") of the TV series Glee by new cheerleader Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley). The show's music producer, Adam Anders, told MTV News that her moving rendition almost didn't happen. "Amber Riley didn't want to sing it," he said. "Don't let her tell you otherwise. She really respects Christina Aguilera and wanted to do it justice. Like when she did 'And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going,' she was really nervous about it. But as everyone knows, she killed it."
• Stripped was Aguilera's second English-language, non-Christmas album, and it found the young songstress reacting against the pop tunes her label got her to record on her debut. She explained in Chicken Soup For the Soul: The Story Behind The Song: "I called the CD Stripped because I wanted to strip away the pieces of myself from the first record that I felt weren't me. I was searching for truth. We can all look at our pasts, childhoods, home lives and it's easy to be a victim or victimize yourself - but I didn't want to do that. I was feeling lots of pent up emotions and they all came to a head in 'Fighter.'
  
  I wanted my songs to have positive empowering messages, especially to women so they could feel strong and speak for themselves. My father dominated our household and I didn't want to feel weak."
  
  She added: "I try to write lyrics and music that people can relate to and that help them to find personal strength. I try to communicate universal ideas and thoughts that help them to get through the day or the year a bit better."
• This came top of a poll conducted by the UK gay rights organization Stonewall, where they asked their supporters which track recorded in the 21st century they felt has the most empowering message. In second place came Boyzone's "Better," and in third Lady Gaga's "Born This Way."
• This was used on The Office episode "A.A.R.M." (2013). Gabriella (Rachel Crow) is singing it in her audition for America's Next A Cappella Sensation when Andy bursts into the room.
  
  It was also used on these TV shows:
  
  Love ("Shrooms" - 2017)
  Brooklyn Nine-Nine ("The Slump" - 2013)
  Smash ("Pilot" - 2012)
  Entourage ("Lose Yourself" - 2010)
  ER ("Believe The Unseen" - 2008)
  House ("Autopsy" - 2005)
  
  And in these movies:
  
  Girl Most Likely (2012)
  Mean Girls (2004)
• Linda Perry has no regrets about letting Aguilera have this song instead of keeping it for herself. "For me at the time, in my mind, being an artist was very one-dimensional," she told Songfacts in 2021. "With Christina, that whole concept was, 'Let me hear you sing it, and if I like the way you sing it, I'll go that route.' And it was very clear as soon as she sang it.
  
  So, right then and there I said she could have the song, and I also made the decision that I would never pursue being an artist ever again. I was going to leave that and just focus on being a producer and a songwriter. And go and do all these other adventures."
• In the documentary Linda Perry: Let It Die Here, Perry said "Beautiful" began with a simple intention: "I wanted to write a song about David Bowie."
  
  Sitting at the piano and playing a sequence of chords, she found the melody and lyric arriving unexpectedly. In the film, she trails off mid-explanation and instead starts playing the opening of the song, letting the music finish the thought.
  
  Although she demonstrates the track on guitar in the documentary, Perry originally wrote "Beautiful" on piano. When she later listened back to her demo, she became emotional. She recalled crying because one of the early lyrical sentiments "didn't ring true," explaining that it felt opposite to what she genuinely believed. That realization led her to reshape the message into something more honest, ultimately turning the song into an anthem of self-acceptance rather than the detached idea she first set out to write.