"Beautiful" has undeniably become one of Christina Aguilera's signature tunes, yet its songwriter, Linda Perry, initially had reservations about entrusting it to the singer who had burst onto the pop scene with her 1999 smash hit "Genie in a Bottle." The petite blonde paid a visit to Perry in her studio just after crafting this self-acceptance anthem, and Aguilera was eager to get her hands on it as soon as she heard it. Perry, however, was hesitant. "I'm thinking in my mind, 'No, you're like, a hot chick. I'm not giving you this song,'" Perry recalled in a recent appearance on the Zach Sang Show. "Are you kidding me?"
What saved Aguilera was her own singing, at the suggestion of a manager. "That's when I realized, 'Oh, beautiful people are actually insecure and just as damaged as I am,'" Perry said. "She's just as messed up as I am. 'Okay.' And then it broke the ice between us when I saw that."
Aguilera's vocal was actually the demo version she did in the recording studio, which Perry insisted on leaving intact instead of re-recording a more polished version. "Her vocal on there is the demo," Perry explained, "because that's the version that sold me, that made me believe she had emotions, that she was insecure, that she lacked confidence in certain places, that she needed acceptance and approval."
There were a few minor tweaks, 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.
The two were finishing up work on Aguilera's 2002 album Stripped when Aguilera convinced Perry to let her try redoing "Beautiful." "We go in the studio, tape is rolling, and it's like an Aston Martin from zero to 90 in like 10 seconds," Perry recalled. "And she's already at her highest note. I stopped and started laughing. I'm like we are done here. And then she came in and 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 on the song. It helped make the album a huge hit and has become 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.
