Videos

Background

Linda Perry had written "Beautiful" long before she let anyone hear it.

She considered the song very dear and personal to her and was insecure about sharing it with anyone else.

At first she had let Pink hear "Beautiful" before anyone else during their M!ssundaztood sessions. Pink was so impressed with the song that she had asked Perry if she could record it for her album, but Perry declined, feeling that she wanted to save it for her own singing career.

A few months later, while Aguilera and Perry were recording for the Stripped session, Perry also let Aguilera listen to the song.

Aguilera so much liked the song that while Perry was playing the piano for it, Aguilera took over the vocals for the song.

After that, Aguilera told Perry that she needed this song on her album. Perry was both impressed by Aguilera and confused, because even though she was blown away by her rendition of the song, she still did not want to give it up.

After Aguilera continued lobbying for the song, Perry was finally convinced that Aguilera matched the song perfectly and handed it over to her.

The song was recorded in a single take. Aguilera reportedly expressed concerns that she had hit some notes too flat and some too sharp, but Perry insisted that she leave them in.

"Beautiful" received positive reviews from music critics.

Entertainment Weekly found it to be a highlight of Stripped, finding it "more restrained" than the rest of the album.

Stylus Magazine described the song as "a typical ballad that actually tastefully reins in Aguilera's frequent vocal acrobatics".

According to Perry, she and Aguilera's management had recommended "Beautiful" as the lead single from Stripped but that Aguilera insisted on releasing "Dirrty" instead.

RCA Records stated that it had agreed with Aguilera to release "Dirrty" to attract attention; when the song only reached number forty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100, "Beautiful" was rush-released as the second single.

The song peaked at number two on the U.S. Hot 100 largely because of its strong radio airplay; it was released as a 12" maxi single and at the time sales of this format were much lower than those of regular CD and CD maxi singles. "Beautiful" stayed in the U.S. top forty for twenty-four weeks, and topped many other Billboard magazine charts.

It was equally successful elsewhere, and reached number one on the charts in the UK (where it was her fourth number-one single), Australia (where it was her first) and Canada (where it was her second).

"Beautiful" won a 2004 Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance", and Linda Perry received a 2004 Grammy Award nomination for Song of the Year.

The song was ranked number two in the "Readers' Top Ten Singles" list at the 2004 Rolling Stone Music Awards, and its video was also placed at number two in the "Best Video, Readers' Pick" category.

The video was the recipient of the "Popular Female Video" award at the 2003 Channel [V] Thailand Music Video Awards.

A remix of "Beautiful" by Peter Rauhofer won a 2003 HX Award for "Dance Song of the Year". The single sold over 4,626,000 millions copies worldwide.

The song's music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund. The video opens with Aguilera speaking the line "Don't look at me", followed by scenes of her singing alone in a room intercut with self image-related sequences of other people, several of which deal with body image.

An underweight girl examines herself in a mirror, eventually punching through it; a thin boy stands lifting weights in a room plastered with images of bodybuilders; and a girl rips out pages of women's magazines and throws them into a fire.

In one sequence, a girl is assaulted by several peers, and in another, a goth sits at the back of a bus while several people get up and move. The video also touches on LGBT issues. One scene features two homosexual men, portrayed by Jordan Shannon and Justin Croft, French kissing on a bench and ignoring the stares of people who pass them.

Another scene shows a transwoman, played by Robert Sherman, putting on makeup, a wig, and women's clothing.

The music video was successful on video chart programs. It debuted on MTV's Total Request Live on December 9, 2002 at number two.

It was unable to reach the top of the countdown but remained on it for fifty days and retired at number six on February 25, 2003.

The video topped MuchMusic's Countdown for two consecutive weeks and remained on the countdown for fifteen weeks.

The video received a Special Recognition award, presented by David LaChapelle, from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation at its 14th annual media awards.

 

After an a cappella performance of the song, Aguilera stated in her acceptance speech that "this song is definitely a universal message that everybody can relate to - anyone that's been discriminated against or unaccepted, unappreciated or disrespected just because of who you are.

 

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