Christina Aguilera Poses Topless for Her 44th Birthday

Christina Aguilera isn’t afraid to show a little skin. The singer took to Instagram on Wednesday, Dec. 18 to mark her 44th birthday with a topless photo, cheekily captioning the black-and-white image, “Birthday Suit #44.”

The picture shows Aguilera posing in front of a white backdrop in nothing but stilettos, black shorts, and a black leather newsboy hat with her platinum blonde locks styled in curls. Posing crouched and offering sultry stare, the singer covered her bare chest with her hand in a jaw-dropping snapshot that generated plenty of buzz. Commenting on the post, one person wrote, “Getting older in years, but younger in appearance is what I’m talking about!!!!” A second person added, “44 Never LOOKED SO GOOD!!!”

Aguilera has never shied away from baring skin and being open with her sexuality. Speaking to ADWEEK in February, the “Beautiful” hitmaker, who is the co-founder and chief brand advisor for sexual wellness brand Playground, said, “this has been a very comfortable and natural space for me to enter because [sexuality] has been such a big part of my life, my world, my music.” The Grammy-winning superstar added that she has “experienced firsthand the double standards” out on women and has “been shamed for being open, for expressing myself sexually and trying to own my body, and for trying to empower other women.”

“[Women] go through a lot with their sexuality. We’re shamed, we’re labeled, we’re scrutinized. It’s time for all that to end,” she said. “I want [my daughter] to grow up not feeling any shame or stigma and feel comfortable as a woman. I want my son to understand and appreciate women’s struggles and what they go through, and to feel part of the conversation as well.”

Reflecting on the criticism she faced growing up in the music industry, she told Glamour for their August cover story, “When you’re a teenager, you have a very different body than when you’re in your 20s. I started to fill out, and then that was unacceptable because it was like, ‘Oh, she’s getting thicker.’ Then I had industry people [saying]: ‘They liked your body and how you were as a skinny teenager.’”

Aguilera is celebrating her 44th birthday on the heels of an exciting year. She completed a nine-month Vegas residency in August, and in November, she joined Sabrina Carpenter on stage for a surprise duet of “Ain’t No Other Man” during the Short ‘N Sweet Tour concert in Los Angeles. The pair also sang Aguilera’s “What a Girl Wants.”