Christina Aguilera has joined the ranks of the pop and former rock superstars who have taken the accountants’ advice to step across the tracks and do a country song.
Christina Aguilera appeared on Nashville as the character Jade St. John, and has released the song she performed on that show. It is called “Shotgun” and features such traditional country music instrumentation as banjo, steel guitar, and flat-top acoustic guitar.
Christina Aguilera is joined by an unnamed male accompaniment on the song. She had done a duet in the past with Blask Shelton, her buddy from The Voice, who no doubt whispered tales of album sales and increased visibility as a crossover act.
As a single from Nashville, the song was only available online for a week, but still hit No. 7 on Country Digital Songs with 30,000 sold, according to Nielsen Music.
Aguilera’s character on Nashville is the ex-fiancee of Jeff Fordham, played by Oliver Hudson. It is only a guest appearance, with no known plans to extend her stay on the program. But even that brief visit put her before the country music audience that throws money after rock and pop acts that step out into the county to entertain the yokels.
Poison frontman Bret Michaels has traded heavily on his “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” acoustic side to scoop up sales in country music land. He jumped fully into the Nashville music cookie cutter machine with his sugar-shaker stab “Girls On Bars.” Bon Jovi recorded a version of their song “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” with Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles.
Aguilera is working on a new R&B album with hit-maker Pharrell Williams, so her foray into country music is not a career shift, just a temporary flash in the pan.