United Kingdom, June 13 -- Christina Aguilera was told that she "didn't have the right to her own" body at one point in her pop career.

The 44-year-old singer had just released her fourth studio album Stripped in 2002 when she opted for a more raunchy sound and look with the track Dirrty but recalled "facing quite a bit of backlash" at the time, even though she was just "expressing herself" in the way that she wanted to.

Speaking as part of a panel alongside Halle Berry at the Bare It All Event in California, she explained: "I remember, just releasing my Stripped album, I faced quite a bit of backlash with my song Dirrty.

"And for me, I felt incredibly empowered and owning my body and expressing myself the way I wanted to and not fitti...