 Aguilera is a soprano, possessing a four-octave vocal range spanning from C3 to C♯7.Since the start of her career Aguilera's voice has been compared to that of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.David Browne writing for "The New York Times" noted that Aguilera's vocal performance was highly influenced by Carey and Houston, sharing that "Aguilera has been one of the foremost practitioners of the overpowering, Category 5 vocal style known as melisma", and "Ms. Carey, Ms. Houston and Ms. Aguilera, to name its three main champions, are most associated with the period from the late '80s through the late '90s".