Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American pop singer, occasional actress and songwriter, most popular in 1999 and the early 2000s. Her career encompasses chart-topping records, high-profile advertising, and forays into acting and reality television. She remains popular throughout the world despite controversy surrounding the perceived sexual nature of her music and image.

Biography

Childhood and discovery

Born to Jamie Spears, a building contractor, and Lynne Bridges, a grade school teacher, in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears performed in local dance revues and church choirs as a young girl, and was auditioning for the Disney Channel's New Mickey Mouse Club by the time she was eight. Although she was considered too young to join the series at that time, a producer on the show introduced her to a New York agent; she subsequently spent three summers at NYC's Professional Performing Arts School and also appeared in a number of off-Broadway productions, including 1991's Ruthless! In 1992, she landed a spot on Star Search and although she won the first round, she was beaten by another contestant in the second.

Spears then returned to the Disney Channel for a spot on the New Mickey Mouse Club and was accepted. She was featured for two years between the ages of eleven and thirteen during the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Others on the show included Justin Timberlake and Joshua Chasez (who later became members of the pop group *NSYNC), Keri Russell (star of the TV show Felicity), fellow pop singer Christina Aguilera, and actor Ryan Gosling.

Before long, Spears had recorded a demo tape, which eventually landed in the hands of a Jive Records executive. She was signed to their label and began touring American venues for a series of concerts sponsored by American teen magazines before joining *NSYNC and becoming their opening act.

1998�2001: Early commercial success

...Baby One More Time remains Spears' best-selling album worldwide.Spears' debut single "...Baby One More Time" impacted radio stations and MTV in 1998. Led by a music video that featured the 5'4" brown-eyed bottle blonde in a racy schoolgirl outfit, the single became an international success, earning Platinum sales and going to number one in the U.S., as well as countries such as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Her debut album of the same name, ...Baby One More Time, topped the LP charts in the U.S. and Canada for six non-consecutive weeks. Within a year of its release, it had become the best-selling LP by a teenager in history, spawned another U.S. top ten hit ("(You Drive Me) Crazy") and shipped over ten million copies in the U.S. alone; it would go on to ship another four million copies on top of this.

Spears was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in April 1999. The sexually suggestive Lolita-themed photoshoot triggered widespread speculation (denied by her camp) that the still-seventeen-year-old had gotten breast implants. That summer, she kicked off her first headlining tour, the ...Baby One More Time Tour. By late 1999, Britney Spears had become one of the year's biggest stars, a claim backed-up by the amount of award nominations she received that season. In December, she took home four Billboard Music Awards including one for Female Artist of the Year, and the next month won for Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist at the American Music Awards. At the Grammys held in February 2000, Spears received two nominations, including one for Best New Artist.

Following the short-lived Crazy 2K Tour, the lead single from Spears' second album, "Oops!... I Did It Again", was released. It broke a record for most radio station adds in a single day and quickly became a U.S. top ten hit and number one single in other countries, including Australia and the UK. Released in May 2000, the album Oops!... I Did It Again also debuted at number one in the U.S. and Canada, and was as commercially successful as her debut. It sold over 1.3 million units during its first week in the U.S., making it the fastest-selling album by a female artist in history. Within a year of release, it had shipped over nine million copies in the U.S. alone. It would go on to ship another million on top of that, and yielded two more top thirty hits: "Lucky" and "Stronger".

Spears kicked off her first world tour (titled the Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour) in the summer of 2000, and co-wrote the novel Britney Spears' Heart-to-Heart with her mother, Lynne. During a performance at the annual MTV Video Music Awards, she ripped off a black suit to reveal a provocative nude-colored and crystal-adorned outfit that generated controversy due to her young age. In late 2000, she won two Billboard Music Awards, and in early 2001 she was nominated for two American Music Awards. At the Grammys, one of her two nominations was for Oops!... I Did It Again in the category of Best Pop Vocal Album, but again she did not win.

2001�2004: Artistic development

In early 2001, she struck a $7-8 million USD promotional deal with the soft drink giant Pepsi and then released her second novel, A Mother's Gift. Spears performed at the MTV Video Music Awards the following September, and in addition to criticism for being scantily clad, she angered animal rights organization PETA for the use of animals, including an albino python, in her performance.

In November, she released her third album, Britney. It debuted at number one on both the U.S. and Canadian charts, selling over 740,000 units during its first week in the U.S. This made her the only female artist in SoundScan history to have her first three albums debut at number one. Though over four million copies of the record have been sold in the U.S. alone, it was a decline from the sales of her first two albums, and "I'm a Slave 4 U" was the album's only hit single in the U.S. Britney was the first album on which Spears assumed some creative control; she co-wrote five of the album's tracks. Spears set off on her next world tour, the Dream Within a Dream Tour, shortly after its release.

In early 2002, Spears starred in a film, Crossroads, which reached number two on the box-office charts in its first week but quickly dropped out of sight. Songs from the album Britney appeared in the film. The movie, along with Spears' performance in it, was poorly received by critics, and she netted herself a Razzie Award for Worst Actress, tied with Madonna. The film also won, among other nominations, the Worst Original Song Razzie for Spears' "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman".

Spears' four-year relationship with Justin Timberlake ended in March 2002. The break-up was highly publicised, with rumors swirling that Spears had been unfaithful. Timberlake himself left the impression that she had cheated on him. In response to this, Spears later said, "I'm not technically saying he's wrong, but I'm not technically saying he's right, either".

In June 2002, Spears branched out as a restaurateur with the opening of a New York City eatery, NYLA, which was named for its mix of New York and Louisiana cuisine. It was not a success and closed the following year. Soon after these failures, Spears took a break from the spotlight, and in 2003 many music industry critics speculated her career was in decline. That same year, Spears was nominated for two Grammys yet again, including Best Pop Vocal Album.

Spears returned to the forefront of the music scene in August 2003. That month, she appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards with her idol Madonna, Pop singer Christina Aguilera and rapper Missy Elliott. Spears and Aguilera performed Madonna's song "Like a Virgin", danced suggestively and each locked lips with Madonna (see Madonna on the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards). Spears' kiss with Madonna attracted huge publicity that would last for several months.

November 2003 saw the release of Spears' fourth album, In the Zone. Jettisoning the Max Martin-produced synth-pop of her earlier releases, the album took in lesser-known producers such as RedZone and big names including Moby and R. Kelly. Spears co-wrote nine of the album's thirteen songs and co-produced some of her material for the first time. In the Zone went to the top of the U.S. charts in its debut week, making Spears the only female in music history to have her first four albums debut at number one. It has sold nearly three million copies in the U.S., and spawned the international number one and U.S. top ten hit "Toxic", which won Spears her first Grammy in the category of Best Dance Recording.

On January 3, 2004, Spears married her childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander at The Little White Wedding Chapel on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. An annulment was promptly arranged and was granted on January 5, ending their fifty-five hour marriage. Spears later said about the spur-of-the-moment debacle, "Honestly, I really wanted to see what it was like to be married". Spears embarked on her fourth world tour, The Onyx Hotel Tour, the following March. It grossed over $34 million USD and was seen by over 600,000 fans in North America and Europe, but the remaining dates were cancelled in June after Spears reportedly injuring her knee during the filming of the video for the single "Outrageous".

That same month, Spears announced her engagement to dancer Kevin Federline. Federline was formerly in a relationship with actress Shar Jackson, with whom he has two children. On the night of September 18, 2004, Spears married Federline before twenty-seven guests in a surprise, non-denominational ceremony at a residence in Studio City, California. The legitimacy of the marriage was initially questioned, but on November 18, 2004, a representative of the Los Angeles County registrar's office confirmed Spears and Federline had successfully filed their marriage license with the county within ten days of their ceremony and were therefore legally married.

2004�present: Career hiatus

During the latter half of 2004, Spears announced she would be taking another career break in order to start a family. Immediately after her marriage to Federline, she had told People that "I want to be a young mom. Next year, at 23, I'm so there". Although she made few public appearances, the "Britney Spears industry" continued to run itself. In September 2004, she released her first fragrance, "Curious" (a floral scent with vanilla and musk), for which she earned a reported $12 million USD. The fragrance had the biggest debut in sales in history from Elizabeth Arden, breaking the record for first-week gross for a perfume; after one year of sales, the product has netted more than $100 million USD. It ended up as the number one fragrance of 2004 in department stores, and in 2005 it was honored by the Fragrance Foundation as Best Women's Fragrance. Following the success of "Curious", Spears released her next Elizabeth Arden fragrance, "Fantasy" (a fruity scent with flowers and cupcake), in September 2005 which also became a top-selling perfume during the holiday season of 2005.

Spears' first hits collection, Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, was released in late 2004. The album debuted at number four on the U.S. charts (becoming Spears' first album to not debut at number one domestically), selling over 255,000 copies in its first week of release. In addition to her biggest hits, it featured three new songs: "My Prerogative" (a cover of the Bobby Brown song), "Do Somethin'" and "I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)". "My Prerogative" and "Do Somethin'" were released as singles to moderate success, and the album has sold over a million copies in the U.S. to-date.

During the spring of 2005, Spears' reality show with husband Kevin Federline, Britney and Kevin: Chaotic, premiered on UPN in the U.S. The series included five episodes, and both Spears and Federline were credited as executive producers. Chaotic was panned by most critics, and ratings were not as high as expected. Spears announced her pregnancy via her official website in April 2005. Despite her eagerness to have a baby, she admitted to ELLE magazine that, "I have a feeling I'm going to have an operation. I don't know why. But I hope so. I don't want to go through the pain". On September 14, 2005, 6lb. 11oz. baby boy Sean Preston Federline was born in the Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California by an elective caesarean section.

In late 2005, Spears released a remix album entitled B in the Mix: The Remixes. It lacked promotion of any kind and seemed to be a disc only for the diehard fan. It debuted outside the U.S. top one hundred with less than 15,000 copies sold in its first week of release.

In December 2005, Spears sued US Weekly for a story the magazine published in the column "HOTstuff" of their October 2005 publication. The column, with the headline "Brit & Kev: Secret Sex Tape? New parents have a new worry: racy footage from 2004." claimed that Spears and her husband had made a sex video and feared it would be distributed. Spears denies the existence of any such tape while the magazine claims to have a credible source and stands by its story.

Controversy

Spears' success has rested on a mixed fanbase. Some parents of young girls disapprove of or are even disgusted by Britney Spears. To many critics, the singer has combined a very raunchy public image with a major marketing "play" for the hearts, minds and pockets of prepubescent girls, often as young as seven or eight. Some parents worry that Britney Spears provides an unsuitable role model for their daughters' lives and career plans. In October 2003, Maryland First Lady Kendel Ehrlich, the wife of Governor Robert Ehrlich, was criticized for saying she would like to "shoot Britney Spears" in an address to a domestic violence conference. After her comments made national headlines, she was compelled to apologize.

The sexualized public image of Britney Spears once again became a topic of debate as a result of her 2003 semi-nude photo spread for the men's magazine, Esquire. Prompted by this, Playboy reportedly offered the star over one million USD to pose nude for their magazine, but Spears publicly declined. In an interview with Diane Sawyer, she was asked if she had ever gone further than she wished she had with the sexual photoshoots. Spears responded, "No, I don't think so, no". After the Esquire photos were held up in front of her, she said: "Okay. Now those are a little much. Yeah, those are a little much. That's one picture, I must say, that I felt kind of weird about, yeah".

The 2004 Onyx Hotel Tour brought new criticism. While Spears and her on-stage dancers performed her songs "Touch of My Hand" and "Breathe on Me", they were seemingly nude and were performing routines simulating gay sex, orgies and masturbation. As there were underage fans in the audience, there was some outrage at the alleged lack of decency of the performances, as well as reports of adult chaperones angrily storming out with children they brought to the concert. Spears has responded to parents' concerns by stating she is "not their babysitter. It's the parents' responsibility. If you don't like it, turn the T.V. off. The only person I want to be a role model is to my sister, Jamie Lynn". (From ABC's Primetime interview with Diane Sawyer.)

Spears has also been criticised for lip-synching. Most critics and musicians publicly express a negative view on this way of performing, arguing that live entertainment should literally be what it suggests, singing included. Some argue that Spears, like other performers, can't practically sing while being engaged in complicated and demanding dance moves.

Britney Spears' personal life has attracted considerable media attention. Some people feel she has courted it by cultivating, in her early years at least, a chaste, God-fearing and "wholesome" image. It was somewhat at odds, not only with the traditional pressures, temptations and opportunities of "pop 'n' roll", but with the increasingly sexualized content of her own songs. Spears' kiss with Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards received much media attention, as have her recent marriages.

Career achievements

• According to the VH1 special The Fabulous Life Of... Britney & Kevin and TIME, Spears has sold over seventy-six million records worldwide.
• Having thirty-one million RIAA-certified albums in the U.S., Spears ranks as the eighth best-selling female artist in American music history.
• Only female artist in SoundScan history to have her first four albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.
• In the U.S., Spears, Madonna, C�line Dion, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks are the only female artists with multiple diamond (shipped over ten million copies) albums (Spears has two: ...Baby One More Time and Oops!... I Did It Again).
• Holds the record for youngest artist (at age seventeen) to have his or her first single ("...Baby One More Time") and first album (...Baby One More Time) simultaneously reach number one on the Billboard charts.
• Holds the record in the UK for biggest first-week sales for a greatest hits compilation by a female artist (115,341 copies) with Greatest Hits: My Prerogative.
• Has grossed over $145 million USD from tour ticket sales.
• Has grossed over $30 million USD in merchandise from her tours.
• Has topped Yahoo!'s annual list of the most-searched names three times in the past four years.
• Has had more than twenty number-one hits in the Philippines.

Voice

Although Britney Spears does not have the power of Whitney Houston or the range of Mariah Carey, Britney's soft vocal style has helped bring the pop soubrette back into popularity.

Britney's voice was seen as distinctive when she first came out in 1998. Although there has been some controversy over her singing abilities, with some even accusing her of lacking them or depending too much on backup singers, her style has remained consistent. Her singing style (although not herself) has become somewhat of a staple in hip-hop music.

Artists such as Ashanti, Solange Knowles and Lea have borrowed a page from her stylebook. Her detractors have accused her of being derivate of Paula Abdul, Madonna and especially Janet Jackson.

This is a claim Spears has not outwardly denied nor confirmed, saying "I grew up loving a wide variety of music." Although her range continues to be disputed and is subject to argument, her classification as a soubrette is due to her singing style, which is light, sweet and girly.

Trivia

• Spears has a younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, who is an actress and singer and is currently starring in the Nickelodeon show Zoey 101. Spears wrote the theme song "Follow Me" for Zoey 101, though it is sung by Jamie Lynn. Spears also has an older brother, Bryan Spears, who is one of her managers. Spears' parents, Jamie and Lynne, are divorced.
• She has three dogs: two chihuahuas named Bit Bit and Lucky and a Maltese named Lacy.
• She is an accomplished gymnast. Spears attended gymnastics classes until age nine, and during that time she even competed in state-level competitions. She also performed a backflip for the "...Baby One More Time" video and several for the New Mickey Mouse Club).
• She had a fling with Colin Farrell and has been romantically linked with Fred Durst, Wade Robson and Columbus Short.
• For the film Chicago, producer Harvey Weinstein wanted Spears for the role that eventually went to Lucy Liu. Spears was also offered a role in Scary Movie, but was forced to turn it down due to concert scheduling. She was considered for the part of Allie Hamilton in The Notebook, but was beat out by Rachel McAdams and she also wanted the role in I ? Huckabees that went to Naomi Watts. Spears had also expressed interest in the role of Daisy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard, but fellow pop singer Jessica Simpson was given the part.
• In 2002, Forbes named Spears the most powerful celebrity in the world.
• She consults psychics and healers.
• She is friends with Sarah Michelle Gellar. She was asked to appear in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "I Was Made to Love You," but turned down the role due to scheduling conflicts.
• She is friends with Natalie Portman. Portman was an understudy in the off-Broadway play, Ruthless!, in which Spears had a role. At a Manhatten hotel in 2003 they co-hosted a carnival-themed New Years Eve party together.
• She topped FHM magazine's 2004 U.S. and world polls for sexiest woman.
• In May 2004 Spears had a Hebrew tattoo (???) inked into the nape of her neck. She was under the impression that it meant "new era", while a more scholarly reading would be "protection." A source said, "She's taken Kabbalah pretty seriously and this was a big deal for her." This echoes a similar incident in 2003 when Spears was informed by her friend, actress Taryn Manning, that her hip tattoo (the Japanese Kanji character ?) read "strange" rather than "mysterious" (see Wiktionary).
• Spears' other tattoos include pink dice on her inner wrist (her husband, Kevin Federline, has matching blue dice), a fairy on her lower back, a daisy on her right toe, a butterfly on her left foot, and a Japanese flower that she reportedly got "down there."

Filmography

Miscellaneous

Books

DVDs

Select merchandise

• In 1999, Play Along Toys released the Britney Spears Doll. It became one of the biggest-selling dolls of all time.
• Britney's Dance Beat is a dance game featuring five of her songs, for the PlayStation 2, PC and Game Boy Advance.

Tours