Britney Spears Biography:
More than any other single artist, Britney Spears was the driving force behind the return of teen pop in the late '90s. The
blockbuster success of the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys certainly paved the way for her own commercial
breakthrough, but Spears didn't just become a star -- she was a bona fide pop phenomenon. Not only did she sell millions
of records, she was a media fixture regardless of what she was (or wasn't) doing; among female singers of the era (many
of whom followed in her footsteps), her celebrity star power was rivaled only by Jennifer Lopez. From the outset, Spears'
sex appeal was an important part of her image; the video for her debut single, "...Baby One More Time," outfitted her in
full Catholic-school regalia, and sent her well on the way to becoming an international sex symbol. Yet Spears' handlers
seemed to be trying to have it both ways -- there was a definite tension between the wholesome innocence Spears tried to
project for her female audience, and the titillating sexuality that enticed so many male fans. Those marketing tactics made
Spears a somewhat controversial figure, the subject of endless debates concerning appropriate role models for teenage
girls. Early on, Spears tried to defuse the controversy by preaching abstinence until marriage, and even denied that she
was consciously cultivating such a sexualized image. Of course, the more provocative and revealing her on-stage
wardrobe became, the less plausible that claim seemed. But apart from her ability to tiptoe the line between virginal
coquette and brazen tart, Spears had a secret weapon in Swedish pop mastermind Max Martin, who had a hand in the
vast majority of her hits as a writer and/or producer. With Martin crafting the sort of contemporary dance-pop and
sentimental ballads that made stars of the Backstreet Boys, Spears kept on delivering the goods commercially, as her first
three albums all topped the charts.
Britney Jean Spears was born December 2, 1981, in the small town of Kentwood, LA, and began performing as a singer
and dancer at a young age. With a nationally televised appearance on Star Search already under her belt, Spears
auditioned for the Disney Channel's The New Mickey Mouse Club at age eight. The producers turned her down as too
young, but one of them took an interest and introduced her to an agent in New York. Spears spent the next three years
studying at the Professional Performing Arts School, and also appeared in several television commercials and
off-Broadway plays. At 11, she returned to The New Mickey Mouse Club for a second audition, and this time made the cut.
Although her fellow Mouseketeers included an impressive array of future stars -- NSYNC's Justin Timberlake and JC
Chasez, Christina Aguilera, and Felicity actress Keri Russell -- the show was canceled after Spears' second season. She
returned to New York at age 15 and set about auditioning for pop bands and recording demo tapes, one of which
eventually landed her a deal with Jive Records.
Spears entered the studio with top writer/producers like Eric Foster White (Boyzone, Whitney Houston, Backstreet Boys)
and Max Martin (Ace of Base, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC). In late 1998, Jive released her debut single, the Martin-penned
"...Baby One More Time." Powered by its video, in which Spears and a troupe of dancers were dressed as Catholic-school
jailbait, the single shot to the top of the Billboard charts. When Spears' debut album of the same title was released in early
1999, it entered the charts at number one and stayed there for six weeks. Once the ubiquitous lead single died down, the
album kept spinning off hits: the Top Ten "(You Drive Me) Crazy," the near-Top 20 ballad "Sometimes," and the Top 20
"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart." By the end of 1999, ...Baby One More Time had sold ten million copies, and went
on to sell a good three million more on top of that. Its success touched off a wave of young pop divas that included
Christina Aguilera, Pink, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore. Spears was a superstar, drooled over in countless
magazines, including a Rolling Stone cover that prompted immediate speculation about the still-17 year old having gotten
breast implants.
By the time ...Baby One More Time finally started to lose steam on the singles and album charts, Spears was ready to
release her follow-up. Oops!...I Did It Again appeared in the spring of 2000, and the title track was an instant smash,
racing into the Top Ten. The album entered the charts at number one and sold over a million copies in its first week of
release, setting a new record for single-week sales by a female artist. Follow-up singles included "Lucky," the gold-selling
"Stronger," and "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know," which was co-written by country diva Shania Twain and her producer
Mutt Lange. A year after its release, Oops!...I Did It Again had sold over nine million copies. Rumors that Spears was
dating N Sync heartthrob (and fellow ex-Mouseketeer) Justin Timberlake were eventually confirmed, which only added to
the media attention lavished on her.
For her next album, Spears looked ahead to a not-so-distant future when both she and much of her audience would be
growing up. Released in late 2001, Britney tried to present the singer as a more mature young woman, and was
accompanied by mild hints that her personal life wasn't always completely puritanical. It became her third straight album to
debut at number one, although this time around the singles weren't as successful; "I'm a Slave 4 U," "I'm Not a Girl, Not
Yet a Woman," and "Overprotected" all missed the Top Ten. In early 2002, Spears' feature-film debut, Crossroads, hit
theaters, but its commercial performance was somewhat disappointing; moreover, her romance with Timberlake fizzled not
long after. Spears next made a cameo appearance in Mike Myers' Austin Powers: Goldmember, and contributed a remix of
"Boys" to the soundtrack. Meanwhile, sales of Britney stalled at four million copies, perhaps in part because a new breed
of teenage female singer/songwriters, like Michelle Branch and Avril Lavigne, was emerging as an alternative to the highly
packaged teen queens. Spears took a break from recording and performing for several months, and began work on a
new album in early 2003. The results, In the Zone, reflected a wish to be taken seriously as a mature (though still highly
sexualized) adult. Predictably, it topped the charts and launched several singles into orbit, including the musically
adventurous "Toxic," "Everytime," and "Me Against the Music."
In the Zone hit number one on the Billboard 200, and "Toxic" snagged a Grammy for Best Dance Recording. But by 2004
there were no longer any illusions of Britney's personal life being all wholesome candy canes and kisses. First there was
the star's bizarre two-day marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander, followed by the controversial, highly sexualized
Onyx Hotel tour, which was eventually canceled (allegedly because of a knee injury) despite positive financial numbers.
Starbucks and cigarettes were Britney's constant accessories in the endless paparazzi photos, and the revelation of her
relationship with former backup dancer Kevin Federline made the tabloids even more ravenous. Spears and Federline
married in September and were tabloid regulars in the months after the ceremony. (A photo of a barefoot Britney leaving
a dingy gas station bathroom made the Internet rounds.) The couple also starred in Chaotic, a UPN reality show
consisting mostly of their own home videos that was met with howls from the critics and blogs. 2005 was no less eventful
for Spears. She released Greatest Hits: My Prerogative that January, but it was the announcement of her pregnancy that
really garnered the headlines. Sean Preston Federline was born in September, and a bidding war ensued for first rights to
the baby photos. As the hubbub surrounding Sean's birth continued, Britney released a remix album just in time for the
holiday season. Steve Huey, All Music Guide
More than any other single artist, Britney Spears was the driving force behind the return of teen pop in the late '90s. The
blockbuster success of the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys certainly paved the way for her own commercial
breakthrough, but Spears didn't just become a star -- she was a bona fide pop phenomenon. Not only did she sell millions
of records, she was a media fixture regardless of what she was (or wasn't) doing; among female singers of the era (many
of whom followed in her footsteps), her celebrity star power was rivaled only by Jennifer Lopez. From the outset, Spears'
sex appeal was an important part of her image; the video for her debut single, "...Baby One More Time," outfitted her in
full Catholic-school regalia, and sent her well on the way to becoming an international sex symbol. Yet Spears' handlers
seemed to be trying to have it both ways -- there was a definite tension between the wholesome innocence Spears tried to
project for her female audience, and the titillating sexuality that enticed so many male fans. Those marketing tactics made
Spears a somewhat controversial figure, the subject of endless debates concerning appropriate role models for teenage
girls. Early on, Spears tried to defuse the controversy by preaching abstinence until marriage, and even denied that she
was consciously cultivating such a sexualized image. Of course, the more provocative and revealing her on-stage
wardrobe became, the less plausible that claim seemed. But apart from her ability to tiptoe the line between virginal
coquette and brazen tart, Spears had a secret weapon in Swedish pop mastermind Max Martin, who had a hand in the
vast majority of her hits as a writer and/or producer. With Martin crafting the sort of contemporary dance-pop and
sentimental ballads that made stars of the Backstreet Boys, Spears kept on delivering the goods commercially, as her first
three albums all topped the charts.
Britney Jean Spears was born December 2, 1981, in the small town of Kentwood, LA, and began performing as a singer
and dancer at a young age. With a nationally televised appearance on Star Search already under her belt, Spears
auditioned for the Disney Channel's The New Mickey Mouse Club at age eight. The producers turned her down as too
young, but one of them took an interest and introduced her to an agent in New York. Spears spent the next three years
studying at the Professional Performing Arts School, and also appeared in several television commercials and
off-Broadway plays. At 11, she returned to The New Mickey Mouse Club for a second audition, and this time made the cut.
Although her fellow Mouseketeers included an impressive array of future stars -- NSYNC's Justin Timberlake and JC
Chasez, Christina Aguilera, and Felicity actress Keri Russell -- the show was canceled after Spears' second season. She
returned to New York at age 15 and set about auditioning for pop bands and recording demo tapes, one of which
eventually landed her a deal with Jive Records.
Spears entered the studio with top writer/producers like Eric Foster White (Boyzone, Whitney Houston, Backstreet Boys)
and Max Martin (Ace of Base, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC). In late 1998, Jive released her debut single, the Martin-penned
"...Baby One More Time." Powered by its video, in which Spears and a troupe of dancers were dressed as Catholic-school
jailbait, the single shot to the top of the Billboard charts. When Spears' debut album of the same title was released in early
1999, it entered the charts at number one and stayed there for six weeks. Once the ubiquitous lead single died down, the
album kept spinning off hits: the Top Ten "(You Drive Me) Crazy," the near-Top 20 ballad "Sometimes," and the Top 20
"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart." By the end of 1999, ...Baby One More Time had sold ten million copies, and went
on to sell a good three million more on top of that. Its success touched off a wave of young pop divas that included
Christina Aguilera, Pink, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore. Spears was a superstar, drooled over in countless
magazines, including a Rolling Stone cover that prompted immediate speculation about the still-17 year old having gotten
breast implants.
By the time ...Baby One More Time finally started to lose steam on the singles and album charts, Spears was ready to
release her follow-up. Oops!...I Did It Again appeared in the spring of 2000, and the title track was an instant smash,
racing into the Top Ten. The album entered the charts at number one and sold over a million copies in its first week of
release, setting a new record for single-week sales by a female artist. Follow-up singles included "Lucky," the gold-selling
"Stronger," and "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know," which was co-written by country diva Shania Twain and her producer
Mutt Lange. A year after its release, Oops!...I Did It Again had sold over nine million copies. Rumors that Spears was
dating N Sync heartthrob (and fellow ex-Mouseketeer) Justin Timberlake were eventually confirmed, which only added to
the media attention lavished on her.
For her next album, Spears looked ahead to a not-so-distant future when both she and much of her audience would be
growing up. Released in late 2001, Britney tried to present the singer as a more mature young woman, and was
accompanied by mild hints that her personal life wasn't always completely puritanical. It became her third straight album to
debut at number one, although this time around the singles weren't as successful; "I'm a Slave 4 U," "I'm Not a Girl, Not
Yet a Woman," and "Overprotected" all missed the Top Ten. In early 2002, Spears' feature-film debut, Crossroads, hit
theaters, but its commercial performance was somewhat disappointing; moreover, her romance with Timberlake fizzled not
long after. Spears next made a cameo appearance in Mike Myers' Austin Powers: Goldmember, and contributed a remix of
"Boys" to the soundtrack. Meanwhile, sales of Britney stalled at four million copies, perhaps in part because a new breed
of teenage female singer/songwriters, like Michelle Branch and Avril Lavigne, was emerging as an alternative to the highly
packaged teen queens. Spears took a break from recording and performing for several months, and began work on a
new album in early 2003. The results, In the Zone, reflected a wish to be taken seriously as a mature (though still highly
sexualized) adult. Predictably, it topped the charts and launched several singles into orbit, including the musically
adventurous "Toxic," "Everytime," and "Me Against the Music."
In the Zone hit number one on the Billboard 200, and "Toxic" snagged a Grammy for Best Dance Recording. But by 2004
there were no longer any illusions of Britney's personal life being all wholesome candy canes and kisses. First there was
the star's bizarre two-day marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander, followed by the controversial, highly sexualized
Onyx Hotel tour, which was eventually canceled (allegedly because of a knee injury) despite positive financial numbers.
Starbucks and cigarettes were Britney's constant accessories in the endless paparazzi photos, and the revelation of her
relationship with former backup dancer Kevin Federline made the tabloids even more ravenous. Spears and Federline
married in September and were tabloid regulars in the months after the ceremony. (A photo of a barefoot Britney leaving
a dingy gas station bathroom made the Internet rounds.) The couple also starred in Chaotic, a UPN reality show
consisting mostly of their own home videos that was met with howls from the critics and blogs. 2005 was no less eventful
for Spears. She released Greatest Hits: My Prerogative that January, but it was the announcement of her pregnancy that
really garnered the headlines. Sean Preston Federline was born in September, and a bidding war ensued for first rights to
the baby photos. As the hubbub surrounding Sean's birth continued, Britney released a remix album just in time for the
holiday season. Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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