Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Spears has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. She has earned numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, 15 Guinness world records, six MTV Video Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards (including the Millennium Award), the inaugural Radio Disney Icon Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her heavily choreographed videos earned her the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
"Britney" redirects here. For the album, see Britney (album). For other uses, see Britney (disambiguation).
Britney Spears
- Singer
- songwriter
- dancer
- actress
1992–present
-
Jason Allen Alexander(m. 2004; ann. 2004)
2
- Bryan Spears (brother)
- Jamie Lynn Spears (sister)
Vocals
After appearing in stage productions and television series, Spears signed with Jive Records in 1997 at age fifteen. Her first two studio albums, ...Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), are among the best-selling albums of all time and made Spears the best-selling teenage artist of all time. With first-week sales of over 1.3 million copies, Oops!... I Did It Again held the record for the fastest-selling album by a female artist in the United States for fifteen years. Spears adopted a more mature and provocative style for her albums Britney (2001) and In the Zone (2003), and starred in the 2002 film Crossroads. She was executive producer of her fifth studio album, Blackout (2007), often referred to as her best work.[2] Following a series of highly publicized personal problems, promotion for the album was limited, and Spears was involuntarily placed in a conservatorship.
Subsequently, Spears released the chart-topping albums, Circus (2008) and Femme Fatale (2011), the latter of which became her most successful era of singles in the US charts. With "3" in 2009 and "Hold It Against Me" in 2011, Spears became the second artist after Mariah Carey in the Billboard Hot 100's history to debut at number one with two or more songs. She embarked on a four-year concert residency, Britney: Piece of Me, at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas to promote her next two albums Britney Jean (2013) and Glory (2016). In 2019, Spears' legal battle over her conservatorship became more publicized and led to the establishment of the #FreeBritney movement.[3] In 2021, the conservatorship was terminated following her public testimony in which she accused her management team and family of abuse.[4]
In the United States, Spears is the fourth best-selling female album artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era,[5] as well as the best-selling female album artist of the 2000s.[6][7][8] She was ranked by Billboard as the eighth-biggest artist of the 2000s.[9] Spears has had six number-one albums on the Billboard 200[10] and five number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100: "...Baby One More Time", "Womanizer", "3", "Hold It Against Me", and "S&M (Remix)". Other hit singles include "Oops!... I Did It Again", "I'm a Slave 4 U", "Toxic", "Gimme More", and "Piece of Me". "...Baby One More Time" was named the greatest debut single of all time by Rolling Stone in 2020. In 2004, Spears launched a perfume brand with Elizabeth Arden, Inc.; sales exceeded $1.5 billion as of 2012.[11] Forbes has reported Spears as the highest-earning female musician of 2001 and 2012.[12][13] By 2012, she had topped Yahoo!'s list of most searched celebrities seven times in twelve years.[14] Time named Spears one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021. Spears placed first in the Time reader poll.[15][16]
Life and career
1981–1997: Early life, family, and career beginnings
Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981, in McComb, Mississippi,[17] the second child of James "Jamie" Parnell Spears and Lynne Irene Bridges.[18] Her maternal grandmother, Lillian Portell, was English (born in London), and one of Spears' maternal grandfathers was Maltese.[19] Her siblings are Bryan James Spears and Jamie Lynn Spears.[20] In her memoir The Woman in Me, Spears wrote that her paternal grandmother, Emma Jean Spears, was sent to an asylum by Spears' paternal grandfather. Their three-day-old baby had died and Emma Jean was overwhelmed by grief. While at the asylum, she was put on lithium; subsequently, she shot herself over the child's grave.[21]
Born in the Bible Belt, where socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a particularly strong religious influence,[22] she was baptized as a Southern Baptist and sang in a church choir as a child.[23] As an adult, she has studied Kabbalist teachings.[24] On August 5, 2021, Spears announced that she had converted to Catholicism. Her mother, sister, and nieces Maddie Aldridge and Ivey Joan Watson, are also Catholic.[25] However, on September 5, 2022, after Spears' ex-husband, Kevin Federline, and youngest son did an interview defending her father's actions during her conservatorship, she stated: "I don't believe in God anymore because of the way my children and my family have treated me. There is nothing to believe in anymore. I'm an atheist y'all".[26]
At age three, Spears began attending dance lessons in her hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana, and was selected to perform as a solo artist at the annual recital. Aged five she made her local stage debut, singing "What Child Is This?" at her kindergarten graduation. During her childhood, she also had gymnastics and voice lessons and won many state-level competitions and children's talent shows.[27][28][29] In gymnastics, Spears attended Béla Károlyi's training camp.[30] She said of her ambition as a child, "I was in my own world, ... I found out what I'm supposed to do at an early age".[28]
When Spears was eight, she and her mother Lynne traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, to audition for the 1990s revival of The Mickey Mouse Club. Casting director Matt Casella rejected her as too young, but introduced her to Nancy Carson, a New York City talent agent. Carson was impressed with Spears' singing and suggested enrolling her at the Professional Performing Arts School; shortly afterward, Lynne and her daughters moved to a sublet apartment in New York.
Spears was hired for her first professional role as the understudy for the lead role of Tina Denmark in the off-Broadway musical Ruthless! She also appeared as a contestant on the popular television show Star Search and was cast in a number of commercials.[31][32] In December 1992, she was cast in The Mickey Mouse Club alongside Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, and Keri Russell. After the show was canceled in 1994, she returned to Mississippi and enrolled at McComb's Parklane Academy. Although she made friends with most of her classmates, she compared the school to "the opening scene in Clueless with all the cliques. ... I was so bored. I was the point guard on the basketball team. I had my boyfriend, and I went to homecoming and Christmas formal. But I wanted more."[28][33]
In June 1997, Spears was in talks with manager Lou Pearlman to join the female pop group Innosense. Lynne asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures. Rudolph decided that he wanted to pitch her to record labels, for which she needed a professional demo made. He sent Spears an unused song of Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded her vocals in a studio. Spears traveled to New York with the demo and met with executives from four labels, returning to Kentwood the same day. Three of the labels rejected her, saying that audiences wanted pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, and "there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson, or another Tiffany."[34]
Two weeks later, executives from Jive Records returned calls to Rudolph.[34] Senior vice president of A&R Jeff Fenster said about Spears' audition that "it's very rare to hear someone that age who can deliver emotional content and commercial appeal ... For any artist, the motivation—the 'eye of the tiger'—is extremely important. And Britney had that."[28] Spears sang Houston's "I Have Nothing" (1992) for the executives, and was subsequently signed to the label.[35] They assigned her to work with producer Eric Foster White for a month; he reportedly shaped her voice from "lower and less poppy" delivery to "distinctively, unmistakably Britney".[36] After hearing the recorded material, president Clive Calder ordered a full album. Spears had originally envisioned "Sheryl Crow music, but younger; more adult contemporary". She felt secure with her label's appointment of producers, since "It made more sense to go pop, because I can dance to it—it's more me."[28] She flew to Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, where half of the album was recorded from March to April 1998, with producers Max Martin, Denniz Pop, and Rami Yacoub, among others.[28]
1998–2000: ...Baby One More Time and Oops!... I Did It Again
After Spears returned to the United States, she embarked on a shopping mall promotional tour, titled L'Oreal Hair Zone Mall Tour, to promote her upcoming debut album. Her show was a four-song set and she was accompanied by two back-up dancers. Her first concert tour followed, as an opening act for NSYNC.[37] Her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time, was released on January 12, 1999.[28] It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and was certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America after a month. Worldwide, the album topped the charts in fifteen countries and sold over 10 million copies in a year.[38] It became the biggest-selling album ever by a teenage artist.[29]
Legacy
Referred to as the "Princess of Pop",[440][441] Spears was credited as one of the "driving force[s] behind the return of teen pop in the late 1990s".[411][350] Rolling Stone's Stacy Lambe explained that she "help[ed] to usher in a new era for the genre that had gone dormant in the decade that followed New Kids on the Block. ... Spears would lead an army of pop stars ... built on slick Max Martin productions, plenty of sexual innuendo and dance-heavy performances. [She became] one of the most successful artists of all time—and a cautionary tale for a generation, whether they paid attention or not."[441] In a 2021 article for Time, Maura Johnston opined that "Spears' legacy as a pop artist is complex, made up of dazzling musical heights and music-business-borne lows". Johnston also commented: "While Spears' catalog is part of the canon that defines the first 20 years of this millennium, one hopes that her public struggles, and the strength she's shown while enduring them, will lead to her cementing her true legacy: Reshaping the machine that turns those songs into cultural touchstones."[442]
Glamour contributor Christopher Rosa described her as "one of pop music's defining voices. ... When she emerged onto the scene in 1998 with ...Baby One More Time, the world hadn't seen a performer like her. Not since Madonna had a female artist affected the genre so profoundly."[443] Billboard's Robert Kelly observed that Spears' "sexy and coy" vocals on her debut single "...Baby One More Time" "kicked off a new era of pop vocal stylings that would influence countless artists to come."[444] In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the song at number one on a list of the 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time and Rob Sheffield described it as "One of those pop manifestos that announces a new sound, a new era, a new century. But most of all, a new star ... With "...Baby One More Time", [Spears] changed the sound of pop forever: It's Britney, bitch. Nothing was ever the same."[445]
Spears was at the forefront of the female teen pop explosion starting in 1999 and extending through the 2000s, leading the pack of Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore.[446] All of these performers had been developing material in 1998, but the market changed dramatically in December 1998 when Spears' single and video were charting highly. RCA Records quickly signed Aguilera and released her debut single to capitalize on Spears' success, producing her debut hit single "Genie in a Bottle".[447] Simpson consciously modeled her persona as more mature than Spears; her "I Wanna Love You Forever" charted in September 1999, and her album Sweet Kisses followed shortly after.[448][449] Moore's first single, "Candy", hit the airwaves a month before Simpson's single, but it did not perform as well on the charts; Moore was often seen as less accomplished than Spears and the others, coming in fourth of the "pop princesses".[450][451] Fueling media stories about their competition for first place, Spears and Aguilera traded barbs but also compliments through the 2000s.[452]
Alim Kheraj of Dazed called Spears "one of pop's most important pioneers".[453] After eighteen years as a performer, Billboard described her as having "earned her title as one of pop's reigning queens. Since her early days as a Mouseketeer, [Spears] has pushed the boundaries of 21st century sounds, paving the way for a generation of artists to shamelessly embrace glossy pop and redefine how one can accrue consistent success in the music industry."[412] Entertainment Weekly's Adam Markovitz described Spears as "an American institution, as deeply sacred and messed up as pro wrestling or the filibuster."[385] In 2012, she was ranked as the fourth VH1's 50 Greatest Women of the Video Era show list.[404] VH1 also cited her among its choices on the 100 Greatest Women in Music in 2012[454] and the 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons in 2003.[455] In 2020, Billboard ranked her eight on its 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of all-time list.[405]
Spears and her work have influenced various artists including Katy Perry,[456] Meghan Trainor,[457] Demi Lovato,[456] Kelly Key,[458] Kristinia DeBarge,[459] Little Boots,[460] Charli XCX,[461] Marina Diamandis,[462] the Weeknd,[463] Tegan and Sara,[464] Pixie Lott,[465] Grimes,[466] Selena Gomez,[467] Hailee Steinfeld,[468] Pabllo Vittar,[469] Tinashe,[470] Victoria Justice,[471] Cassie,[472] Leah Wellbaum of Slothrust,[473] the Saturdays,[474] Normani,[475] Miley Cyrus,[476] Cheryl,[477] Lana Del Rey,[478] Ava Max,[479] Billie Eilish,[480] Sam Smith,[481] Tate McRae,[482] and Rina Sawayama.[483] During the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Lady Gaga said that Spears "taught us all how to be fearless, and the industry wouldn't be the same without her."[176] Gaga has also cited Spears as an influence, calling her "the most provocative performer of my time."[484]
Before Spears joined The X Factor, Simon Cowell explained that he is "fascinated by [Britney]. The fact that she's one of the most talked about – not just pop stars – but people in the world today, means that you've got this star power. ... She's still hot, she's still having hit records and she's still controversial, there's a reason for that."[485] Marina Diamandis named Spears as the main influence behind her album Electra Heart.[486] Lana Del Rey has said that the music video for "Toxic" inspires her.[487] Spears has had a direct influence on singer Porcelain Black's work after growing up around her music as a child. Black describes her music as a "love child between" Spears and Marilyn Manson.[488] Rita Ora's 2019 music video for "Only Want You" was inspired by Spears' "Everytime" music video, and said in a stories from Instagram, "Hey @britneyspears this was for you because I love you so. Pay homage to the ones who inspire! #icon."[489]
Spears has been credited with redefining Las Vegas residencies as a retirement place for musicians. Her debut concert residency Britney: Piece of Me was described as "the natural evolution of Celine Dion's powerhourse Vegas residency, a still-charting star of another generation redefining the role of Strip headliner." Forbes named Spears the sixth-highest-earning female musician of 2015." She is credited with influencing and paving the way for other artists's residencies such as Jennifer Lopez's Jennifer Lopez: All I Have, Bruno Mars's Bruno Mars at Park MGM, and Backstreet Boys' Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life.[490] The arrival of Spears "saw the pop promoters finally tap into the younger crowd arriving in town for a good time."[491]
Spears' much-publicized personal problems and her subsequent career comeback have inspired some artists. Gwyneth Paltrow's character in the 2010 film Country Strong was inspired by Spears' treatment by the media. According to film director Shana Fest, "that's where this movie came from. I mean, I was seeing what was happening in the media to Britney Spears. I think it's tragic how we treat people who give us so much, and we love to see them knocked down to build them back up again, to knock them down again."[492] Nicki Minaj has cited Spears' comeback after her much-publicized personal issues as an inspiration.[493] Spears' hounding by paparazzi and personal problems also inspired Barry Manilow's album 15 Minutes. Manilow said: "She couldn't have a life without them pulling up next to her car and following her and driving her crazy to the point where, that was around the time she shaved off her hair. ... We all looked at it in horror ... So it seemed like a thing to be writing an album about."[494] Bebo Norman wrote a song about Spears, called "Britney", which was inspired by "culture's make-or-break treatment of celebrities."[495]
In 2008, Salon published an article titled "The Britney Economy" describing how Spears is a driving force in music and fashion, stimulating consumer purchases and media coverage. Magazines, paparazzi, and record labels make millions of dollars, and Spears profits to a lesser degree.[496][497][498] Along with Alicia Silverstone, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell, Spears has been credited with introducing the navel piercing to mainstream culture.[499]
