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 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 U.S. teen magazines before joining *NSYNC and becoming their opening act.
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By late 1998, Spears' debut single "...Baby One More Time" was beginning to impact radio stations and MTV. Led by a music video that featured the 5'4" brown-eyed bottle blonde dressed as a racy schoolgirl, among other belly-baring outfits that would soon become her trademark, the song became an international success, earning Platinum sales and going to number one in the U.S., as well as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, among other countries.
Her debut album of the same name, ...Baby One More Time, topped the LP charts in Canada and the U.S. for six non-consecutive weeks. Within a year of the record's release, the album had become the best-selling LP by a teenager in history, spawned two U.S. top ten hits (in "...Baby" and "(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.
In April 1999, she was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The sexually suggestive Lolita-themed photo spread began a whirlwind of rumors that the still-seventeen-year-old had gotten breast implants. These claims were denied by Spears' camp, and seemed to have little impact on the young starlet's rising popularity.
That summer, she kicked off her first headlining tour, titled the ...Baby One More Time Tour. By late 1999, Britney Spears had become one of the year's biggest stars, a claim backed-up in the amount of award nominations she received that season. In December, she took home four Billboard Music Awards, including 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. She performed her signature song "...Baby One More Time" and her then-current single, the top twenty hit "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" at the show, but went home empty-handed, losing the aforementioned award to fellow ex-mouseketeer Christina Aguilera.
After the short-lived Crazy 2K Tour and just two months after her debut began to die down in steam, Spears was ready to release the lead single off her sophomore effort. "Oops!... I Did It Again" broke a record for most radio station adds in a single day [1] and quickly became a U.S. top ten hit and number one single in other countries, including the Australia and the U.K.
Oops!... I Did It Again became a massive commercial success upon its 2000 release.
Released in May 2000, Oops!... I Did It Again also debuted at number one in the U.S. and Canada, and was a similarly huge hit like 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 (and would go on to ship another million on top of that).
That summer was another busy one for Spears, as she kicked off her first world tour (titled the Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour) and co-wrote the novel Britney Spears' Heart-to-Heart with her mother, Lynne. At the annual MTV Video Music Awards, she gave a performance of "Oops!... I Did It Again" and The Rolling Stones' classic hit, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". During her performance, she ripped off a black suit to reveal a provocative nude-colored and crystal-adorned stage costume that caused quite a bit of controversy, seeing as the singer was only eighteen at the time.
Through the year, the top thirty "Lucky" and top twenty "Stronger" kept Spears on the charts. In late 2000, she won two Billboard Music Awards (one of which honored her for breaking the record for one week album sales by a female artist). Then, in early 2001, she hosted the American Music Awards, performed "Stronger" at the ceremony and was also nominated twice. At the Grammys, one of her two nominations was for Oops!... I Did It Again in the category of Best Pop Vocal Album. Again, however, she did not win.
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In early 2001, she struck a $7-8 million USD promotional deal with the soft drink giant Pepsi; her first commercial for them premiered during the 2001 Academy Awards. She then released the follow-up novel to Britney Spears' Heart-to-Heart, with this one being entitled A Mother's Gift.
In September 2001, Spears again performed at the MTV Video Music Awards. This time around, she was once again scantily clad, drenched in 'sweat' and on a jungle stage environment. She gave a performace of her new single "I'm a Slave 4 U" and danced around the stage with an albino snake. Along with another blitz of media attention, she was also criticized by the PETA organization for her use of animals (both the snake and four cheetahs) as a part of her performance.
In November 2001, 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. Over four million copies of the record have been sold in the U.S. alone [2], and while this is by no means low, these figures can not compare to the sales. of her first two albums. Britney also failed to spawn any U.S. top ten hits; in fact, the only successful single released from the album was "I'm a Slave 4 U", which reached the top thirty. This album is also notable for being the first of which Spears really began to take some creative control; she co-wrote five of the album's tracks. At the same time the album was released, Spears set off on her next world tour: the Dream Within a Dream Tour.
In 2002, Spears starred in a movie, Crossroads, which reached number two in its first week at the box-office charts (which was mostly thanks to her legions of preteen fans), but quickly dropped from sight. Songs from the album Britney appeared in the film. Spears' performance was badly received by critics, and she netted herself a Razzie Award for Worst Actress, tied with Madonna. One of the tracks from Britney, "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman", also won the Worst Original Song award, and in 2005 Spears was again 'honored' by the Golden Raspberry judges when she was proclaimed Worst Supporting Actress for her cameo role in the documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which showed her response to a CNN interview question by Tucker Carlson, regarding her political views during the then-impending 2003 invasion of Iraq.
On another sour note, Spears' four-year relationship with Justin Timberlake ended in March 2002. The break-up became a very publicized event on the news and in the tabloids, with rumors swirling that Britney had been unfaithful. Timberlake himself left the impression that she had cheated. 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; but the venture was not a success, and the restaurant closed in 2003. A couple of months later, she 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 for Britney.
It would not be until August 2003 that Spears truly resurfaced on the music scene. That month, she appeared in perhaps her most controversial performance to-date with her idol Madonna, pop contemporary Christina Aguilera and rapper Missy Elliott. Spears and Aguilera performed Madonna's classic hit "Like a Virgin", danced suggestively and then each locked lips with the pop icon. In particuliar, the kiss between Madonna and Spears launched a huge media coverage that would last for months.
In the Zone is generally perceived as Spears' most overtly sexual album to-date.
In November 2003, Spears' fourth album, In the Zone was released. Jettisoning the Max Martin-produced synth-pop of her earlier releases, the album took in lesser-known producers such as RedZone, as well as such big names as Moby and R. Kelly. Spears co-wrote eight of the album's thirteen songs and also helped with producing for the first time. Zone rose straight 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. The record has sold three million copies in the U.S. even with less promotion than previous Spears records, [3] and spawned the international number one and U.S. top ten hit "Toxic". The single struck gold not only commercially, but also critically as it helped Spears win 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."
In March, Spears embarked on her fourth world tour, The Onyx Hotel Tour, which grossed over $34 million USD and was seen by over 600,000 fans in North America and Europe. In June, she cancelled the remaining dates of her tour after reportedly injuring her knee during the filming of the video for her single "Outrageous". That same month, Spears, 22, announced her engagement to dancer Kevin Federline, 26. 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. During the ceremony, Spears wore a surprisingly demure strapless, white gown by Monique Lhuillier but changed into a dangerously short, lace minidress for the reception. The wedding party donned sweatsuits after the reception and ventured out to an L.A. nightclub for an afterparty of drinking, dancing and full-on partying until after 2 a.m. 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.
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During the latter half of 2004, Spears announced she would be taking another career break in order to start a family. In fact, 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 stopped making many 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. [4] In addition, the perfume ended up as the number one fragrance of 2004 in department stores, and in 2005, "Curious" was honored by the Fragrance Foundation, naming it 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.
Greatest Hits: My Prerogative.
In late 2004, Spears released her first hits collection: Greatest Hits: My Prerogative. 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; since hitting shelves, the set has sold over a million copies in the States. The collection includes all of her biggest hits, such as "...Baby One More Time", "Oops!... I Did It Again" and "Toxic", as well as two new songs and a cover of Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative", which was featured as the lead single. A second single entitled "Do Somethin'" was released in early 2005.
During the spring of 2005, Spears' reality show with husband Kevin Federline, entitled Britney and Kevin: Chaotic, premiered on UPN in the U.S. In total, the series included five episodes. 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, including new videos, radio singles, or even new artwork, and seemed to be a disc only for the diehard fan. The album debuted at number 134 in the U.S. and sold less than 15,000 copies in its first week of release.
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