Britney Spears

Britney Spears is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and writer from McComb, Mississippi. Born Britney Jean Spears in 1981, she begins as a child performer on The New Mickey Mouse Club, where she appears from 1993 to 1994 alongside Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.

Career and recording work

Spears helps revive teen pop in the late 1990s and early 2000s and is widely referred to as the Princess of Pop. She becomes a pop icon and one of the world’s best-selling music artists, with nearly 150 million records sold worldwide, including more than 70 million in the United States.

Her debut album, ...Baby One More Time (1999), becomes a major commercial success, reaches number one in the United States and Canada, and is certified 14× Platinum in the United States. It becomes the highest-selling album by a teenager in the US and worldwide. Her second album, Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), also debuts at number one in the United States and is certified diamond. With Britney (2001), she begins to take more creative control, co-writing five tracks, and becomes the only female artist in music history to have her first three albums debut at number one.

In the Zone (2003) marks a shift away from the synthpop style of her earlier work. It includes production from RedZone, Moby and R. Kelly, and Spears co-writes eight of its thirteen songs while co-producing some material for the first time. The album debuts at number one in the US. Its singles include “Me Against the Music”, “Toxic” and “Everytime”, all of which reach number one in Australia. “Toxic” becomes one of her signature songs and wins her first Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2005.

Releases, collaborations and media work

Spears releases the compilation Greatest Hits: My Prerogative in 2004, followed by the remix album B in the Mix: The Remixes in 2005. A bonus release connected to Britney & Kevin: Chaotic includes “Mona Lisa” and “Over to You Now”. She appears in the reality television series Britney and Kevin: Chaotic with Kevin Federline in 2005, and the bonus CD from the project contains additional tracks including “Someday (I Will Understand)”, “Mona Lisa” and “Over to You Now”.

She appears in the film Crossroads in 2002, has a guest role on Will & Grace in 2006, and later appears as a fictionalised version of herself on Jane the Virgin. She also becomes a judge on the US version of The X Factor in 2012, where she replaces Nicole Scherzinger and serves alongside Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid and Demi Lovato. With a reported salary of $15 million, she becomes the highest-paid judge on a singing competition series in television history.

Later albums, residencies and singles

Blackout is released in 2007 and includes the singles “Gimme More”, “Piece of Me” and “Break the Ice”. In 2008, Spears opens the MTV Video Music Awards for the third time and wins Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Video of the Year for “Piece of Me”.

Circus follows in 2008, led by “Womanizer”. The album debuts at number one in the United States, and Spears promotes it with The Circus Starring: Britney Spears tour, which begins in Louisiana and runs through North America, Europe and Australia. MTV also airs the documentary For the Record around the album’s release.

Femme Fatale arrives in 2011 and is executive produced by Max Martin and Dr. Luke. Its lead single, “Hold It Against Me”, debuts at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also includes “Till the World Ends” and “I Wanna Go”. In 2011, Spears receives the MTV Video Vanguard Award and releases B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2. She also appears on Rihanna’s remix of “S&M”, which reaches number one in the US.

Spears later features on will.i.am’s “Scream & Shout”, which becomes her sixth number one on the UK Singles Chart and peaks at number three in the US. Her eighth studio album, Britney Jean, is released through RCA Records in 2013 after the disbandment of Jive Records. It includes “Work Bitch” and “Perfume”, and also leads to the track “Ooh La La” for The Smurfs 2 soundtrack and a guest appearance on Miley Cyrus’s “SMS (Bangerz)”.

In 2013, she begins the residency show Britney: Piece of Me at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. She extends the residency and later confirms a contract renewal with RCA while continuing to record new material. She also releases the intimate apparel line The Intimate Britney Spears, which is sold through her own website and later becomes available in many countries.

Her 2015 releases include “Pretty Girls” with Iggy Azalea and “Tom’s Diner” with Giorgio Moroder on the album Deja Vu. She also receives the Candie’s Style Icon Award at the Teen Choice Awards that year.

In 2016, Spears begins work on her ninth studio album and releases “Make Me...” featuring G-Eazy. The album Glory follows, and she performs a medley at the Billboard Music Awards, where she receives the Billboard Millennium Award. She also launches the gaming app Britney Spears: American Dream.

Personal life and recognition

Spears marries Kevin Federline in 2004 and has two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James. Their divorce is finalised in 2007. She later becomes engaged to Jason Trawick, who is also her former agent, and he serves as co-conservator with her father before the engagement ends and the arrangement changes.

Her work earns multiple awards and nominations across the MTV Video Music Awards, the Grammy Awards, the People’s Choice Awards and the Teen Choice Awards. She is also named Music’s top-earning woman by Forbes in 2012 and receives the Favourite Pop Artist award at the People’s Choice Awards in 2014.