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Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981, in Kentwood,
Louisiana. She always knew she wanted to pursue a musical career and
took her talents to her local church, where she sang with the choir.
She even sang on national television, as a Star Search contestant.
At the age of 8, Britney auditioned for the popular children's
variety show, The New Mickey Mouse Club, but was refused because of
her young age. Luckily for Britney, one of the show's producers saw
the young singer's talent and helped her find an agent in New York
City.
Britney spent the next three summers in New York, where she studied
at the famous Off Broadway Dance Center and at the Professional
Performing Arts School. To add to the formation of a future
international star, Britney appeared in commercials and off-Broadway
shows, one of which showcased Britney as an innocent 10-year-old
with a "bad girl" edge.
Three years after her first Mickey Mouse Club rejection, Britney
finally landed a spot as a "Mouseketeer" at the age of 11. Joining a
cast of talented teens on the show, Britney showed off her acting,
dancing and singing talents on the show that also spawned the
careers of fellow beauties Keri Russell and Christina Aguilera.
After two years of living in Orlando with her family while doing the
show, Britney moved back home to Kentwood after the show was
canceled, and returned to high school.
   
Her one normal year as a 14-year-old high school student would be
the last bit of normalcy in Britney's life. With dreams of pursuing
a career as a singer and a desire to leave her small hometown,
Britney set off to New York City yet again, this time destined to
sign with a major record label.
Britney finally signed with Jive Records, after an executive was
fully impressed with the talent he heard on the demo tape. Working
with Eric Foster White, a producer who had previously worked with
artists such as Boyzone and Whitney Houston, Britney's debut album
was finally ready for its January 12, 1999 release date.
...Baby One More Time spawned such hits as "Crazy," "Sometimes" and
of course the title track, the infectious "...[Hit Me] Baby, One
More Time." The album held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts,
was certified RIAA 12 times platinum (it has gone on to sell more
than 20 million copies), and won Britney awards such as the 1999 MTV
Europe Awards for Best Female Artist, Best Pop Artist and Best
Breakthrough Artist.
Between the release of her smash debut and the recording of her
second album, Britney co-wrote a book with mom Lynne Spears,
entitled Heart to Heart, and went on an extensive worldwide tour.
A huge Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson and Madonna fan, Britney was
scrutinized by the media early on, with reports of a breast
augmentation and a love affair with England's most eligible
bachelor, Prince William.
With the Britney Spears hype nowhere near over, she returned to the
music scene in 2000 with her follow-up album, entitled Oops!...I Did
It Again. With a hit video accompanying the hit title track (in
which Miss Spears definitely did it again, this time in a red latex
catsuit), a second worldwide tour in support of her album, and
millions of fans, Britney accomplished what few artists ever
accomplish, at the mere age of 18.
   
Oops!...I Did It Again spawned hit singles like "Lucky," "Stronger"
(with an accompanying video that features her performing a lap dance
to a chair) and "Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know."
2001 was a banner year for the pop star, as she co-hosted the
American Music Awards with L.L. Cool J; performed at the Rock in Rio
festival (where audiences got a real glimpse of what she sounds like
offstage -- and we don't mean her singing voice); performed with
Aerosmith, 'N Sync, Nelly, and Mary J. Blige at the Super Bowl;
appeared on a spoken-word CD of the Pope's prayers; and signed a
multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with Pepsi.
While she danced with factory workers in a warehouse, impressing
even Viagra-enhanced Bob Dole and his dog, Christina Aguilera
starred in a Coca-Cola commercial, fueling more than just a soda pop
war.
The mystery of her sudden physical maturity is still unsolved, but
there are two rumors we can dispel: Britney was not cuddling up to
Prince William, but rather a prince of pop, former 'N Sync singer
Justin Timberlake. After their breakup and Justin's constant
on-the-record interviews in which he stated that he and Britney did
have sex, Britney finally admitted that she did in fact sleep with
Justin (and added it was because she thought she would marry him).
And another rumor that was certainly not true is the one claiming
that Britney and Justin were killed in a car crash in Los Angeles in
2001; it was just a prank courtesy of two radio personalities at
Dallas radio station KEGL, who were later fired.
In 2001, the hardworking singer released her third and self-titled
album, which spawned hits like "Overprotected," "I'm Not A Girl, Not
Yet A Woman" and "Slave 4 U."
As if CDs, sold-out concerts, books (her second co-written book with
her mother was released in April 2001, entitled A Mother's Gift),
and a huge endorsement deal weren't enough, Britney starred in her
first feature film, Crossroads in 2002 (although her only award win
came from the Razzie Awards for Worst Actress), starred as host and
performer on Saturday Night Live (in February 2002), had a cameo in
Austin Powers in Goldmember, and even entered the restaurant
industry with her own establishment, Nyla (which stands for her two
favorite places, "NY" for New York and "LA" for her home state of
Louisiana -- the restaurant has since closed).
But Britney's personal life was continuing to make headlines. After
her public breakup with now solo singer Justin Timberlake in 2002
(after his song and video "Cry Me River," it seems like Brit cheated
on him), the once chaste Miss Spears was making the tabloids and
entertainment news shows for her heavy partying and rebellious
lifestyle.
She even appeared at a movie premiere with bad boy Colin Farrell,
and her many tattoos and confirmation that Justin indeed did have
sex with Britney only added fuel to the fire. Throw in a nearly
naked performance at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, a performance
with caged animals and a snake at the following year's VMAs, and a
very erotic video for the aforementioned "Slave 4 U," and it seemed
like Britney was far from the good girl she once promoted herself to
be.
   
But the saga continued. A few months before the release of her
fourth album, In The Zone, Britney shocked audiences yet again at
the VMAs, this time in a remixed rendition of Madonna's "Like A
Virgin" and "Hollywood." Along with Christina Aguilera and dressed
like a prostitute/bride, Britney kissed Madonna in one of the most
memorable -- and scandalous -- moments of the year. The publicity
surely helped and it seemed Madonna really meant it when she said
she was a Britney fan, as the Material Girl appeared on the first
single off In The Zone, "Me Against the Music," and co-starred in
the video. In The Zone was released in November 2003, and debuted at
No. 1 with more than 609,000 copies sold in its first week of
release. That same month, Britney received a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame.
But the stunt that really took the cake was Britney's quickie
marriage to childhood pal, Jason Allen Alexander (not of Seinfeld
fame). She and Alexander exchanged vows at a Las Vegas chapel, after
a night of drinking. The marriage was annulled 55 hours later,
although they're apparently still friends.
While the second single off In The Zone, "Toxic," is proving to be
another hit for Britney, she is co-starring in a Gladiator-style
Pepsi commercial with Beyonce, Pink and Enrique Iglesias. It's clear
that whatever Britney does, she continues to rock us.
Despite the failure of Crossroads, we haven't seen the last of
Britney on the big screen: she is set to appear in the 2007 comedy,
In the Pink.
On the personal front, Britney married her former back-up dancer
Kevin Federline on September 18, 2004, and after months of
separation and weight gain rumors, Britney announced that she was
pregnant with a baby boy, who she gave birth to in 2005. The young
husband and wife would go on to have another child, a baby boy named
Jayden in 2006, but ended up in court later that year when Britney
filed for divorce on November 7, 2006. |
