Britney Spears full biography

Throughout her career, Spears has earned numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award; fifteen Guinness World Records; six MTV Video Music Awards, including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award; seven Billboard Music Awards, including the Millennium Award;[478] the inaugural Radio Disney Icon Award; the GLAAD Media Award's Vanguard Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[479]  Wax figure of Spears on display at Madame Tussauds in London[390] Upon launching her music career with ...Baby One More Time, Spears was labeled a teen idol,[391] and Rolling Stone described her as "the latest model of a classic product: the unneurotic pop star who performs her duties with vaudevillian pluck and spokesmodel charm."[29] The April 1999 cover of Rolling Stone featured Spears lying on her bed, wearing an open top revealing her bra, and shorts, while clutching a Teletubby.[29][392] The American Family Association (AFA) referred to the shoot as "a disturbing mix of childhood innocence and adult sexuality" and called on "God-loving Americans to boycott stores selling Britney's albums." Spears addressed the outcry, commenting: "What's the big deal? I have strong morals. ... I'd do it again. I thought the pictures were fine. And I was tired of being compared to Debbie Gibson and all of this bubblegum pop all the time."[393] Shortly prior, Spears had announced publicly she would remain abstinent until marriage.[30][394] An early criticism of Spears dismissed her as a "manufactured pop star, the product of a Swedish songwriting factory that had no real hand in either her music or her persona", which Vox editor Constance Grady assesses as being perpetuated from the fact that Spears debuted in the late 1990s, when music was dominated by rockism, that prizes "so-called authenticity and grittiness of rock above all else". Spears's "slick, breezy pop was an affront to rockist sensibilities, and claiming that Spears was fake was an easy way to dismiss her." Ron Levy for Rolling Stone noted that "I have to tell you, if the record company could have created more than one Britney Spears, they would have done it, and they tried!"[389] Billboard opined that, by the time Spears released her sophomore album Oops!... I Did It Again, "There was a shift occurring in both the music and her public image: She was sharper, sexier and singing about more grown-up fare, setting the stage for 2001's Britney, which shed her innocent skin and ushered her into adulthood."[395] Britney's lead single "I'm a Slave 4 U" and its music video were also credited for distancing her from her previous "wholesome bubblegum star" image.[396][397] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic remarked, "If 2001's Britney was a transitional album, capturing Spears at the point when she wasn't a girl and not yet a woman, its 2003 follow-up, In the Zone, is where she has finally completed that journey and turned into Britney, the Adult Woman." Erlewine likened Spears to fellow singer Christina Aguilera, explaining that both equated "maturity with transparent sexuality and the pounding sounds of nightclubs".[340] Brittany Spanos of LA Weekly stated that Spears "set the bar for the 'adulthood' transition teen pop stars often struggle with".[398] Spears's erratic behavior and personal problems during 2006–2008 were highly publicized[399] and affected both her career and public image.[341][400] Erlewine reflected on this period of her life, stating that "each new disaster [was] stripping away any residual sexiness in her public image".[341] In a 2008 article, Rolling Stone's Vanessa Grigoriadis described her much-publicized personal issues as "the most public downfall of any star in history".[400] Spears later received favorable media attention; Billboard opined that her appearance at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards "was a picture of professionalism and poise" after her "disastrous" performance at the previous year's show,[401] while Business Insider ran an article on how she had "lost control of her life ... and then made an incredible career comeback".[402] Spears later reflected on this tumultuous period, saying: "I think I had to give myself more breaks through my career and take responsibility for my mental health. ... I wrote back then, that I was lost and didn't know what to do with myself. I was trying to please everyone around me because that's who I am deep inside. There are moments where I look back and think: 'What the hell was I thinking?'"[403] In September 2002, Spears was placed at number eight on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists list.[404] She was placed at number one on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World list in 2004,[405] and, in December 2012, Complex ranked her 12th on its 100 Hottest Female Singers of All Time list.[406] Remarking upon her perceived image as a sex symbol, Spears stated: "When I'm on stage, that's my time to do my thing and go there and be that — and it's fun. It's exhilarating just to be something that you're not. And people tend to believe it."[345] In 2003, People magazine cited her as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People.[407] Spears is recognized as a gay icon and was honored with the 2018 GLAAD Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for her role in "accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community".[247] Spears addressed the "unwavering loyalty" and "lack of judgment" of her LGBTQ fans in Billboard's Love Letters to the LGBTQ Community. She said: "Your stories are what inspire me, bring me joy, and make me and my sons strive to be better people."[408] Manuel Betancourt of Vice magazine wrote about the "queer adoration", especially of gay men, on Spears, and said that "Where other gay icons exude self-possession, Spears' fragile resilience has made her an even more fascinating role model, closer to Judy Garland than to Lady Gaga ... she's a glittering mirror ball, a fractured reflection of those men on the dance floor back onto themselves."[372] HuffPost's Ben Appel attributed Spears's status as a gay icon to "her oh-so-innocent/"not that innocent" Monroe-like sensuality, her sweet, almost saccharine nature, her beyond basic but addictive pop songs, her dance moves, her phoenix-out-of-the-fire comeback from a series of mental health crises, and her unmistakable tenderness. Britney is camp. She is a fashion plate. A doll. Britney is a drag queen."[409] Since her early years in the public eye, Spears has been a tabloid fixture and a paparazzi target.[395][394][410] Steve Huey of AllMusic remarked that "among female singers of [Spears's] era ... her celebrity star power was rivaled only by Jennifer Lopez."[394] 'Britney Spears' was Yahoo!'s most popular search term between 2005 and 2008, and has been in a total of seven different years.[411] Spears was named as Most Searched Person in the Guinness World Records book edition 2007 and 2009.[412] She was later named as the most searched person of the decade 2000–2009.[413] As a public figure, Spears "has never been known to her fans as a politically active, committed—or even aware—entertainer."[332] In a 2003 interview with Tucker Carlson, she commented on President George W. Bush and the Iraq War, saying that "we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes ... and be faithful in what happens".[414] Michael Moore included the footage of Spears's answer in his "anti-Bush" documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which, according to The Washington Times's James Frazier, presented her "as an example of a naive American blindly trusting a dishonest commander in chief" and fueled the "urban legend" of a "conservative" Spears. Frazier also said that "the few positions she has taken can hardly be considered conservative", such as supporting same-sex marriage.[332] In 2016, Spears posted pictures of a meeting with Hillary Clinton on social media. She described Clinton as "an inspiration and [a] beautiful voice for women around the world".[415] In December 2017, Spears publicly showed support for the DREAM Act in the wake of the announcement that Donald Trump would end the DACA policy, which previously granted undocumented immigrants who came to the country as minors a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation. She posted a photo of herself on social media wearing a black T-shirt that reads "We Are All Dreamers" in white letters. The caption read, "Tell Congress to pass the #DreamAct".[416] In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Spears posted an image on Instagram stating, "During this time of isolation ... We will feed each other, redistribute wealth, strike. We will understand our own importance from the places we must stay", along with three emoji roses, "a symbol commonly used by the Democratic Socialists of America".[417] She later voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd protests in the wake of his murder, saying: "My heart breaks for my friends in the black community ... and for everything going on in our country. Right now I think we should all do what we can to listen, learn, do better, and use our voices for good."[418] On September 15, 2021, Spears was named one of the 100 most influential people of 2021 by Time magazine. A few days before the editors's list was released, Spears was put at the top of the readers voting list of which personalities should be included on the annual Time 100 list. Deemed an icon of 2021, editors highlighted the impact of her fight against her conservatorship as well as of the #FreeBritney movement.[419][420] In October 2021, Spears thanked her fans and the #FreeBritney movement for "freeing me from my conservatorship Referred to as the "Princess of Pop",[422][423] Spears was credited as one of the "driving force[s] behind the return of teen pop in the late 1990s".[394][333] 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."[423] 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."[424] Glamour magazine 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."[425] Billboard's Robert Kelly observed that Spears's "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."[426] 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."[427] 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.[428] All of these performers had been developing material in 1998, but the market changed dramatically in December 1998 when Spears's single and video were charting highly. RCA Records quickly signed Aguilera and rushed her debut single to capitalize on Spears's success, producing the hit single "Genie in a Bottle" in June 1999 and Aguilera's debut album a few months later.[429] Her album sold millions but not as many as Spears's.[430] 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.[431][432] 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".[433][434] Fueling media stories about their competition for first place, Spears and Aguilera traded barbs but also compliments through the 2000s In January 2001, Spears hosted the 28th Annual American Music Awards, starred at Rock in Rio alongside NSYNC, and performed as a special guest in the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show headlined by Aerosmith and NSYNC.[62][63] In February 2001, she signed a $7–8 million promotional deal with Pepsi, and released another book co-written with her mother, titled A Mother's Gift.[30] Her self-titled third studio album, Britney, was released in November 2001. While on tour, she felt inspired by hip hop artists such as Jay-Z and The Neptunes and wanted to create a record with a funkier sound.[64] The album debuted at number one in the Billboard 200 and reached top five positions in Australia, the United Kingdom, and mainland Europe, and has sold 10 million copies worldwide.[45][65][66] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called Britney "the record where she strives to deepen her persona, making it more adult while still recognizably Britney. ... It does sound like the work of a star who has now found and refined her voice, resulting in her best record yet."[67] The album was honored with two Grammy nominations—Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Overprotected"—and was listed in 2007 as one of Entertainment Weekly's "100 Best Albums from the Past 25 Years".[68][69] The album's lead single, "I'm a Slave 4 U", became a top ten hit worldwide.[70] Spears's performance of the single at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards featured a caged tiger (wrangled by Bhagavan Antle) and a large albino python draped over her shoulders.[71] It was harshly received by animal rights organization PETA, who claimed the animals were mistreated and scrapped plans for an anti-fur billboard that was to feature Spears.[58] Jocelyn Vena of MTV summarized Spears's performance at the ceremony, saying, "draping herself in a white python and slithering around a steamy garden setting – surrounded by dancers in zebra and tiger outfits – Spears created one of the most striking visuals in the 27-year history of the show."[72] To support the album, Spears embarked on the Dream Within a Dream Tour. The show was critically praised for its technical innovations, the pièce de résistance being a water screen that pumped two tons of water into the stage.[73][74] The tour grossed $43.7 million, becoming the second highest-grossing tour of 2002 by a female artist, behind Cher's Farewell Tour.[75] Her career success was highlighted by Forbes in 2002, as Spears was ranked the world's most powerful celebrity.[76] Spears also landed her first starring role in Crossroads, released in February 2002. Although the film was largely panned, critics praised Spears's acting and the film was a box office success.[77][78][79] Crossroads, which had a $12 million budget, went on to gross over $61.1 million worldwide "...Baby One More Time" was released as the lead single from the album. Originally, Jive Records wanted its music video to be animated; however, Spears rejected it, and suggested the final concept of a Catholic schoolgirl.[37] The single sold 500,000 copies on its first day, and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, topping the chart for two consecutive weeks. It has sold more than 10 million copies, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.[40][41] "...Baby One More Time" later received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.[42] The title track also topped the singles chart for two weeks in the United Kingdom, and became the fastest-selling single ever by a female artist, shipping over 460,000 copies.[43] It would later become the 25th-most successful song of all time in British chart history.[44] Spears is the youngest female artist to have a million seller in the UK.[45] The album's third single "(You Drive Me) Crazy" became a top-ten hit worldwide and further propelled the success of the ...Baby One More Time album. The album has sold 25 million copies worldwide,[46][47] making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. It is the best-selling debut album by any artist.[48][49] On June 28, 1999, Spears began her first headlining ...Baby One More Time Tour in North America, which was positively received by critics.[50] It also generated some controversy due to her racy outfits.[51] An extension of the tour, titled (You Drive Me) Crazy Tour, followed in March 2000. Spears premiered songs from her upcoming second album during the show.[34] Oops!... I Did It Again, Spears's second studio album, was released in May 2000. It debuted at number one in the US, selling 1.3 million copies, breaking the Nielsen SoundScan record for the highest debut sales by any solo artist.[52] It has sold over 20 million copies worldwide to date,[53] making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone said that "the great thing about Oops! – under the cheese surface, Britney's demand for satisfaction is complex, fierce and downright scary, making her a true child of rock & roll tradition."[54] The album's lead single, "Oops!... I Did It Again", peaked at the top of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and many other European nations,[45][55] while the second single "Lucky", peaked at number one in Austria, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland. The album as well as the title track received Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, respectively.[56] The same year, Spears embarked on the Oops!... I Did It Again Tour, which grossed $40.5 million; she also released her first book, Britney Spears' Heart to Heart, co-written with her mother.[30][57] On September 7, 2000, Spears performed at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Halfway through the performance, she ripped off her black suit to reveal a sequined flesh-colored bodysuit, followed by heavy dance routine. It is noted by critics as the moment that Spears showed signs of becoming a more provocative performer.[58] Amidst media speculation, Spears confirmed she was dating NSYNC member Justin Timberlake.[30] Spears and Timberlake both graduated from high school via distance learning from the University of Nebraska High School.[59][60] She also bought a home in Destin, Florida.[61] 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.[28][29][30] In gymnastics, Spears attended Béla Károlyi's training camp.[31] 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".[29] 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's 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.[citation needed] 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.[32][33] 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."[29][34]