Categories
American diva Britney Jean Spears is a solo singer that became a pop sensation in the ‘90s. She gained popularity as a teen pop soloist who has several major hits, including “…Baby One More Time”, “Toxic”, and “Sometimes”. Outside her glamorous life, she got spotlight for some controversies and personal struggles.
The artist was born in McComb, Mississippi on December 2, 1981 as the middle child of three. Since she was young, she loved singing and dancing in front of the TV and was always excited to join talent shows. The 8 years-old Spears auditioned for a Disney television show The All New Mickey Mouse Club but failed because she was too young. The producers offered her to get an agent in New York City and later she attended the Professional Performing Arts School. Her childhood dream of being a performer came true when she entered a talent competition Star Search in 1992. She auditioned for The All New Mickey Mouse for the second time when she was 11 and was picked for the cast, along with Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake.
After the show ended in 1995, Britney Spears embarked her solo career by signing a record deal to Jive Recording. She made a breakthrough with her debut single, “…Baby One More Time” and received sharp criticism towards the music video. The single, however, kept rising the music charts; it even peaked at the number one on the Billboard chart. In 1999, her self-titled album was launched featuring the hit singles “Sometimes”, “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart”, and “(You Drive Me) Crazy”. It was commercially successful with more than ten million copies sold in the US and topped the charts. The following year, her sophomore album Oops!…I Did It Again was released and sold millions of copies within the first week of release. It was boosted by the lead single of the same title and other tracks, such as “Lucky”, “Don’t Let Me Be the Last to Know”, and “Stronger”.
Spears established herself as a successful pop star with another chart-topper albums and singles. She shed her innocent image and showed a more mature vibe through the next work. In 2001, she issued the third album, Britney and followed with In the Zone (2003) featuring the Grammy-winning single “Toxic” and was commercially successful. “Womanizer”, the single from her 2008 album, became Spears’ first single that reached the number 1 on the Billboard chart since her debut. In 2011, the studio album Femme Fatale, featuring the Ke$ha co-written single “Till the World Ends”, went double platinum in the US. The success followed with a world tour until the end of the year. She released her so called most personal album, Britney Jean in 2013. In 2016, Spears released a collaboration single with rapper G-Eazy, “Make Me” which was featured in the follow up album, Glory.
As if the success from her singing career was not enough, Britney Spears branched out to television and acting for movie. She starred in Crossroads (2002), a movie that grossed more than $60 million worldwide. In 2012, she became one of the judges for the US version of The X Factor for season 2. Despite being a notable diva, Britney Spears got so much attention from media for her sexualized public persona. In 2006, her parenting skills made her scolded by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta after she was caught driving with her baby in her lap. She was bashed for her nervous and sluggish performance of the single “Gimme More” in the 2007 MTV VMA. Throughout her career, Spears had experienced several setbacks for her love life and family problems.
