Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an Emmy and Grammy-winning multi-platinum American pop singer, songwriter, dancer and occasional actress, director and author from Kentwood, Louisiana, United States. She's ranked the eighth best-selling female musician in America and has sold more than 85 million albums and 35 million singles worldwide, with nine #1 singles and 6 #1 albums in the United World Chart. Spears also holds the title to multiple Guinness World Records. As a child, Spears performed as a cast member of The New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994. She has released eight albums to date:"...Baby One More Time" (1999), "Oops!...I Did It Again" (2000), "Britney" (2001), "In the Zone" (2003), "Greatest Hits: My Prerogative" (2004), "B in the Mix: the Remixes" (2005), "Blackout" (2007) and "Circus" (2008). She became a Pepsi spokesperson in 2001, earning a $7-8 million endorsement deal. For the "We Will Rock You" Pepsi campaign Britney received $9.27 million. Following the success of her previous album, Spears released the album Oops!... I Did It Again in May 2000. It debuted at number one in the U.S. by selling 1,319,193 units during its first week of sales, breaking the SoundScan record for the highest album sales in its debut week by any solo artist. The RIAA awarded the album with a diamond certification with 10 million copies sold in the U.S. Spears released her third studio album Britney in November 2001. Although not as successful as her previous albums, she assumed some creative control by co-writing five of the album's tracks. It surpassed Michael Jackson's album Invincible when it had a successful debut at number one in the U.S. by selling 745,744 units during its first week. The album's success made her the only female artist in music history to have her first three albums debut at number one. 2002 found Britney in her first movie role, the somewhat biographical Crossroads. That same year, her four-year relationship with Justin Timberlake came to an end. His 2002 song "Cry Me a River" and its music video, which featured an actress resembling Spears, caused speculation that Spears had been unfaithful; Timberlake, however, denied that his song was meant to portray her. Spears released her fourth studio album 'In the Zone' in November 2003, jettisoning the Max Martin-produced synthpop of her earlier releases. The album took in lesser-known producers such as RedZone and big names including Moby and R. Kelly. Spears co-wrote eight of the album's thirteen songs and co-produced several pieces of her material for the first time. In the Zone reached number one in the U.S. charts during its debut week, selling over 609,000 copies. This made Spears the first female in the Nielsen SoundScan era to have her first four studio albums to debut at number one In July 2004, Spears became engaged to back-up dancer Kevin Federline. She and Federline were married on September 18 that same year. She also released a fragrance in September 2004, entitled Curious, and another, Fantasy, the following year. In early 2006, she released the limited edition fragrance In Control Curious. Spears and her husband starred in their own reality television show, Britney and Kevin: Chaotic in the first half of 2005. In the final season of the show, Spears released the single Someday (I Will Understand) but the song and video were not available in the US. 'Britney & Kevin: Chaotic...' the bonus CD, includes Mona Lisa and Over to You Now. November 2004 saw the release of her first greatest hits collection, Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, which features all of Spears's singles with the exception of "From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart". It also featured three previously unreleased songs, them being a cover version of American R&B singer Bobby Brown's 1988 hit "My Prerogative", "Do Somethin'", produced by Bloodshy and Avant, whom she had worked with on In The Zone, and "I've Just Begun (Havin' My Fun)", which was a song recorded for Spears's fourth album, In The Zone, but did not make the final cut. By the end of that year, Spears had become one of the best-selling artists in the world. In November 2005, Spears released her first remix album, B In The Mix: The Remixes. The album ranged from "...Baby One More Time" to "Toxic". Her newest single "Someday (I Will Understand)" was also remixed. Another single, "And Then We Kiss", was only released in Asia, where it charted in many countries. The song peaked at number 15 on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart despite it not being officially released in the U.S. It also peaked at #13 on Australia's Hot 30 Countdown despite not being released. In 2005, she won her first Grammy award for 'Best Dance Recording' for her song "Toxic". On September 14, 2005, Spears gave birth to her first child, a boy, named Sean Preston. She appeared as a guest on Will and Grace in 2006. During an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman in May 2006, she announced that she was expecting once again. On September 12, 2006 Spears gave birth to her second child, a son named Jayden James. On November 6, 2006 Spears filed for divorce from husband Kevin Federline. The Divorce was finalized on July 30, 2007. Federline has full custody of their sons with Britney allowed monitored visits and pick ups from pre-school each week. Spears released her latest Elizabeth Arden fragrance "Believe" in September, 2007 On October 30, 2007 Spears released her 5th studio album entitled "Blackout" with its first single "Gimme More" being performed at the MTV Video Music Awards. "Gimme More was Britney's most successful single on the Billboard Hot 100 by peak position since "...Baby One More Time". The next two singles from "Blackout" were 'Piece of Me' and 'Break the Ice'. On September 7, 2008, Spears opened the MTV Video Music Awards for the third time. Although having not performed, a skit with Jonah Hill was pre-taped, as well as an introduction speech to the official opening of the show. Spears won Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Video Of The Year for "Piece of Me". On September 15, Jive released a statement announcing the title of her sixth studio album, Circus as well as the first single, Womanizer. The single was released to radio stations on September 26, and the release date for the album is December 2, Spears's 27th birthday. The album is released in Australia on the 29th of November and in various European countries on the 27th. Womanizer was her first #1 track on the "Billboard Hot 100" since ...Baby One More Time and made a new digital download record beating Mariah Careys We Belong Together. It also holds the record for biggest jump, going from #96 to #1. MTV signed a deal with Spears and Jive records to release a documentary titled 'For the Record', it will air on November 30, 2008, two days before the release of Circus. The documentary was shot over three months and will feature Britney discussing her personal life as well as her career. People Magazine and MTV reported that on October 1, 2008, Bronx's John Philip Sousa Middle School, named their music studio in honor of Britney Spears, Spears herself was present during the ceremony and donated $10,000 dollars to the school's music program. On November 6, 2008, Spears made a live appearance on Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The singers performed a remix to Madonna's 1994 hit single "Human Nature".[163] The same day, she won two awards at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008, "Album of The Year" for Blackout and "Act of 2008", and despite not being present, two acceptance videos were taped and shown at the show.