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Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears was born December 2, 1981 and is an iconic American pop music singer, songwriter and dancer. Her career includes chart-topping records, high-profile advertising and a stint into both acting and reality television. She is recognized throughout the world despite the controversy surrounding the sexuality of her music and image.

Born to Lynne and Jamie Spears in McComb, Mississippi, USA and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears first came to fame as a member of the Disney Channel's New Mickey Mouse Club during the 1993 and 1994 seasons.

Her castmates on the show included Justin Timberlake and Joshua Chasez (who later became members of the pop band *NSYNC), Keri Russell (star of the TV series Felicity), Christina Aguilera, and actor Ryan Gosling. Spears dated Timberlake for about five years.

In 2004, Spears, 22, announced her engagement to dancer Kevin Federline, 26. Federline was formerly in a relationship with the actress Shar Jackson, with whom he has two children.

On the night of September 18, 2004, Spears married Federline before 20-30 guests in a private ceremony at a residence in Studio City, California. The legitimacy of the marriage was initially questioned, but on November 18, 2004 a representative of the Los Angeles County registrar's office confirmed Spears and Federline had successfully filed their marriage license with the county within ten days of their ceremony and were therefore legally married.

In April 2005, she announced through her website she was pregnant with her first child, and reports have surfaced that she may be carrying a boy called Preston.

Her first album on Jive Records, ...Baby One More Time, debuted at #1 on the Canadian chart as well as the U.S. Billboard 200 on January 12, 1999, where it spent six non-consecutive weeks at the top. The lead single of the same name was also a #1 hit in many countries, including the U.S. and U.K., and was accompanied by a music video in which Spears wore a schoolgirl outfit and danced down a high school corridor. Follow-up singles included the top thirty "Sometimes", top ten "You Drive Me Crazy" and top twenty "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart".

Spears broke the record for the youngest artist, at age 17, to have their first single reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with "...Baby One More Time".

Her follow-up album, Oops!... I Did It Again, released on May 16, 2000, also debuted at #1 in the U.S. and Canada, and was a similarly huge hit. It sold over 1.3 million units its first week in the U.S., making it the fastest-selling album by a female artist. The album has shipped over 10 million copies and reached SoundScan sales of over 9 million copies in the U.S. alone.

Following the success of her first two albums, Britney's career took-off, and a multi-million-dollar music, film, advertising, concert and TV-special the industry was all around her. Her most popular ads were for Pepsi, for which she earned a reported $7-$8 million. Spears has also been in ads for McDonald's and Skechers, and many more other companies. During this time, the singer also branched out as an author by co-writing a book with her mother Lynne called Britney Spears' Heart-to-Heart.

Britney's next album simply called Britney, was released on November 6, 2001, and again debuted at #1 on both the U.S. and Canadian charts, selling over 740,000 units its first week in the U.S. This made her the only female artist in SoundScan history to have her first three albums debut at #1. The first single, the top thirty hit "I'm a Slave 4 U", was produced by The Neptunes. Other singles included "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman", "Overprotected", "Anticipating", "Boys" and "I Love Rock 'N Roll". Though these tracks did well internationally, they all failed to make much of a stir on U.S. radio. Over 4 million copies of Britney have been sold in the States.

In 2002, Spears starred in her first movie, Crossroads, which reached #2 in its first week at the box-office charts. Songs from the album Britney appeared in the film. Britney's performance wasn't well received by critics. In June 2002 Britney branched out as a restaurateur with the opening of a New York City eatery, NYLA; but it was not a success, and the restaurant closed in 2003. In addition, she also released the follow-up novel to Britney Spears' Heart-to-Heart; this one was entitled A Mother's Gift.

In September 2002, she needed to take a break from the spotlight. Over the course of her first three albums, Spears had sold over 50 million copies worldwide. Yet Britney has not won a grammy award.

Britney's fourth album, In the Zone, was released on November 18, 2003. Spears co-wrote eight of the album's thirteen songs. Zone rose straight to the top of the U.S. album charts in its debut week, making Spears the only female in music history to have her first four albums debut at #1. After an opening performance in which she kissed Madonna at the August 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, the pop legend was also featured on the album's first single, "Me Against the Music". The single went top forty in the U.S., but was a top five hit in many other countries around the world. Single "Toxic" was also a worldwide smash, marking her return to the Billboard Top 10 Singles Chart.

Just a day before the release of her record, Britney received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On January 3, 2004, Spears married her childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander at The Little White Wedding Chapel on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The couple promptly arranged for an annulment, which was granted on January 5, ending their 55-hour marriage. Following the wedding, Spears released the second single from Zone, "Toxic", which became a worldwide and #1 hit in several countries. The single also marked Spears' first top ten hit on the Hot 100 since "Oops!... I Did It Again".

In March, Spears embarked on her fourth world tour, "The Onyx Hotel Tour", which grossed over an amazing $34 million dollars and was seen by over 600,000 fans in North America and Europe. Meanwhile, the album's third single, "Everytime", was starting to receive radio play. In June, she cancelled the remaining dates of her tour after supposedly injuring her knee during the filming of a video for the fourth single from Zone, "Outrageous".

In 2005, Britney finally received her first Grammy award for the single "Toxic" in the category of Best Dance Recording.

Britney can be seen in these movies:

Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Crossroads (2002)