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Britney Spears

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Britney Spears
Britney Spears performing at the National Mall in Washington, DC in September 2003.
Britney Spears performing at the National Mall in Washington, DC in September 2003.
Background information
OriginKentwood, Louisiana
Years active1998–present

Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American pop singer, songwriter and dancer. Her career encompasses chart-topping records, high-profile advertising, and forays into acting and reality television. She remains very popular throughout the world despite some controversy surrounding the perceived sexual nature of her music and image.


File:Britney.JPG
Britney was viewed as a developmental milestone in Spears' music.

In early 2001, she struck a $7-8 million USD promotional deal with the soft drink giant Pepsi; her first commercial for them premiered during the 2001 Academy Awards. She then released the follow-up novel to Britney Spears' Heart-to-Heart, with this one being entitled A Mother's Gift.

britney spears has had 14 affairs. 2 covictions of pocession of marijauna and 3 murders

Controversy

Spears' success has rested on a mixed fanbase. Some parents of young daughters have ambivalent or even negative feelings towards Britney Spears. To many critics, the singer has combined a very raunchy public image with a major marketing "play" for the hearts, minds and pockets of prepubescent girls, often as young as seven or eight. The sexualization of such girls is arguably a trend that is visible elsewhere in popular culture, for example in the film and fashion industries.

This has raised the question of how fast girls or young teens should move from childhood towards an early emotional adolescence. Some parents may worry that Britney Spears provides an unsuitable role model for their daughters' lives and career plans.

In October 2003, Maryland First Lady Kendel Ehrlich, the wife of Governor Robert Ehrlich, was criticized for saying she would like to "shoot Britney Spears" in an address to a domestic violence conference. After her comments made national headlines, she was compelled to apologize.

The sexualized public image of Britney Spears once again became a topic of debate as a result of her 2003 semi-nude photo spread for the men's magazine, Esquire. Prompted by this, Playboy reportedly offered the star over a million USD to pose nude for their magazine. Spears has publicly declined the offer. [1]

One of the more common criticisms linked with Spears is that of lip-synching. Most critics and musicians (at least in public) express a negative view on this way of performing, arguing that live entertainment should literally be what it suggests, singing included. Some argue that Spears, like other performers, can't practically sing while being engaged in complicated and demanding dance moves. Also, some see it as little different than lip-synching in music videos, which is standard. Also, defenders will distinguish between lip-synching to one's own pre-recorded music (which is widely conceded) and lip-synching to music sung entirely by others (which is denied and disputed). [2]

The 2004 Onyx Hotel Tour brought new criticism. While Spears and her on-stage dancers performed her songs "Touch of My Hand" and "Breathe on Me", they were seemingly nude and were performing explicit routines simulating gay sex, orgies and masturbation. Given that some underage fans were in the audience, there was some outrage at the lack of subtlety of the performances, and there were reports of adult chaperones angrily storming out with children they brought to the concert.

While young girls seldom address this debate in the same terms as their parents, many are divided on whether they consider Britney Spears appealing, especially in the light of more recent developments in her career. For her part, Spears has responded to their concerns by stating she is "not their babysitter. It's the parents' responsibility. If you don't like it, turn the T.V. off. The only person I want to be a role model is to my sister, Jamie Lynn." (From ABC's Primetime interview with Diane Sawyer).

The criticisms leveled against Spears are similar to those Madonna received at the start of her career. Indeed, Madonna's early fans belonged to a similar demographic to Spears' current fanbase. Spears' show-stealing kiss with Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards received much media attention, as have her recent marriages. Her provocative image and, ironically, seemingly down-to-earth personality have both equally contributed to her success. Many have compared Spears to a young Madonna.

In common with a number of other popular female figures in show business, Britney Spears' private life has attracted considerable media attention. Indeed, some people feel she has courted it by cultivating, in her early years at least, a chaste, God-fearing and "wholesome" image somewhat at odds, not only with the traditional pressures, temptations and opportunities of "pop 'n' roll", but with the increasingly sexualized content of her own songs. Regardless of where the responsibility for the gossip industry surrounding the pop star lies, Spears' public response has been to repeatedly express regret and resentment at the intrusive media coverage.

Career achievements

  • According to the VH1 special "The Fabulous Life Of... Britney & Kevin" and TIME, Spears has sold over seventy-six million records worldwide.
  • Having thirty-one million RIAA-certified albums in the U.S., Spears ranks as the eighth best-selling female artist in American Music history. [3]
  • Only female artist in SoundScan history to have her first three albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. She then broke her own record when her fourth album debuted at number one.
  • In the U.S., Spears, Madonna, Céline Dion, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks are the only female artists with multiple diamond (shipped over ten million copies) albums (Spears has two: ...Baby One More Time and Oops!... I Did It Again).
  • Artist with the most retired videos on TRL U.S. with a total of fifteen.
  • Broke the record for youngest artist (at age seventeen) to have his or her first single ("...Baby One More Time") reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • Broke the record for youngest artist (at age seventeen) to have his or her first single ("...Baby One More Time") and first album (...Baby One More Time) simultaneously reach number one on the Billboard charts.
  • ...Baby One More Time is the best-selling album by a teenager in history.
  • "...Baby One More Time" is the twenty-fourth best-selling single of all time in the U.K.
  • Holds the record for biggest first-week album sales by a female artist in history (1.3 million copies) for Oops!... I Did It Again.
  • Broke the record in the U.K. for biggest first-week sales for a greatest hits compilation by a female artist (115,341 copies) with Greatest Hits: My Prerogative.
  • Has grossed over $145 million USD from tour ticket sales.
  • Broke the record for first-week gross for a fragrance with "Curious". "Curious" also went on to become the biggest-selling fragrance of 2004. To-date, "Curious" has grossed over $100 million USD worldwide.
  • Has grossed over $30 million USD in merchandise from her tours.

Trivia

  • Britney's younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, is currently starting a career as an entertainer in the Nickelodeon shows All That and Zoey 101; Britney herself wrote the theme song "Follow Me" for Zoey 101, though it is sung by Jamie Lynn. Zoey 101 drew record numbers with the premiere of the show which gave the kids channel 1.6 million viewers age 9-14 — its biggest viewership in that demographic for a premiere in eight years. Her older brother, Bryan Spears, is one of her co-managers. Britney's parents, Jamie and Lynne, have divorced.
  • One of Spears' best friends, Jenny, was in the unsuccessful girl-group Innosense. Spears was also a member of the group, but she left and debuted as a solo artist before the band released their first record. One of Spears' closest friends is Felicia Culotta, her assistant.
  • Is an accomplished gymnast (she did a backflip for the "...Baby One More Time" video and several for the New Mickey Mouse Club).
  • In 2001, her supposed death in a car crash was announced on the radio by two Texas DJs as a joke; the radio station was subsequently sued.
  • Spears publicly declared that she was a virgin early in her career and would like to remain one until marriage, but after her split from Justin Timberlake, he revealed that this was no longer true. Spears has been quoted as saying, "I thought he was the one".
  • In 2002, Forbes named Spears the most powerful celebrity in the world.
  • For the film Chicago, producer Harvey Weinstein wanted Spears for the role that eventually went to Lucy Liu. Spears was also offered a role in Scary Movie, but was forced to turn it down, due to concert scheduling. She was considered for the part of Allie Hamilton in The Notebook, but was beat out by Rachel McAdams.
  • Is a good friend of Sarah Michelle Gellar and was asked to appear in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "I Was Made to Love You". She could not appear due to scheduling conflicts, and the role eventually went to Shonda Farr who also did a voice in the Britney's Dance Beat video game.
  • Topped FHM magazine's 2004 U.S. and world polls for sexiest woman.
  • In May 2004 Spears had a Hebrew tattoo (מהש) inked into the nape of her neck. She was under the impression that it meant "new era", while a more scholarly reading would be "protection". A source said, "She's taken Kabbalah pretty seriously and this was a big deal for her." This echoes a similar incident in 2003 when Spears was informed by her friend, actress Taryn Manning, that her hip tattoo (the Japanese Kanji character 奇) read "strange" rather than "mysterious" (see Wiktionary).
  • Her numerous other tattoos include pink dice on her forearm. Her husband, Kevin Federline, has tattooed blue dice. She also has a butterfly tattoo.
  • Cites Marilyn Monroe as one of her idols.
  • Has hosted Saturday Night Live twice and been a musical guest three times. Spears also had a notable guest appearance with former cast member, Will Ferrell, in 2003.
  • Spears consults psychics to find out if her husband is cheating.[4]
  • She publicly declared her belief in the President, as reported in an interview on Crossfire and featured in the film Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore: "Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes and we should just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens." [5]
  • In 2005, became the third Mickey Mouse Club Member (after Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake) to win a Grammy.
  • Has a character modelled after her on Fairly Odd Parents, Britney Britney AKA "The Platinum Princess".

Discography

Filmography

Year Film/Show Role Other notes
1990s Ruthless!   Off-Broadway
1993/1994 The New Mickey Mouse Club Herself  
1999 Longshot Flight Attendant Cameo
2002 Crossroads Lucy Wagner  
2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Herself Cameo
2007 In the Pink Drew Heart Pre-production

Miscellaneous

Books

Year Book
2000 Britney Spears' Heart-to-Heart
2001 A Mother's Gift
2002 Stages
2003 Britney Spears' Crossroads Diary

DVDs

Year DVD U.S. peak U.S. certification
1999 Time Out with Britney Spears   3x Platinum
2001 Britney Spears - Live and More! 4 3x Platinum
2001 Britney - The Videos 1 (Debut/2 weeks) 2x Platinum
2002 Live from Las Vegas 1 (Debut/6 weeks) 2x Platinum
2004 In the Zone 1 (Debut/1 week) Platinum
2004 Greatest Hits: My Prerogative 1 (Debut/3 weeks) 2x Platinum

Select merchandise

Tours

Year Tour
1998 Hair Zone Mall Tour
1998 Opened for *NSYNC
1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour
2000 Crazy 2K Tour
2000 Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour
2001/2002 Dream Within a Dream Tour
2004 The Onyx Hotel Tour

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Britney Spears.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Britney Spears.
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