Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) was born in McComb, Mississippi, United States. She is an American singer renowned as the "Princess of Pop.". She is professionally known as Britney Spears. Her impact on the music industry was profound, particularly in the late 1990s and early 2000s when she played a pivotal role in reinvigorating the teen pop genre.
She has sold approximately 150 million records globally, including over 70 million in the United States, solidifying her status as one of the best-selling artists worldwide. Spears' achievements have been recognized with a Grammy Award, an array of Guinness World Records (15 in total), six MTV Video Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards (including the esteemed Millennium Award), the Radio Disney Icon Award, and a star on the prestigious Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her dynamic and heavily choreographed music videos even earned her the esteemed Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
Having commenced her career in stage productions and television series, Spears inked a deal with Jive Records in 1997 at the tender age of fifteen. Her first two studio albums, "…Baby One More Time" (1999) and "Oops!... I Did It Again" (2000), went on to become some of the highest-selling albums in music history, catapulting Spears to the position of the best-selling teenage artist ever. The latter album, "Oops!... I Did It Again," held the record for the fastest-selling album by a female artist in the United States for an impressive fifteen years, with first-week sales exceeding 1.3 million copies.
Throughout her career, Spears evolved her style, embracing a more mature and provocative image with albums like "Britney" (2001) and "In the Zone" (2003). She even ventured into acting, starring in the 2002 film "Crossroads." Her fifth studio album, "Blackout" (2007), is often hailed as her magnum opus. Unfortunately, her personal struggles became highly publicized, leading to her involuntary placement in a conservatorship.
Nonetheless, Spears made a triumphant return with chart-topping albums like "Circus" (2008) and "Femme Fatale" (2011), the latter marking her most successful era of singles in the U.S. With songs like "3" and "Hold It Against Me," she became the second artist, after Mariah Carey, to debut at number one with two or more songs on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2019, her legal battle over the conservatorship gained substantial attention, sparking the #FreeBritney movement. In 2021, her conservatorship was finally terminated following her public testimony where she accused her management team and family of abuse.
In the United States, Spears is celebrated as the fourth best-selling female album artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era, with the distinction of being the best-selling female album artist of the 2000s. Billboard recognized her as the eighth-biggest artist of that decade. She has secured six number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100, including iconic tracks like "…Baby One More Time," "Womanizer," and "Toxic."
In addition to her music career, Spears ventured into the world of fragrances with her successful brand launched in partnership with Elizabeth Arden, Inc., accumulating sales exceeding $1.5 billion by 2012. Forbes has consistently named Spears as the highest-earning female musician in 2001 and 2012, and she was also a frequent topper of Yahoo!'s list of the most searched celebrities.
Britney Spears has undeniably left an indelible mark on the music industry, and her influence extends beyond the stage. Time recognized her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021, with readers of the magazine also voting her as their top choice. Her journey is not just one of musical success but also of personal resilience and empowerment.
