| Revision as of 19:26, 4 February 2006 view sourceTriggy (talk | contribs)1,971 editsm She has sold over 75 million records, not 85 million. stop changing it.← Previous edit | Revision as of 19:27, 4 February 2006 view source Gavindunaghan113 (talk | contribs)1 edit Britney Spears is a child abuser.Next edit → | ||
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| Britney Spears is a child abuser. LET YOUR LOCAL NEWS/TV COMPANY KNOW NOW!!! | |||
| {{Infobox_band | |||
| | band_name = Britney Spears | |||
| | image = ] in September 2003]] | |||
| | caption = Britney Spears performing at the National Mall in ] in September 2003. | |||
| | years_active = 1998—present | |||
| | origin = ], ] | |||
| | music_genre = ] | |||
| | record_label = ] | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Britney Jean Spears''' (born ] ]) is a ]-winning ] ] ] and occasional ] and ] raised in ], ]. | |||
| Spears first came to fame as a member of the '']'' in the early ]. She took a five-year break from entertainment after the show wrapped, and subsequently emerged at the forefront of pop music in ] thanks to the crafting of her chart-topping ] by ]/songwriter ]. Her ] released the following year was a similarly huge hit. | |||
| In the early ], Spears' success as a singer led way to high-profile ] deals (most notably for ]), as well as forays into many other forms of ], including ] and ]. Her ] and ] albums released during this era included more artistic input from Spears, but lower sales. Since marrying ] in ] and then giving birth to her son Sean Preston the following year, Spears has been on a self-proclaimed hiatus. | |||
| With worldwide record sales topping the 75 million mark (]){{ref|WWSales}}, Britney Spears has become one of the most recognizable ] and ] of her generation. | |||
| ==Biography== | |||
| ===Childhood and discovery=== | |||
| Born in ], ], Spears is the daughter of Jamie P. Spears, a building ], and Lynne Irene Bridges, a grade school ], Britney is mostly of ] and ] descent. As a young girl, she performed in local ] ]s and ] ]s, and was auditioning for the ]'s '']'' by the time she was eight. Although, at the time, she was considered too young to join the series, a producer on the show introduced her to a ] agent. Spears subsequently spent three summers at ]'s Professional Performing Arts School and also appeared in a number of ] productions, including 1991's ''Ruthless!''. In 1992, she landed a spot on '']'' and though she won the first round, she lost in the second. | |||
| Spears returned to the ] for a spot on the ''New Mickey Mouse Club'' and was accepted. She was featured in the 1993 to 1994 seasons during the ages of eleven and thirteen. Others on the show included ] and ] (both of whom later became members of the pop group ]), ] (star of the TV show '']''), fellow pop singer ], and actor ]. | |||
| Soon Spears recorded a ], which landed in the hands of a ] executive. She was signed to their label and began touring American venues for a series of ]s sponsored by American teen magazines before joining *NSYNC and becoming their opening act. | |||
| ===1998–2000: Early commercial success=== | |||
| ] | |||
| Spears' debut ] "]" impacted radio stations and MTV in 1998. Led by a ] that featured the 5'4" brown-eyed bottle blonde in a racy schoolgirl outfit, the single became an international success, earning ] sales and going to number one in the U.S., as well as countries such as ], ] and the ]. Her debut album of the same name, '']'', topped the LP charts in the U.S. and Canada for six non-consecutive weeks. Within a year of its release, it had become the best-selling LP by a teenager in history, spawned another U.S. top ten hit ("]") and shipped over ten million copies in the U.S. alone; it would go on to ship another four million copies on top of this. | |||
| Spears was featured on the cover of '']'' magazine in April 1999. The sexually suggestive '']''-themed photo shoot triggered widespread speculation (denied by her camp) that the still-seventeen-year-old had gotten ]. That summer, she kicked off her first headlining tour, the '']''. By late 1999, Britney Spears had become one of the year's biggest stars, a claim backed-up by the amount of award nominations she received that season. In December, she took home four ] including one for Female Artist of the Year, and the next month won for Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist at the ]. At the ]s held in February 2000, Spears received two nominations, including one for ]. | |||
| Following the short-lived '']'', the lead single from Spears' second album, "]", was released. It broke a record for most radio station adds in a single day {{ref|ROTN}} and quickly became a U.S. top ten hit and number one single in other countries, including Australia and the UK. Released in May 2000, the album '']'' also debuted at number one in the U.S. and Canada, and was as commercially successful as her debut. It sold over 1.3 million units during its first week in the U.S., making it the fastest-selling album by a female artist in history. Within a year of release, it had shipped over nine million copies in the U.S. alone. It would go on to ship another million on top of that, and yielded two more top thirty hits: "]" and "]". | |||
| Spears kicked off her first world tour (titled the ''Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour'') in the summer of 2000, and co-wrote the novel '']'' with her mother, Lynne. During a performance at the annual ], she ripped off a black suit to reveal a provocative nude-colored and crystal-adorned outfit that generated controversy due to her young age. In late 2000, she won two Billboard Music Awards, and in early 2001 she was nominated for two American Music Awards. At the Grammys, one of her two nominations was for ''Oops!... I Did It Again'' in the category of ], but again she did not win. Of course. She also dated Nick Harahil | |||
| ===2001–2003: Career development=== | |||
| In early 2001, she struck a $7-8 million ] promotional deal with the soft drink giant ] and then released her second novel, '']''. Spears performed at the MTV Video Music Awards the following September, and in addition to criticism for being scantily clad, she angered animal rights organization ] for the use of animals, including an albino ], in her performance. | |||
| ] | |||
| In November, she released her third album, '']''. It debuted at a whopping number one on both the U.S. and Canadian charts, selling over 740,000 units during 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 number one. Though over four million copies of the record have been sold in the U.S. alone,{{ref|AlbumsSales}} it was a decline from the sales of her first two albums, and "]" was the album's only hit single in the U.S. ''Britney'' was the first album on which Spears assumed some creative control; she co-wrote five of the album's tracks. Spears set off on her next world tour, the '']'', shortly after its release. | |||
| In early 2002, Spears starred in a film, '']'', which reached number two on the ] charts in its first week but quickly dropped out of sight. Songs from the album ''Britney'' appeared in the film. The movie, along with Spears' performance in it, was poorly received by critics, and she netted herself a ] for Worst Actress, tied with ]. The film also won, among other nominations, the Worst Original Song Razzie for Spears' "]". | |||
| Spears' four-year relationship with ] ended in March 2002. The break-up was highly publicized, with rumors swirling that Spears had been unfaithful. Timberlake himself left the impression that she had cheated on him. In response to this, Spears later said, "I'm not technically saying he's wrong, but I'm not technically saying he's right, either". | |||
| In June 2002, Spears branched out as a restaurateur with the opening of a New York City eatery, NYLA, which was named for its mix of New York and Louisiana ]. It was not a success and closed the following year. Soon after these failures, Spears took a break from the spotlight, and in 2003 many music industry critics speculated her career was in decline. That same year, she was excited when she was nominated for two Grammys yet again, including Best Pop Vocal Album. | |||
| Spears returned to the forefront of the music scene in August 2003. That month, she appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards with her idol ], Pop singer ] and rapper ]. Spears and Aguilera performed Madonna's song "]", danced suggestively and each locked lips with Madonna (see ]). Spears' kiss with Madonna attracted huge publicity that would last for several months. | |||
| ] | |||
| November 2003 saw the release of Spears' fourth album, '']''. Jettisoning the ]-produced ] of her earlier releases, the album took in lesser-known producers such as ] and big names including ] and ]. Spears co-wrote nine of the album's thirteen songs and co-produced some of her material for the first time. ''In the Zone'' went to the top of the U.S. charts in its debut week, making Spears the only female in music history to have her first four albums debut at number one. It has sold nearly three million copies in the U.S{{ref|AlbumsSales3}} and spawned the international number one and U.S. top ten hit "]", which won Spears her first Grammy in the category of ]. | |||
| On ] ], Spears ] her childhood friend ] at ] on the Las Vegas Strip in ]. An ] was promptly arranged and was granted on ], ending their fifty-five hour marriage. Spears later said about the spur-of-the-moment debacle, "Honestly, I really wanted to see what it was like to be married". Spears embarked on her fourth world tour, '']'', the following March. It grossed over $34 million USD and was seen by over 600,000 fans in North America and Europe, but the remaining dates were cancelled in June after Spears reportedly injuring her knee during the filming of the video for the single "]". | |||
| That same month, Spears announced her engagement to dancer ]. Federline was formerly in a relationship with actress ], with whom he has two children. On the night of ] ], Spears married Federline before twenty-seven guests in a surprise, non-denominational ceremony at a residence in ]. The legitimacy of the marriage was initially questioned, but on ] ], 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. | |||
| ===2004–present: Career hiatus and family=== | |||
| ].]] | |||
| During the latter half of 2004, Spears announced she would be taking another career break in order to start a family. Immediately after her marriage to Federline, she had told '']'', "I want to be a young mom. Next year, at 23, I'm so there." Although she made few public appearances, the "Britney Spears industry" continued to run itself. In September 2004, she released her first ], "]" (a floral scent with vanilla and musk), for which she earned a reported $12 million USD. The fragrance had the biggest debut in sales in history from ], breaking the record for first-week gross for a perfume; after one year of sales, the product has netted more than $100 million USD.{{ref|Curious}} It ended up as the number one fragrance of 2004 in department stores, and in 2005 it was honored by the Fragrance Foundation as Best Women's Fragrance. Following the success of "Curious", Spears released her next Elizabeth Arden fragrance, "Fantasy" (a fruity scent with flowers and cupcake), in September 2005 which also became a top-selling perfume {{ref|Fantasy}} during the holiday season of 2005. | |||
| ] | |||
| Spears' first hits collection, '']'', was released in late 2004. The album debuted at number four on the U.S. charts (becoming Spears' first album to not debut at number one domestically), selling over 255,000 copies in its first week of release. In addition to her biggest hits, it featured three new songs: "]" (a cover of the ] song), "]" and "I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)". "My Prerogative" and "Do Somethin'" were released as singles to moderate success, and the album has sold over a million copies in the U.S. to-date. | |||
| During the spring of 2005, Spears' ] with husband Kevin Federline, '']'', premiered on ] in the U.S. The series included five episodes, and both Spears and Federline were credited as executive producers. ''Chaotic'' was panned by most critics, and ratings were not as high as expected. Spears announced her pregnancy via her official website in April 2005. Despite her eagerness to have a baby, she admitted to '']'' magazine that, "I have a feeling I'm going to have an operation. I don't know why. But I hope so. I don't want to go through the pain." On ] ], 6lb. 11oz. baby boy Sean Preston Federline was born in the Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center in ] by an elective ]. | |||
| Spears released a ] album entitled '']'' in late 2005. In the U.S., it lacked promotion of any kind and debuted outside the top one hundred with less than 15,000 copies sold in its first week of release. So far, B In The Mix has sold 1 million worldwide. | |||
| In December 2005, Spears sued '']'' for a story the magazine published in the column "HOTstuff" of their October 2005 publication. The column, with the headline ''"Brit & Kev: Secret Sex Tape? New parents have a new worry: racy footage from 2004."'' claimed that Spears and her husband had made a ] and feared it would be distributed. Spears denies the existence of any such tape while the magazine claims to have a credible source and stands by its story.{{ref|SexTape}} | |||
| According to MTV.com, Spears is to release her fifth studio album sometime in 2006. | |||
| ==Controversy== | |||
| ] | |||
| Spears' success has rested on a mixed ]. Some parents of young girls disapprove of or are even disgusted by 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. Some parents worry that Britney Spears provides an unsuitable role model for their daughters' lives and career plans. In October 2003, ] First Lady Kendel Ehrlich, the wife of ] ], was criticized for saying she would like to "shoot Britney Spears" in an address to a ] 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-] photo spread for the men's magazine, '']''. Prompted by this, '']'' reportedly offered the star over one million USD to pose nude for their magazine, but Spears publicly declined.{{ref|Playboy}} In an interview with ], she was asked if she had ever gone further than she wished she had with the sexual photo shoots. Spears responded, "No, I don't think so, no". After the ''Esquire'' photos were held up in front of her, she said: "Okay. Now those are a little much. Yeah, those are a little much. That's one picture, I must say, that I felt kind of weird about, yeah". | |||
| 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 routines simulating ], ] and ]. As there were underage fans in the audience, there was some outrage at the alleged lack of decency of the performances, as well as reports of adult chaperones angrily storming out with children they brought to the concert. Spears has responded to parents' 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, ]". (''From ]'s Primetime interview with Diane Sawyer''.) | |||
| Spears has also been criticized for ]. Most critics and musicians publicly 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.{{ref|Lip-Synch}} This has lead to the counter-argument that performers shouldn't focus on things like dance moves, and instead focus more on singing. | |||
| Spears' personal life has attracted considerable media attention. Some people feel she has courted it by cultivating, in her early years at least, a chaste, God-fearing and "wholesome" image. It was 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. Spears' kiss with Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards received much media attention, as have her recent marriages. | |||
| ==Career achievements== | |||
| * Having thirty-one million ]-certified albums sold in the U.S., Spears ranks as the eighth best-selling female artist in American music history.{{ref|AlbumSales4}} | |||
| * Only female artist in SoundScan history to have her first four albums debut at number one on the ] chart. | |||
| * In the U.S., Spears, ], ], ], ], ] and the ] 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''). | |||
| * Holds 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. | |||
| * Holds the record in the UK for biggest first-week sales for a greatest hits compilation by a female artist (115,341 copies) with '']''. | |||
| * "...Baby One More Time" was the UK's biggest selling single of 1999. | |||
| * Has grossed over $145 million USD from tour ticket sales. | |||
| * Has grossed over $30 million USD in merchandise from her tours. | |||
| * Has topped ]'s annual list of the most-searched names three times in the past four years.{{ref|Yahoo!}} | |||
| ==Voice== | |||
| Although Britney Spears does not have the power of ] or the range of ], her soft vocal style has helped bring the ] ] back into popularity. Spears' voice was seen as distinctive when she first came out in 1998. Although there has been some controversy over her singing abilities, with some even accusing her of lacking them or depending too much on backup singers, her style has remained consistent. | |||
| Artists such as ], ] and ] have borrowed a page from her stylebook. Her detractors have accused her of being derivate of ], ] and especially ]. This is a claim Spears has not outwardly denied nor confirmed, saying "I grew up loving a wide variety of music." Although her range continues to be disputed and is subject to argument, her classification as a ] is due to her singing style, which is generally light, sweet and girly. | |||
| ==Trivia== | |||
| *Spears has a younger sister, ], who is an actress and singer and is currently starring in the ] show '']''. Spears wrote the theme song "Follow Me" for ''Zoey 101'', though it is sung by Jamie Lynn. Spears also has an older brother, Bryan Spears, who is one of her managers. Spears' parents, Jamie and Lynne, are divorced. | |||
| *She is an accomplished ]. Spears attended gymnastics classes until age nine, and during that time she even competed in state-level competitions. She also performed a ] for the "...Baby One More Time" video and several for the '']''). | |||
| *Two Texas DJs created a panic for Britney's fans when they falsely reported that the pop princess and her boyfriend, 'NSYNC's Justin Timberlake, were in a car accident and that Britney Spears had died in the crash. In reality, both Britney and Justin were alive and well and had not been in any car wreck. | |||
| *She had a fling with ] and has been romantically linked with ], ] and ]. | |||
| *For the film '']'', producer ] wanted Spears for the role that eventually went to ]. Spears was also offered a role in '']'', but was forced to turn it down due to concert scheduling. She was considered for the part of Allie Hamilton in '']'', but was beat out by ] and she also wanted the role in '']'' that went to ]. Spears had also expressed interest in the role of ] in '']'', but fellow pop singer ] was given the part. | |||
| *In 2002, '']'' named Spears the most powerful celebrity in the world. | |||
| * Spears consults psychics to find out if her husband is cheating.{{ref|Psychic}} | |||
| *She is friends with ]. She was asked to appear in the '']'' episode "]," but turned down the role due to scheduling conflicts. | |||
| *She is friends with ]. Portman was an understudy in the off-Broadway play, ''Ruthless!'', in which Spears had a role. At a ] hotel in 2003 they co-hosted a carnival-themed ] party together. | |||
| *She topped '']'' 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 ] 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 ], that her hip tattoo (the ] character 奇) read "strange" rather than "mysterious" (see ). | |||
| *Spears' other tattoos include pink dice on her inner wrist (her husband, ], has matching blue dice), a fairy on her lower back, a daisy on her right toe, a butterfly on her left foot, and a Japanese flower that she reportedly got "down there." Her foot is adorned with many symbols which represent freedom. | |||
| * She publicly declared her trust in the President, as reported in an interview on '']'' and featured in the film '']'' by ]: "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." . Ironically, Spears and Federline were later photographed coming out of a showing of the Moore documentary in Los Angeles. | |||
| ==Discography== | |||
| See ]. | |||
| ==Filmography== | |||
| {| class="wikitable" | |||
| |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" | |||
| ! Year !! Film/Show !! Role !! Other notes | |||
| |- | |||
| | 1990s || '']'' || — || Off-Broadway | |||
| |- | |||
| | 1993/1994 || '']'' || Herself || — | |||
| |- | |||
| | 1999 || '']'' || Flight Attendant || Cameo | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2002|| '']'' || Lucy Wagner || — | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2002 || '']'' || Herself || Cameo | |||
| |- | |||
| |2007 || '']'' || Drew Heart || ] | |||
| |- | |||
| |} | |||
| ==Miscellaneous== | |||
| ===Books=== | |||
| {| class="wikitable" | |||
| |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" | |||
| ! Year !! Book | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2000 || '']'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2001 || '']'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2002 || '']'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2003 || '']'' | |||
| |- | |||
| |} | |||
| ===DVDs=== | |||
| {| class="wikitable" | |||
| |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" | |||
| ! Year !! DVD !! U.S. peak !! U.S. certification | |||
| |- | |||
| | 1999 || '']'' || — || 3x Platinum | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2001 || '']'' || 4 || 3x Platinum | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2001 || '']'' || 1 (2 weeks) || 2x Platinum | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2002 || '']'' || 1 (6 weeks) || 2x Platinum | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2004 || '']'' || 1 (1 week) || Platinum | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2004 || '']'' || 1 (3 weeks) || 2x Platinum | |||
| |- | |||
| |} | |||
| ===Select merchandise=== | |||
| * In 1999, ] released the ]. It became one of the biggest-selling dolls of all time. | |||
| * '']'' is a ] featuring five of her songs, for the ], ] and ]. | |||
| ===Tours=== | |||
| {| class="wikitable" | |||
| |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" | |||
| ! Year !! Tour | |||
| |- | |||
| | 1998 || '']'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | 1998 || Opened for ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | 1999 || '']'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2000 || '']'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2000 || ''Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2001/2002 || '']'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | 2004 || '']'' | |||
| |- | |||
| |} | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| * {{note|WWSales}} | |||
| * {{note|ROTN}} | |||
| * {{note|AlbumsCertifications}} | |||
| * {{note|AlbumsSales2}} | |||
| * {{note|AlbumsSales3}} | |||
| * {{note|Playboy}} | |||
| * {{note|Curious}} | |||
| * {{note|AlbumSales4}} | |||
| * {{note|Iraq}} | |||
| * {{note|Lip-Synch}} | |||
| * {{note|Psychic}} | |||
| * {{note|Yahoo!}} | |||
| * {{note|Fantasy}} | |||
| * {{note|SexTape}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| {{commons|Category:Britney Spears|Britney Spears}} | |||
| {{wikiquote}} | |||
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| * {{imdb name|id=0005453|name=Britney Spears}} | |||
| * {{nndb name|id=049/000022980|name=Britney Spears}} | |||
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| <!-- Metadata: see ] --> | |||
| {{Persondata | |||
| |NAME=Spears-Federline, Britney Jean | |||
| |ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Spears, Britney Jean | |||
| |SHORT DESCRIPTION=Singer; occasional actor and songwriter | |||
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| |PLACE OF BIRTH=], ] | |||
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Revision as of 19:27, 4 February 2006
Britney Spears is a child abuser. LET YOUR LOCAL NEWS/TV COMPANY KNOW NOW!!!