Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American pop singer-songwriter, actress, and author. Spears has sold over 123 million records worldwide, 91 million albums and over 35 million singles. The RIAA ranks her as the eighth best-selling female artist in American music history, having sold over 37 million albums in the U.S.
Spears released her debut album “Baby One More Time” in 1999, resulting in international success. It spawned the Billboard topping single “Baby One More Time”. She released her second studio album Oops! I Did It Again in 2000 with continued success. A third album Britney was released in 2001, followed by the release of her fourth album In the Zone in 2003. The album’s breakout single “Toxic” won Spears her first Grammy Award. After the release of a greatest hits collection, EP, and a remix album, she released her fifth album Blackout in 2007.
Spears’s personal life began to gain more media attention after her marriage to Kevin Federline in 2004. Their marriage ended just two years later resulting in a bitter custody battle which continues to this day. She gave birth to her first child, Sean Preston, in 2005 and to her second child, Jayden James, in 2006.
Personal life
1999-2004
Spears posed for her first major magazine publication, Rolling Stone in April 1999. Shot by photographer David LaChapelle, the photo shoot garnered much criticism for the controversial mixing of child-like innocence and adolescent sexuality. The cover featured her in a skimpy outfit lying on a bed. More controversy arose when Spears declared that she would “remain a virgin until marriage”. This pledge has been questioned due to her apparently sexual relationship with fellow pop singer Justin Timberlake. In early 2002, Spears’s four-year relationship with Timberlake ended. 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. (more…)