Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer, Grammy Award winner, two-time Emmy Award winner, dancer, songwriter, occasional actress, producer, and author. Britney was born in Mississippi and made her first television appearance in 1992 as a contestant on the show Star Search. She continued her career on the Disney Channel TV show The New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994, alongside names like Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake.
In 1997, Britney signed a contract with Jive Records and released her debut album …Baby One More Time in 1999. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold over 25 million copies worldwide.
Her success continued with the release of her second album Oops!… I Did It Again, transforming her into a pop icon. At the same time, Britney became the best-selling teenage artist of all time, with over 50 million albums sold by the age of 20, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The media honored her with the title of “Princess of Pop”. Britney has also been the most searched-for person on the internet since its inception.
In 2001, Spears released the album Britney and starred in the film Crossroads. Her fourth album, In the Zone, released in 2003, made her the first woman in the Nielsen SoundScan era to have four consecutive albums debut at number one. Her fifth album, Blackout, was released at the end of 2007. The follow-up album, Circus, came out in 2008, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200. The hit single “Womanizer” became her second song in the past decade to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on the first day of release. At the end of 2009, Spears released the greatest hits compilation The Singles Collection, which included her third number-one hit, simply titled “3”.
According to the Zomba Label Group, Spears has sold over 100 million albums worldwide (making her the best-selling female artist of the past decade) and over 210 million singles, making her one of the best-selling artists in music history. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) ranks her seventh in American music history and the sixth best-selling female artist in the U.S., with 36 million albums sold domestically. Her success has also allowed her to branch into other areas. Britney is the third artist to achieve multiple diamond certifications, alongside music legends like Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Whitney Houston. She has appeared in multiple films and TV shows, written two books, and launched various products, including her own line of perfumes and the game Britney’s Dance Beat for Nintendo, Sony PlayStation 2, and PC.
To date, Britney Spears has had ten singles reach number one worldwide: “…Baby One More Time” (1999), “(You Drive Me) Crazy” (1999), “Born to Make You Happy” (1999), “Oops! … I Did It Again” (2000), “Me Against the Music” (2003), “Toxic” (2004), “Everytime” (2004), “Womanizer” (2008), “S&M Remix” (2011), and “Scream & Shout” (2012).
Five of her singles reached number one in the U.S.: “…Baby One More Time” (1999), “Womanizer” (2008), “3” (2009), “Hold It Against Me” (2011), and “S&M Remix” (2011). Spears is the third female artist in history to reach number one in three consecutive decades.
In 2012, her annual income was $58 million, making her the highest-paid woman in the music industry.
