American singer
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Also known as: Britney Jean Spears
Written and fact-checked by
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Last Updated: •Article History
Britney Spears
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- In full:
- Britney Jean Spears
- Born:
- December 2, 1981, McComb, Mississippi, U.S. (age 42)
- Awards And Honors:
- Grammy Award (2004)
- Notable Works:
- “The Woman in Me”
See all related content →
Top Questions
Who is Britney Spears?
Who is Britney Spears?
Britney Spears is an American singer who helped spark the teen pop phenomenon in the late 1990s and later endured intense public scrutiny for her tumultuous personal life.
What was Britney Spears’s first song?
What was Britney Spears’s first song?
Britney Spears’s first song was “…Baby One More Time,” released in 1998. The song soon became the subject of controversy, for its lyrics as well as for its video, in which Spears appeared as a provocative schoolgirl. When the album …Baby One More Time was released in 1999, it quickly topped the charts.
When was Britney Spears born?
When was Britney Spears born?
Britney Spears was born on December 2, 1981. She was born in McComb, Mississippi, but grew up in Kentwood, Louisiana.
How did Britney Spears come to fame?
How did Britney Spears come to fame?
In 1993 Britney Spears became a cast member of The All New Mickey Mouse Club TV show, joining an ensemble of Mouseketeers that included future pop stars Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera. Four years later Spears made a demo tape that earned her a development deal with Jive Records.
Why was Britney Spears placed under a conservatorship?
Why was Britney Spears placed under a conservatorship?
Britney Spears’s erratic behaviour, including shaving her head, resulted in her being placed under a court-ordered conservatorship, or guardianship, in 2008. Her father was named the conservator and head of her estate. Spears subsequently attempted to overturn the arrangement, and in 2021 a judge ended it. Learn more about the issues raised by this conservatorship.
Recent News
June 26, 2024, 11:36 PM ET (Billboard)
Mathew Rosengart No Longer Working With Britney Spears After Helping to End Her Conservatorship
June 26, 2024, 1:11 PM ET (Billboard)
Justin Timberlake Back Online, Britney Spears Reconciles With Kids
June 25, 2024, 2:55 AM ET (The Hollywood Reporter)
June 24, 2024, 2:39 PM ET (CNN)
Britney Spears (born December 2, 1981, McComb, Mississippi, U.S.) is an American singer who helped spark the teen-pop phenomenon in the late 1990s and later endured intense public scrutiny for her tumultuous personal life.
Early life
Spears, who grew up in Kentwood, Louisiana, began singing and dancing at age two and was soon competing in talent shows. At age eight she auditioned for Disney’s television show The All New Mickey Mouse Club but was deemed too young for the program. The impressed producers did, however, encourage her to get an agent in New York City, and she began spending her summers there, attending the Professional Performing Arts School. During this period she started making television commercials and in 1991 appeared in Ruthless, an Off-Broadway play. Two years later Spears finally became a cast member of The All New Mickey Mouse Club, joining an ensemble of Mouseketeers that included future pop stars Justin Timberlake (with whom she was later romantically linked) and Christina Aguilera.
Britannica QuizPop Culture Quiz“Princess of Pop”: …Baby One More Time, Oops!…I Did It Again, and In the Zone
After the show’s cancellation in 1995, Spears returned home, but she was soon eager to resume her career. At age 15 she made a demo tape that earned her a development deal with Jive Records. In 1998 she released her first single, “…Baby One More Time.” The song soon became the subject of controversy, both for its lyrics (“Hit me baby one more time”) as well as for its Lolita-like video, in which Spears appeared as a provocative schoolgirl. The attention, however, only helped the song, and when the album (…Baby One More Time) was released in 1999, it quickly went to number one on the charts and eventually sold more than 10 million copies in the United States. In 2000 she released her second album, Oops!…I Did It Again. It sold 1.3 million copies in its first week of release, setting a record for first-week sales by a solo artist. Although Spears drew criticism for her revealing attire—often imitated by her female fans—she was able to convey a wholesomeness that proved highly profitable. In 2001 she signed a multimillion-dollar deal to be a spokesperson for Pepsi and released her third album, Britney, which sold more than four million copies domestically. Its follow-up, In the Zone (2003), sold nearly three million, partly on the strength of the hit single “Toxic.”
Spears’s subsequent studio albums suffered diminished sales but remained major events in the pop music world. The electronic-infused Blackout (2007) found her in a self-reflective mood; Circus (2008) featured her first Billboard number-one single (“Womanizer”) since her debut; and Femme Fatale (2011) was her most up-tempo dance-oriented offering to date. Britney Jean (2013) was characterized by Spears as being highly personal, but it was criticized for obscuring her voice with synthesized effects. However, Glory (2016), her ninth studio album, was considered a return to form for the singer.
Other activities: acting and residencies
Spears also dabbled in acting, making her big-screen debut in 2002 with the lead role in the coming-of-age film Crossroads. In 2012 she appeared as a judge in the televised talent competition The X Factor. The following year she began a residency show titled Britney: Piece of Me at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. That residency ended in late 2017, and she embarked on a world tour the following summer. In 2019 Spears announced that she was taking an “indefinite work hiatus.”
Scandal and conservatorship
Spears often found herself in the spotlight less for her music than for events in her personal life, most notably her tumultuous marriage (2004–07) to dancer Kevin Federline. Her erratic behaviour during this time—at one point she shaved her head and was briefly hospitalized—resulted in her being placed under a court-ordered conservatorship (also known as guardianship) in 2008; her father was named as a conservator. Concerns about this legal arrangement later caused fans to start the online campaign #FreeBritney. The conservatorship was also the subject of the TV documentaries Framing Britney Spears and Controlling Britney Spears, both of which aired in 2021.
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That year Spears petitioned for an end to the conservatorship, claiming that the arrangement was “abusive” and unnecessary, especially given that she was performing and recording. In September 2021 a judge ruled that the “current situation is not tenable,” and Spears’s father was suspended as conservator. Two months later the conservatorship was terminated. In 2023 Spears published the much-anticipated memoir The Woman in Me, in which she candidly wrote about her career and personal life. She notably alleged being exploited by her family, especially her father, and shared details about her romantic relationship with pop star Justin Timberlake. The work received positive reviews from both critics and fans.
For many, Spears epitomized the endemic growth in the public’s fascination with celebrities, catered to by paparazzi and tabloid journalism and fueled by gossip and scandal.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.