Britney Jean Spears, born December 2, 1981, in McComb, MS, is an American recording artist, actress, author, and businesswoman. Oft referred to as the "Princess of Pop,” she is credited with the revival of pop music during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and is recognized as an icon. Spears has sold an estimated 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. She ranks as the best-selling female albums artist of the 2000s, the eighth-biggest artist overall of the 2000s, and the fourth best-selling female albums artist and tenth best-selling digital artist in history. Spears has earned countless awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, 15 Guinness World Records, Billboard’s Millennium Award, GLAAD’s Vanguard Award, the inaugural Radio Disney Icon Award, MTV’s Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2020, Rolling Stone named her song “…Baby One More Time” the best debut single of all time. After Spears won a readers' poll, Time selected her as one of its 100 Most Influential People in 2021.

Spears made her local stage debut at age 5, singing “What Child Is This?” at her kindergarten graduation. Throughout her childhood, Spears took voice, dance, and gymnastic lessons, while competing in pageants and talent shows. For a short time, she trained at a camp run by famed Olympics gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi. In 1993, Spears was cast on Disney's “The New Mickey Mouse Club," alongside other future stars like Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, and Keri Russell. She remained on the series until its cancellation two years later. Spears signed a record deal with Jive Records in 1997, when she was 15. Her first single, “…Baby One More Time,” was released in October 1998. Buoyed by its controversial music video, the song reached No. 1 in 23 countries, propelling Spears to international superstardom and ushering in a new era of pop music. Spears’ debut studio album, also titled “…Baby One More Time," arrived in January 1999. It debuted at No. 1 in the US, making Spears the first artist in history to have both the No. 1 song and album in the same week. In total, "...Baby One More Time" sold over 25 million copies worldwide.

Spears' sophomore album, "Oops!... I Did It Again" (2000), sold 1.3 million copies in its first week alone and held the record for the fastest-selling album by a female artist in the US for 15 years. Spears adopted a more mature sound and style for her third and fourth albums, 2001's "Britney" and 2003's "In the Zone." Despite backlash over Spears’ increasingly provocative image, both albums sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

Spears made her big-screen debut in the motion picture “Crossroads" (2002), written by Shonda Rhimes and co-starring Dan Ackroyd, Kim Cattrall, Zoe Saldana, and Taryn Manning. She has also guest-starred on “Glee,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Will & Grace,” “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” and “Jane the Virgin,” and has twice hosted “Saturday Night Live” and appeared as musical guest three times.

In 2004, Spears partnered with Elizabeth Arden to launch her first perfume, Curious. Spears currently has over 30 fragrances to her name, available in 85 countries, with sales exceeding $1.5 billion.

Spears served as executive producer of her fifth studio album, “Blackout" (2007). Though it initially received lukewarm reviews, “Blackout” has since been recognized as one of the most influential albums of its time. In 2008, after a bout of personal struggles that were breathlessly documented by the media, Spears was placed in a conservatorship that stripped her of all personal autonomy and put her estranged father in control of her person and estate. (The conservatorship remained in place until November 2021. Spears has described the abuse, isolation, and forced labor that she endured while under her father’s control.) Soon after the conservatorship was implemented, Spears returned to work, releasing the chart-topping albums “Circus” (2008) and “Femme Fatale” (2011), both of which were supported by extensive worldwide concert tours.

In 2012, Spears appeared as a judge on "X-Factor USA," becoming, at the time, the highest-paid reality TV judge in history. That same year, Spears was featured on will.i.am's single “Scream & Shout." Recpetion to the song was mixed, but it peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 and became the very first No. 1 on Billboard's new Dance/Electronic Songs chart. will.i.am later executive-produced Spears’ eighth studio album, “Britney Jean" (2013). In December 2013, Spears began a Las Vegas concert residency, “Britney: Piece of Me,” at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. The show was initially scheduled to run for two years, but was extended several times due to its enduring popularity. It ultimately concluded in December 2017. Spears and her residency revitalized the Vegas strip, and the show won numerous awards during its run, including Best Show in Vegas and Best Bachelorette Show in Vegas. In 2015, Spears released the single “Pretty Girls,” featuring Iggy Azalea, and contributed vocals to Giorgio Moroder's “Tom’s Diner.” Reportedly, Spears approached Moroder to collaborate on the song. Spears’ ninth studio album, “Glory,” arrived in August 2016, preceded by the Top 20 hit "Make Me..." with G-Eazy. Spears later took her Vegas show on the road throughout 2017 and 2018, with dates in some counties that she had never toured previously. "Glory" was re-released in 2020 with updated cover art and additional songs following a successful fan campaign to push “Mood Ring” - originally a Japan-only bonus track - to No. 1 on iTunes.

Spears teamed up with Elton John in 2022 to release the single "Hold Me Closer," which debuted at No. 6 on the Hot 100 and became Spears’ highest-charting single in a decade. Also in 2022, publishing house Simon & Schuster signed Spears to a book deal worth a staggering $15 million. Spears’ hotly-anticipated memoir, “The Woman in Me,” hit shelves in October 2023. In its first week, it sold 1.1 million copies in the US and 2.4 million copies worldwide, immediately becoming a New York Times #1 bestseller, as well as the fastest-selling title in Simon & Schuster’s history. A film adaptation of Spears’ memoir, to be directed by Jon Chu, was announced in 2024.

After reports surfaced that Spears was working on a new album, she clarified via Instagram that she currently has no plans to return to the music industry.

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