Britney Spears

Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American pop singer. Born in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears first came to fame as a member of the Disney Channel's New Mickey Mouse Club[?] in the 1993 and 1994 seasons.

Castmates included Justin Timberlake, and Joshua Chasez[?], who later became members of the pop band N Sync, Keri Russell[?] (star of the TV show Felicity[?]) and Christina Aguilera, also a pop singer. Spears dated Timberlake for some time - they have now reportedly broken up.

Her first album on Jive Records, Baby One More Time, debuted in the number 1 spot on the Billboard Charts in early 1999, and also topped the charts in the UK. The single of the same title was also a number 1 hit in many countries, and featured a memorable video clip with Spears wearing a schoolgirl outfit dancing provocatively through a high-school corridor. Her followup album, Oops I Did It Again was a similarly huge success.

From that album her career skyrocketed into a multimillion-dollar music, advertisement, concert and TV-special mania. She used be Pepsi's spokeswoman, but has been replaced by former Destiny's Child front woman, Beyoncé Knowles. Her detractors point to such details as indicating Spears's enigmatic mixed message: She uses blatant sexual dance moves, wears provocative, skimpy outfits, and sings music about her lack of innocence, and her wishes to be a "slave for you". Spears denies that her image is designed to be sexually provocative. She claimed at age 20 to be a virgin; however her ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, claimed to have "taken her flower" in an interview.

Her next album, Britney, was released on November 6, 2001. The first single "I'm A Slave 4U" is an R&B-influenced, slightly more mature-sounding tune indicating Spears's attempts to grow with her audience beyond young "tween" (pre-teens acting like teens) and teen boys who now are her biggest audience. However, her third album did not match the stratospheric sales figures of her previous two, and music industry watchers are waiting to see if her career is in decline. As of September 2002, she is reportedly taking an extended holiday.

Her sister, Jamie Spears, is currently starting a career as an entertainer too in the Nickelodeon show, All That.

As of January, 2003, she is rumored to have been dating Vin Diesel[?], Fred Durst, and Colin Farrell.

External links

Official sites

• Britney Spears Online (http://www.britneyspears.com/)
• Britney Spears Foundation (http://www.britneyspears.com/foundation/index.php)
• Britney Spears Fan Club (http://britneyspears.com/fanclub/index.php)

Discussion forums

• WOB Forums (http://www.wobforums.com/)
• Britney Forums (http://www.britneyforums.com/)

She is now on her vacation for 6 months trying to come back with a fresh new CD that her and The Neptunes[?] did.