Briteny Spears Biography

Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album ...Baby One More Time in 1999, which became the best-selling album by a teenage solo artist.^[2] During her first decade in the music industry, she became a prominent figure in mainstream popular music and popular culture, followed by a much-publicized personal life. Her first two albums established her as a pop icon and broke sales records, while title tracks "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!... I Did It Again" became international number-one hits. Spears was credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s, and became the 'best-selling teen aged artist of all time' before she turned 20,^[3] garnering her the honorific title of "Princess of Pop".^[4]
In 2001, she released her third studio album Britney and expanded her brand, playing the starring role in the film Crossroads. She assumed creative control of her fourth studio album, In the Zone (2003), which yielded chart-topping singles "Me Against the Music", "Toxic" and "Everytime". After the release of two compilation albums, Spears experienced personal struggles and her career went into hiatus. Her fifth studio album, Blackout, was released in 2007 and despite receiving little promotion, it spawned hits "Gimme More" and "Piece of Me". In 2008, her erratic behavior and hospitalizations caused her to be placed in a conservatorship. The same year, her sixth studio album Circus was released, with the global chart-topping lead single "Womanizer", and hits such as "Circus" and "If U Seek Amy". She embarked on her highest-grossing global concert tour,^[5] The Circus Starring Britney Spears, in 2009. In October of the same year, she released a chart-topping single, "3", which became her third single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Her seventh studio album Femme Fatale, released in 2011, has become the first of her albums to yield three top ten singles in the United States, "Hold It Against Me", "Till the World Ends" and "I Wanna Go". The same year, she also gained her fifth number one single when she featured on the remix of "S&M" alongside Rihanna.
Spears work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, 6 MTV Video Music Awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award, 9 Billboard Music Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, Billboard ranked her as the 8th overall Artist of the Decade,^[6] and also recognized her as the best-selling female artist of the first decade of the 21st century, as well as the fifth overall.^[7] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) also recognized Spears as the eighth top-selling female artist in the United States, with 33 million certified albums.^[8] Nielsen SoundScan ranked Spears the tenth best-selling digital artist of the country, with more than 28.6 million digital singles as of January 2012.^[9] She has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.^[10] Rolling Stone recognized her instant success as one of the Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments of all time,^[11] while VH1 ranked her eleventh on their "100 Greatest Women in Music" list in 2012.^[12] Forbes also revealed that Spears was the sixth most powerful celebrity, and the third best paid musician of 2011-12, having topped the list back in 2002.^[13] In Fall 2012, Spears will serve as a judge in the second season of the American version of The X Factor.^[14]

Contents

• 1 Biography
• 1.1 1981–97: Early life, and career beginnings
• 1.2 1998–2000: ...Baby One More Time, and Oops!... I Did It Again
• 1.3 2001–03: Britney, Crossroads, and In the Zone
• 1.4 2004–07: Compilation albums, motherhood, personal struggles, and Blackout
• 1.5 2008–10: Conservatorship, and Circus
• 1.6 2011–present: Femme Fatale and The X Factor
• 2 Artistry
• 2.1 Musical style, and performance
• 2.2 Influences
• 3 Legacy
• 4 Other ventures
• 5 Philanthropy
• 6 Discography
• 7 Filmography
• 8 Tours
• 9 See also
• 10 Notes
• 11 References
• 12 Further reading
• 13 External links

Biography

1981–97: Early life, and career beginnings

1998–2000: ...Baby One More Time, and Oops!... I Did It Again

2001–03: Britney, Crossroads, and In the Zone

2004–07: Compilation albums, motherhood, personal struggles, and Blackout

2008–10: Conservatorship, and Circus

2011–present: Femme Fatale and The X Factor

Artistry

Musical style, and performance

Following her debut, Spears was credited with leading the revival of teen pop in the late 1990s. The Daily Yomiuri reported that "[m]usic critics have hailed her as the most gifted teenage pop idol for many years, but Spears has set her sights a little higher-she is aiming for the level of superstardom that has been achieved by Madonna and Janet Jackson."^[188] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone wrote: "Britney Spears carries on the classic archetype of the rock & roll teen queen, the dungaree doll, the angel baby who just has to make a scene."^[189] Rami Yacoub who co-produced Spears's debut album with lyricist Max Martin, commented, "I know from Denniz Pop and Max's previous productions, when we do songs, there's kind of a nasal thing. With N' Sync and the Backstreet Boys, we had to push for that mid-nasal voice. When Britney did that, she got this kind of raspy, sexy voice."^[190] Following the release of her debut album, Chuck Taylor of Billboard observed, "Spears has become a consummate performer, with snappy dance moves, a clearly real-albeit young-and funkdified voice ... "(You Drive Me) Crazy", her third single ... demonstrates Spears's own development, proving that the 17-year-old is finding her own vocal personality after so many months of steadfast practice."^[191] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic referred to her music as a "blend of infectious, rap-inflected dance-pop and smooth balladry."^[192] Spears later commented, "With ...Baby One More Time, I didn't get to show my voice off. The songs were great, but they weren't very challenging".^[193]

Influences

Throughout her career, Spears has drawn frequent comparisons to Madonna and Janet Jackson, in terms of vocals, choreography and stage presence, citing both as influences in her work. She has also named Michael Jackson as a source of inspiration.^[214] According to Spears: "I know when I was younger, I looked up to people... like, you know, Janet Jackson and Madonna. And they were major inspirations for me. But I also had my own identity and I knew who I was, you know."^[215] In the 2002 book Madonnastyle by Carol Clerk, she is quoted saying: "I have been a huge fan of Madonna since I was a little girl. She's the person that I've really looked up to. I would really, really like to be a legend like Madonna."^[216]

Discography

Main articles: Britney Spears discography and Britney Spears videography

• ...Baby One More Time (1999)
• Oops!... I Did It Again (2000)
• Britney (2001)
• In the Zone (2003)
• Blackout (2007)
• Circus (2008)
• Femme Fatale (2011)

Filmography

Main article: Britney Spears filmography

Films
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Longshot	Flight attendant	Cameo appearance
2002	Austin Powers in Goldmember	Herself	Cameo appearance
2002	Crossroads	Lucy Wagner	Teen Choice Award for Best Actress Drama/Action Adventure Teen Choice Award for Best Chemistry (with Anson Mount) Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Dressed
2004	Fahrenheit 9/11	Herself	Cameo appearance Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress

Television
Year	Title	Character
1993–1994	The Mickey Mouse Club	Various Roles (Series regular)
1999	The Famous Jett Jackson	Herself
1999	Sabrina the Teenage Witch	Herself
1999	The Famous Jett Jackson	Herself
1999	Kenan & Kel	Herself
1999	Médico de familia	Herself
1999	Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree	Herself
2000	The Simpsons	Herself
2000	Saturday Night Live	Herself
2002	Stages: Three Days in Mexico	Herself
2002	Robbie the Reindeer in Legend of the Lost Tribe	Donner (voice)
2002	Saturday Night Live	Herself (host)
2003	Punk'd	Herself
2004	Britney & Kevin: Chaotic	Herself
2006	Will & Grace	Amber-Louise (1 episode)
2008	How I Met Your Mother	Abby (2 episodes)
2008	Britney: For the Record	Herself
2010	Glee	Herself
2012	The X Factor	Judge

Tours

Main article: List of Britney Spears concert tours

• ...Baby One More Time Tour (1999–2000)
• Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour (2000–01)
• Dream Within a Dream Tour (2001–02)
• The Onyx Hotel Tour (2004)
• The M+M's Tour (2007)
• The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009)
• Femme Fatale Tour (2011)

Pakistan volleyball crowd 'hit by suicide bomber'

At least 60 people have been killed after a suspected suicide bomb attack at a volleyball pitch in the troubled north-west of Pakistan, officials say.

Officials said the bomber drove a vehicle towards the field as people gathered to watch a match. Some sources suggest the death toll has reached 75.

The attack happened near Lakki Marwat, close to North and South Waziristan.

The Pakistani army has been conducting a campaign against the Taliban in the tribal areas since October.

Dozens of people were reported to be injured in Friday's attack. Several buildings collapsed, trapping people under rubble.

'Militant hub'

"The villagers were watching the match between the two village teams when the bomber rashly drove his double-cabin pick-up vehicle into them and blew it up," district police chief Mohammad Ayub Khan told AFP news agency.

Mr Khan told reporters the attack may have been in retaliation for attempts by locals to expel militants.

"The locality has been a hub of militants," he said.

"Locals set up a militia and expelled the militants from this area. This attack seems to be a reaction to their expulsion."

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool reports from Islamabad that among those killed are believed to be members of a local peace committee who have been campaigning for an end to the violence.

Mushtaq Marwat, a member of the group, told Pakistan's Geo TV that the attack occurred as the committee was meeting in a nearby mosque.

"Suddenly there was a huge blast. We went out and saw bodies and injured people everywhere," he said.

'Soft target'

Other witnesses recalled seeing a bright flash before hearing an ear-piercing explosion.

Some initial reports about the attack said the vehicle that exploded was stationary, or that a bomber had walked towards the volleyball pitch.

North and South Waziristan form a lethal militant belt from where insurgents have launched attacks across north-west Pakistan as well as into parts of eastern Afghanistan.

Our correspondent says it had been feared that while the army was congratulating itself on its campaign, militants had simply escaped to neighbouring areas such as the one where Friday's attack happened.

The number of people killed in militant attacks in Pakistan is fast approaching 600 in just three months, with no apparent end to the violence in sight, he adds.

Militants have attacked both "hard" targets, including army or intelligence offices, and "soft" ones such as markets or the crowd that was hit in Friday's bombing.

The attack came as a general strike was held in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital, in protest against a bombing there on Monday and riots that followed.

The bombing, which killed at least 43 people, targeted a Shia Muslim march and was claimed by the Taliban.

Japan Airlines shares fall 24% to hit a new record low

Japan Airlines shares touched a record low for the second day running, falling 24% from Tuesday's price to 67 yen.

The drop followed more reports that the carrier would file for bankruptcy as part of a revival plan.

Last week, Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said the state would not give the airline any more loans.

Japan Airlines has rival offers from American Airlines and Delta to buy a stake in the firm. A bankruptcy filing would make a deal more complicated.

The Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp - a state-backed fund - was asked in October to help out the debt-laden Japan Airlines.

A decision is due in January.

Japan Airlines is less efficient than its rival All Nippon Airways and is struggling with 1.5 trillion yen of debt ($16bn; £10bn). It has been bailed out by the government four times since 2001.

It has made a loss in four of the past five years.

Britney Spears recalls top 75 'absurd' stories of 2009

Singer Britney Spears has hit back at the gossip columns, listing the top 75 "most ridiculous" or "patently absurd" stories written about her in 2009.

Published on her website, The Year in BS said there were more than 13,000 stories written about the 28-year-old.

The list includes various reports of new boyfriends, emotional breakdowns and one claiming her family was once so poor they ate squirrels.

At number one was a story about Spears dating choreographer Sandip Soparrkar.

In January, the Daily Mirror reported Spears was dating Soparrkar and that she had hosted a private New Year's Eve party to introduce him to her friends and parents.

'Factually inaccurate'

The Daily Star later reported in October that sales of squirrel meat soared after a new Spears biography included claims the star's family would eat whatever father Jamie could hunt.

"We ranked the ones we believe were the most ridiculous," the post on the website said.

"Either because they were factually inaccurate, because they reported the patently absurd, or because we believe they are simply offensive to the sensibilities."

The list culled mostly from US and British websites, celebrity magazines and tabloid newspapers, also included allegations she was being drugged by her father and supposed demands for stripper poles in her room at London's Dorchester Hotel to help her keep in shape.

The star quashed rumours that she was pregnant with a third child, was addicted to gardening and under orders from her father to read the Bible every day to keep her "on the straight and narrow".

Several of the stories also related to Spears's recent troubled tour of Australia, where it was reported fans had walked out of a concert in Perth because of her lip-synching.

Airlines hit back at US criticism of tie-up plans

American Airlines has hit back at a US Justice Department report that says its tie-up with British Airways and Iberia could lead to 'competitive harm'.

In papers filed this week, the Justice Department said fares between six transatlantic routes "could increase up to 15% under the proposed agreements."

The report advised removing some of the carriers' take-off and landing slots.

American Airlines said it disagreed with the report and believed the deal would be approved.

"American looks forward to rebutting the points made," the airline said.

British Airways also said it would "be making a robust response" to the Justice Department's comments.

Competition

The airlines want to operate as a joint business, called the Oneworld alliance, on flights between Europe and the US.

The Department of Justice wants the Department of Transportation to impose conditions to protect competition.

The report notes that "American and Iberia are the only current non-stop competitors between Miami and Madrid."

Fares between Boston and London, Chicago and London, Dallas and London, Miami and London, Miami and Madrid, and New York and London could be affected.

The routes in question serve 2.5 million passengers a year.