Britney Spears starred in The All-New Mickey Mouse Club at age 11 and began a highly successful career as a pop singer and performer with the release of the single “…Baby One More Time” in 1998.
Spears achieved massive sales with albums like Oops!… I Did It Again and Britney, before experiencing a series of personal and professional setbacks.
She rebounded with the chart-topping Femme Fatale in 2011 and later enjoyed an extended residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
When she was eight years old, she auditioned for a spot on the Disney Channel’s The All-New Mickey Mouse Club. Spears did not get the part, but she did eventually achieve one childhood dream: showcasing her vocal talents on the popular entertainment competition Star Search in 1992.
Spears tried again for The All-New Mickey Mouse Club when she was 11. This time, she was picked for the cast, which also featured other up-and-coming talents such as Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and actress Keri Russell.
She appeared on the children’s variety show for two seasons. “We had an amazing, amazing time; we got to sing and dance and do everything,” she later explained to the Hollywood Reporter.
After the show’s cancellation in 1995, Spears focused on developing her musical career. She eventually landed a contract with Jive Records.
In September 1998, Spears released her first single, “…Baby One More Time.” The catchy tune reached the top of the pop charts at the end of January 1999, propelled in part by a music video in which the singer danced in a skimpy version of a Catholic schoolgirl uniform.
Although the racy outfit drew sharp criticism from the parents of her young fans, Spears claimed to be a sweet, innocent Southern girl at heart.
The ...Baby One More Time album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts that same year, and went on to sell more than 25 million copies worldwide.
At the 1999 Billboard Music Awards, Spears picked up four awards, including for female artist of the year and best new artist.
Her smashing success made her a headliner of the teen pop music wave that included fellow Mickey Mouse Club alumnae Aguilera and Jessica Simpson.
Building upon her meteoric rise, Spears released Oops!… I Did It Again in 2000. The recording was an instant No. 1 hit on the album charts, selling more than 1 million copies in its first week.
The singer’s personal life was also receiving more scrutiny, as rumors circulated that she was dating Timberlake, then part of the hit pop group *NSYNC.
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 released in 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 under 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 behaviour 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”. After embarking on The Circus Starring Britney Spears, she released greatest hits The Singles Collection, which featured U.S. and Canadian number-one single “3”.
In 2011, Spears returned with her seventh studio album, titled Femme Fatale, which was released on March 29, 2011, including the lead single “Hold It Against Me” which has become Spears’ fourth U.S. number-one single. The album debuted at #1 on Billboard 200.
This made Spears the only female artist ever to have six number one debut albums, and have seven albums debut in the top two spots.
Spears has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists in the history of contemporary music.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she is the eighth top-selling female artist in the United States, with 33 million certified albums. Spears is also recognized as the best-selling female artist of the first decade of the 21st century, as well as the fifth overall.
She was ranked the 8th Artist of the 2000s by Billboard. In June 2010, Spears was ranked sixth on Forbes list of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential celebrities in the world; she is also the third most mentioned musician on the internet, according to Forbes.
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