Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981 in
McComb Mississippi, USA. Her farther James Parnell Spears is a
building contractor and her mother Lynee Irene Bridges is a former
grade school teacher. Spears has two siblings, Bryan and Jamie
Lynn. Spears is a singer, dancer, recording artist, performer,
songwriter and actress. Britney has sold over 31 million records in
the USA. In 2002 Spears also starred in a very successful movie
Crossroads, in its first weekend it debuted at #2 on box office
charts. Crossroads also grossed over $60 million worldwide.
Britney Spears married her back up singer Kevin Federline and has
two children with him, Sean Preston and Jayden James. In November
2006 Spears and Federline got divorced and are still involved in an
ongoing custody battle. At the age of 8 Spears auditioned for The
New Mickey Mouse Club but was turned down because she was too
young. In 1992 she won the first round on Star Search but lost the
competition. At age 11 Spears earned herself a spot on The New
Mickey Mouse Club where she met Christina Aguilera, Justin
Timberlake, Joshua Chasez (N’Sync), Keri Russell (Felicity) and Ryan
Gosling (Notebook). In 1998 Britney Spears released her debut
single ‘Baby One More Time’ which was an instant international
success selling 9 million copies worldwide. Following her success
with her album ‘Baby One More Time’ she released ‘Opps!...I Did It
Again’ which debuted at #1 in USA and sold over 1 million copies
it’s first week. Britney Spears launched her first world tour ‘Opps!...I
Did It Again” in 2000. Spears released her 3rd album
“Britney” that also debuted at #1 and sold over 700 000 copies in
its first week. Following her tour she announced she would be
taking a 6 month break from her career. In November 2003 Britney
Spears released her 4th album ‘In The Zone’ which topped
the USA charts and sold over 600 000 copies. Spears released a
Greatest Hits Album in 2004 that debuted at #4 on the US charts.
Britney Spears is allowing her fans to name her upcoming album that
is scheduled for release November 7, 2007. Spears performed ‘Gimme
More’ from her upcoming album at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards and
received a lot of media attention, with unfavourable reviews from
all media critics. On September 18, 2007 Spears was dropped by her
management company The Firm.
In 2001 Britney Spears signed a multi million dollar deal with
Pepsi that included TV commercials and point of purchase
promotions. Spears has had 4 books published and 7 DVDs. Spears
has earned over 140 million from tour ticket sales and over $45
million in merchandise. Britney earned $12 million for endorsing an
Elizabeth Arden fragrance “Curious” which was a best selling perfume
in 2004. Spears had equal success in 2005 with the released of the
next Elizabeth Arden fragrance “Fantasy”. bsp; bsp;
In 2002 Britney Spears four year relationship with Justin
Timberlake ended with speculations that she had been unfaithful. In
June 2002 opened a restaurant Nyla in New York City but pulled out
of the business in November as a result of debts and management
issues. On January 3, 2004 Spears married her childhood friend
Jason Alexander and the marriage lasted 55 hours. In July 2004
Spears announced her engagement to Kevin Federline 3 months after
they met. Shortly after Spears announced on her website she would
be taking another career break to start a family. 7 months after
she got married she announced her pregnancy and gave birth on Sept
14, 2005. In May 2006 Spears announced that she was pregnant again
and gave birth September 12, 2006. Britney Spears filed for divorce
on November 7, 2006 due to irreconcilable differences, asking for
both legal and physical custody of their two children and with
visitation rights to Federline. Federline filled for legal and
physical custody of the children the next day. On March 29, 2007
Federline and Spears reached an agreement on both issues of marriage
and custody of their children. There divorce was finalized on July
30, 2007.
In January 2007, Britney Spear’s very close aunt died after a long
battle with breast cancer and on February 16 Spears stayed in a drug
rehabilitation facility for less than 24hrs supposedly as a result
of her aunts death. The following night Britney Spears shaved her
head. On February 20 Spears admitted herself to a treatment
facility, left shortly after only to return again in February 22.
On March 20 Spears left the treatment facility with ‘successfully
completing their program’. Britney Spears was ordered by a Judge in
September 2007 to undergo random drug and alcohol testing and she
was also ordered to attend parenting counselling. Spears and
Federline continued to share joint custody of their children but on
October 1, 2007 Spears temporarily lost physical custody of her
children to Federline until further order of the court.