Introduction
“Pop Phenomenon” doesn’t come close to describing Britney Spears. The name is legend around the World. So famous is Britney Spears now that it’s impossible to imagine a World in which she doesn’t exist.
Britney Spears took America by storm on November 17, 1998 with her debut single “…Baby One More Time”, which smashed into the American Billboard charts at #1. Her debut album with the same title was released only a few weeks later also debuting at #1, making her the first ever female artist to have a simultaneous Billboard #1 single and album with a debut release. The impact was mirrored on charts throughout the world. Britney Spears had arrived on the music world in a very big way.
Birth
Britney Jean Spears was born at 1:30 A.M. on December 2, 1981 in a small town of Kentwood, Louisiana, – the sleepy town approximately one hour from New Orleans and situating near the Mississippi-Louisiana border.
Britney was born into an ordinary but cozy and comfortable middle-class home. Father Jamie Spears owned a health club for a time, mother Lynne worked as a school teacher.
When Lynne had been giving a birth to Britney, she was ecstactic that at last she had an “adorable baby girl to dress up like a doll”, because she had a son already. For her daughter she chose a popular name Brittany, but decided to spell it the way it sounded in a local southern drawl – Britney, which means “Little Britain”, in honor of Great Britain where Lynn’s parents Lillian Portell and Barney Bridges lived before immigration to U.S.A.
Right after the birth, baby Britney appeared in her first ever newspaper – “Kentwood News”. She was ‘Baby of The Week’ and according to that article, an “active, precious bundle of joy”.
Early Childhood
Kentwood (approximately 2500 residents) is a kind of place where people don’t lock their doors and say ‘Hi!’ to each other. Driving through the town here is what you will see: rolling hills, pine trees, cornfields, livestock and miles of wide open spaces. The neighbor’s mooing cow may be your alarm clock in the morning. This was the atmosphere where Britney has been growing.
Britney loved being a girl and she had a regular childhood. From an early age she collected dolls, she loved frilly clothes and get into her mother’s make-up. She was a truly sweet and loveable baby who showed sings of her future career almost from the day she was born. Since the day she could walk, she loved to perform in front of the people. She could dance and sing without stop – she sang in the car, in a yard, in a kitchen. But most of all she loved singing in a bathtub, because the acoustics were amazing. And once she got started singing, she couldn’t stop. She liked to line up all her dolls and toys in the bathroom and performed for an admiring ‘audience’ with a bottle of shampoo, serving her as her microphone. She sang along to Madonna, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey – that’s where her vocal training came from. She also used to stand in front of a big mirror and pretend she was a superstar.
Britney Spears was only two years old when she had her first ever dance lesson in Kentwood. She began taking dance lessons at Renee Donowar’s dance school. Miss Renee spotted right away that the girl had something special. Donewar said that Britney was clearly miles ahead of other kids, in both talent and ambition. She was a real leader. She even won a “Best Attendance” award, because she never missed her lessons.
By the time she was three years old, Britney was not only taking dance classes, but gymnastics as well, but Britney’s family never seriously thought about her singing seriously. But it was one day when she was jumping on a trampoline in the back yard and singing some song. When her mother walked by, she stopped and listened to it. The she took her daughter inside the house and asked to sing for father and older brother Brian and they were surprised. At the same day she took Britney to gymnastics class where asked Britney to sing for her teacher, Miss Gigi. By the end of the day it was clear that Britney was more than a regular child – she was a future star.
After that mother has registered her in the junior choir where she sang every weekend when her family attended church. Britney’s first public solo singing performance came soon after, when she was only 4 years old. At her kindergarten graduation ceremony she sang in front of the choir at the Kentwood Baptist Church. The first song Britney Spears ever sang in public was a Christian song “What Child Is This?” She was so nervous that she sang the entire song with her head cocked to one side. But she needn’t have worried – the crowd loved it.
Over the next few years Lynne started bringing Britney to various local talent competitions. When she was about 6 years old her mother decided to try some beauty pageant competition, but she entered only one. Lynne swore she would never let Britney enter another one, because she saw some cruelty – all mothers were telling daughters that appearance was the most important thing in the world. So Britney never tried herself in another one.
At the age of 6 Britney won some talent contest at the “Kentwood Dairy Festival”, singing and dancing with a top hat and cane. This gave her the privilege of riding on the back of a convertible in the town parade, wearing their dance costume and waving to the crowd. Soon after she won the “Miss Talent Central States Competition” in Baton Rouge. There she performed, sang, danced and showed off her gymnastic abilities to the song “I’m a Brass Band”. She was the overall winner for all categories -ages 7-9 and ages 3-11.
Primary School
With all that business Britney studied as well. Being a teacher herself, Lynne Spears knew the importance of a quality education, and that’s what she wanted for her children.
“Parklane Academy” is a private Christian school in McComb, Mississippi – 25 miles north of Kentwood. It was a place where Britney had been receiving her education from the age of six to fifteen.
At “Parklane Academy” Britney entered into the spirit of the school musical ”Give Thanks America”.
In the third grade she sang a solo “Lavender’s Blue”. As her teacher said, her voice was so much more mature than the others children’s voices of her age.
There was one event at her school in which Britney would sing the national anthem every year. At Grandparents Day she sang “Star Spangled Banner” with such power that some people in the audience thought she was pantomiming.
At school Britney also performed at fundraisers, where she performed 4 songs, one of which was a duet with some other girl – “Love Can Build a Bridge”.
By the age of 7 Britney started to shine in gymnastics. She won her level at Louisiana State gymnastics meet and her teacher recommended to find another coach. Later the lessons become much stricter. She took lessons five times a week with Bela Karolyi – the most successful coach in the history of gymnastics. There was one day when Britney decided to stop her lessons, because it was not for having fun, it was just a ruthless sport. Britney wanted to have fun performing on stage.
Time to Entertain
Once a girl from dance class told Britney that there was an audition for “The All New Mickey Mouse Club” in Atlanta, Georgia. Britney really wanted to try herself in it, but she had no idea what to expect, but being on TV sounded like the coolest job in the world. She was just 8 years old at that time. More than two thousand of children came to Atlanta to for auditions. Cast producers wanted kids with extraordinary talent. And that day has changed her life forever.
Britney had just little time to impress the chief of casting, Matt Casella. She sang “Sweet Georgia Brown” with flipping, acting, jumping and dancing. From the start Matt knew Britney had that extraordinary talent. The casting director told her that even though she displayed a good deal of talent and stage presence, they felt she was still too young to be in the show. However Matt Casella helped Lynne Spears to contact a well-known New York agent Nancy Carson.
Nancy suggested Lynne to send some material with Britney to her office. Jamie Spears wrote a letter about his daughter and included videos with some songs performed by Britney. She sang an old song “Shine on Harvest Moon” and Nancy noticed right from the start that it wasn’t something a child of this age was taught. Britney also sang some classic songs “Cry”, “Somebody Loves Me” and that song she performed on Kentwood Dairy Festival. Nancy decided to meet Britney in her family in New York to speak about little girl’s future and she suggested Britney to stay in New York for the summer and take some vocal classes.
Hello, Broadway!
New York actually became Britney’s second home for a while. Next three summers she studied at the “Professional Performing Arts School” (PPAS). That school was just like all the others public schools, but once you entered inside, the halls were filled with music. Britney also took dance classes at the Broadway Dance Center.
During that summers Britney appeared in some commercials, including that barbecue sauce “Maull It”, “Bell South Communications” and appeared in comedy show “Candid Camera”. Soon after Britney auditioned for an Off Broadway musical “Ruthless!”, a dark comedy based on the 1956 movie “The Bad Seed”, in 1991 she got a role of Tina Denmark – an evil child with stars in her eyes and murder on her tiny mind, and only rival’s violent death could pacify her. It was the first Britney’s acting role. She had to learn every line by heart to be prepared for performing. Britney recalls it was a lot of fun playing the part of an evil child who fools everyone into thinking that she is sweet.
With this full schedule Britney missed her home, friends and family. The play got a little boring for her – touring across the country and doing the same singing and dancing every night. She had to perform on Christmas and it upset her, because she wanted to be home and spend holidays with her family. And that was what she did. She left “Ruthless!” and went back to Kentwood after 6 months in the play.
Victories & Defeats
Back in Kentwood Britney continued to enter talent competitions.
In spring of 1992 Britney entered the “Miss Talent USA” contest held in Louisiana. There she won and returned home with the 58-inch trophy and 1000$ check. “The Kentwood News Ledger” reported that Britney Spears was crowned “Miss Talent USA”. At the competition she sang “There, I’ve Said That” and competed with 17 other children from around the country.
In April 1992 Britney and her mother flew to Los Angeles for the popular talent show called “Star Search”. The show broadcasted on TV and celebrity judges rated the performance with the stars – if you have more stars, you will become the champion. Each time you win you return to the show with a different song and number. Britney won the first round. She sang a classic Julie Garland song “I Don’t Care”. For the final contest “Star Search” insisted Britney to perform the Naomi Judd song “Love Can Build a Bridge”. That song wasn’t right for Britney. It was for a real grown woman, not for a child. However agent Nancy begged show producers to change that number they refused. Britney did her best, but she had lost to the boy whom she knew from the Professional Performing Arts School. She got off-stage and started crying, her heart was broken.
At 17, Britney Spears enjoys being a girl. She loves colors that pop and shopping till you drop, romance novels and idyllic days at the beach. Untamed and untarnished as they come, the bright beautiful teen from Kentwood, Louisiana (pop:1200), is poised to liven up the pop world with the irresistible collection of songs on her Jive Records self-titled debut release.
Produced by Eric Foster White (Whitney Houston, Hi-Five) and Max Martin (Robyn, Backstreet Boys, Ace of Base), the album showcases Britney’s unbridled effervescence and musical curiosity. From the sweet melody of “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart,” to the driving funk of “One More Time,” to the funky reggae beats of “Soda Pop,” to her soulful take on the Jets hit “You’ve Got It All,” Britney’s lively, assured vocal style is intoxicating. “I want to be an artist that everyone can relate to, that’s young, happy and fun,” she says.
Despite a refreshingly adolescent attitude, Britney’s life has hardly been traditional. “I’ve done the prom thing, but it’s only once a year,” she notes about her unconventional teenage lifestyle. “I need to sing and I love to travel.”
Performing since early childhood in local dance reviews and church choirs, she auditioned for the Disney Channel’s “Mickey Mouse Club” series at age eight in Atlanta. Too young for her series, but too talented to dismiss, a producer on the show helped Britney secure an agent in New York City, where she spent the next three summers studying at the renowned Off-Broadway Dance Center and at the Professional Performing Arts School. She also began appearing in national commercials and Off-Broadway shows including the 1991 comedy, “Ruthless,” based on the 1956 thriller “The Bad Seed.” “At 10 I was playing this really bad child who seems real sweet but she’s evil too. It was so much fun,” she recalls.
Finally old enough at age 11, Britney earned a coveted place in “Mickey Mouse Club.” After two years performing on the popular children’s TV show filmed in Orlando, Britney returned to Kentwood for one completely normal year of high school at age 14. “It was fun for awhile but I started getting itchy to get out again and see the world,” she says.
A devoted fan of pop music- her favorites include Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston- Britney once again went to New York to pursue her dream. “I had always wanted to be a singer,” she says. “It’s what I always wanted to do since I was little.” Now a seasoned performer at age 15, an audition for an all girl vocal group led to her developing a solo career as a pop singer as well as continuing her high school studies with tutors. “I need a lot of help in geometry and Spanish!” she admits.
Recording with Martin in Sweden this past spring and in New Jersey with Foster White, Britney’s ready to make her own special mark on the world. “I love performing more than anything and having people hear my music. I know I’ve had to give some stuff up to do this, but I don’t miss high school. When I was home two years ago, every weekend we’d go out and do the same thing. It’s wonderful as long as you love what you’re doing, but I’d rather be doing this!”
To say that Britney Spears’s life has changed over the course of the past two years is somewhat of an understatement. Since the release of her Jive Records debut “…Baby One More Time” (which made Britney the youngest artist in Soundscan history to have a certified RIAA 12x platinum album, and included four hit singles including the title track and “(You Drive Me Crazy”), Britney has gone from being a star in the making to a superstar and the “Queen Of Teen.” In 1999 alone she was nominated for two Grammys (including the coveted Best New Artist), swept the 1999 MTV Europe Awards (where she nabbed Best Female, Best Pop, Best Breakthrough Artist and Best Song), brought her explosive live show around the globe and appeared on every major televised award show both here and in Europe.
Perhaps even more importantly than the accolades and the sales figures, Britney has become an icon to millions of fans worldwide and her infectious brand of pop/R&B has become the template for girl pop.
Now Britney is back ready to take it to the next level. Featuring tracks from Diane Warren, Rodney Jerkins, Mutt Lange, Max Martin and Britney herself, “Oops!… I Did It Again” is destined to be the album of the summer and is much more than just a follow-up. It’s a record that shows the progress from phenomenon to artist. A bit wiser and more confident and self-assured, “Oops!… I Did It Again” is Britney Spears as you’ve never heard her: sexy, sassy and solidly in control.
Britney & NSYNC w/ Britney’s Mother.Ask Britney about the direction of her new CD and she is modest. “I’m not really doing anything different this time around but I am really growing up, as a person and that just all flows with the overall sound and feel of this record. There’s no master plan! I’m just gonna be me and hope it all works out!”
Signs are evident that it has already begun to “work out”. The title track, which deals with romantic misintentions, was written and produced by longtime collaborators Max Martin and Rami and has already broken the record for first week adds at CHR/Pop radio with 155 adds. “It’s an incredible song!” Britney declares, I think it’s even better than “Baby One More Time!” Also incredible is the video whose futuristic/Barbarella concept was Britney’s idea.
The most noticeable aspect of the single, the video and the album is maturity, which is just what Britney had in mind. “People have to remember that when I did my first album I was only 16. I had never been in the studio, it was all new to me and so before I let people help me out and honestly I think that was because I was just so new to the music industry, not only because I was young. But making records and being part of the process and becoming more in charge of my sound was something I had to experience and grow with and on this album I’ve had the chance to do that. This album is closer to who I am. It’s funkier!”
Britney.That funkier spirit is loud and clear on uptempo rump shakers like “Stronger” and “Don’t Go Knockin’ On My Door” which find Britney in a frisky and fierce state of mind. But as she proved on her debut, Britney can deliver ballads with as much intensity as her more high energy cuts. On the aching “When Your Eyes Say It” (written by Diane Warren and produced by Steve Lunt and Robert Jazayeri) and the thoughtful “Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know” (penned by Shania Twain and Robert Mutt Lange and produced by Lange), Britney shows her depth. “I don’t want to just be some singer who sings a song just to sing it,” Britney offers speaking to the emotional range of the album. “When you sing a song with feeling and do your all you connect and that’s crucial to me. Especially since I think that the songs on this album are ten times better than on my first album, so I really want my fans to feel and hear how much these songs mean to me.”
In keeping with that need to communicate is “Dear Diary”, co written by Britney. Britney began writing melodies and songs while on the road and she has plans to learn guitar (she is proficient on the piano) in hopes of writing more songs in the future. “I think I’ve always had these songs that I’ve been writing in my head,” Britney explains. “Now I feel ready to let people start to hear them.”
Along with her rigorous schedule and the release of her successful 2X Platinum home video Time Out With Britney Spears in late 1999, Britney and her mother have written a book entitled Heart To Heart. As if that weren’t enough, Britney has also created the Britney Spears Foundation in conjunction with the Giving Back Fund. Its first endowment is the formation of a performing arts summer camp for underprivileged kids in Massachusetts. “I’m so happy to be able to give kids the opportunity to learn about amazing world of dance and music that I’ve have been lucky enough to make such a big part of my own life.”
Britney began performing at an early age, and when she was 8, she auditioned for the Mickey Mouse Club. Although she was too young for the show, a producer helped her secure an agent in New York City where Britney spent the next three years studying dance and music. She also had bit roles in commercials, theatre and films. When she turned 11, Britney was old enough to earn a spot on the Mickey Mouse Club and starred on the popular show for two years, relocating with her family to Orlando.
After her stint on TV, Britney returned home but she still had dreams of making it in the music industry. “I’ve always wanted to be a singer,” she declares. Armed with those desires and a powerful voice, Britney went back to New York when she was 15 and began to make the rounds of record labels. She sang accapella for executives at Jive Records who saw and heard right away that in the teenager from Kentwood, LA, there were the makings of a star. Britney was signed soon after her audition and began work thereafter on what would become “…Baby One More Time.”
One listen to “Oops!.. I Did It Again” and Britney will make a believer out of you – one more time.
Britney Spears may have titled her new single “Me Against The Music,” but she has rarely been more creatively in tune than she is right now. “I feel like I’ve hit a great new stride as an artist,” she says with pride. “I’ve worked hard, and I feel like I’ve grown on so many levels.”
In truth, “Me Against The Music” is hardly about declaring war against grooves. “Actually, it’s about the intensity that people approach music with,” Britney shares. “It’s about getting totally lost in the music and pushing yourself to the edge in every way you can imagine. I love thoroughly immersing myself in music, and I wanted to capture that intensity in a song.”
Britney’s musical intensity and her evolution from a teen renegade into a provocative young woman are undeniable throughout “In The Zone,” her fourth Jive Records collection. First and foremost, the project shows her flexing notably strong and mature songwriting muscles. She co-wrote 7 of the project’s 12 sterling new compositions, collaborating with such heavy hitters as Red Zone (“Me Against The Music,” “The Hook Up”), The Matrix (“Shadow”), Moby (“Early Mornin'”), and Cathy Dennis (“Toxic,” “Showdown”). Also contributing hit worthy material to the album is R. Kelly (“Outrageous”), Ying-Yang Twins on “(I Got That) Boom Boom.”
Perhaps most significant is the appearance of pop icon Madonna, who lends her voice to the single “Me Against The Music.” Collaborating with one of her all-time greatest musical influences was a dream come true for Britney. “The experience was beyond words or description.” she says. The two forged what has become a powerful bond while rehearsing for their now-notorious performance on the MTV Video Music Awards this fall. “As we were working together, there were moments when I simply could not believe that I was standing there on stage next to her. It was never even in the realm of fantasy for me.”
The musical union of Britney and Madonna within the taut, classic-funk groove of “Me Against The Music” is quite real, though, and it reveals each of them at their most kinetic and soulful. The song’s accompanying video clip, directed by Paul Hunter, shows Madonna enticing Britney through a maze-like underground club, only to disappear into thin air when Britney gets close enough to touch her. The clip is rife with symbolic gestures of Madonna passing the baton pop power to Britney — an image that the young artist finds exciting, humbling, and perhaps a bit premature.
“There is only one Madonna — and there will always only be one,” she says. “My goal is to have a career that is equally as special, but one that is completely unique to who I am. I’m honored by all that Madonna brought to this song. I really love the flow we share — both on the track and as friends. I think you can feel the chemistry and positive energy we shared. It’s completely natural and relaxed.”
The natural and relaxed vibe of “Me Against The Music” is indicative of every note and beat comprises “In The Zone,” an album that runs the stylistic gamut from streetwise hip-hop and electro-trance to new-wave-etched rock and well-crafted pop. From top to bottom, Britney effectively expands the parameters of mainstream musical consciousness with songs that lure listeners with infectious hooks, and then captivates them with layers of clever lyrics and deft instrumentation.
“Putting this record together was an incredible journey for me,” Britney says. “I had the freedom to explore and experiment with some of the most exciting people in music. In the end, that allowed me to make a record that is a pure reflection of where I am right now.”
What we learn from album highlights like the rambunctious “(I Got That) Boom Boom,” which features the Ying Yang Twins, and “Everytime,” a stark, delicate collaboration with Guy Sigsworth, is that Britney has grown into a fearless artist. “Those songs are particularly special to me, because neither of them sounds like anything I’ve ever done before,” she says. “‘Boom Boom’ is so rough and edgy and fun, while ‘Everytime’ is so raw and spare. It’s me stripped to my core as a singer and as a songwriter. It’s as honest as I’ve ever been in my music. I loved working with Guy on that track. He made me feel comfortable and safe enough to go the full distance, emotionally and as a performer.” Britney also has high praise for Moby, who worked with her on the mid-tempo “Early Mornin.'” “He’s such a pure-hearted guy,” she says. “He’s so cool. He played me a really cool track, and I thought it was brilliant. It’s turned out to be one of my favorite songs on the album.”
She describes “Early Mornin,'” which unfolds with a deceptively insistent, easy-paced dance groove as a day-after-the-party jam, which balances some of the more assertive, dance floor-friendly cuts on “In The Zone.” “Some songs are generally about going out and wanting to have a good time,” she says. “One of the things I did while working on this album was write about a lot things like going out with my girlfriends, everyday experiences that I was going through. ‘Early Morning’ is about just going out and feeling bad the next day.” Elsewhere on “In The Zone,” Britney shows her sultry side, particularly on the steamy, turntable-ready “Breathe On Me,” a Mark Taylor production that she characterizes as being “very vibe-y, trance-y. It’s about being with a guy and not even having to really be with each other, but just the intensity and the anxiety between not saying anything. You don’t even have to touch me, just breathe on me.”
Among the more sensual songs on the album is “Touch of My Hand,” on which Britney seductively floats her voice atop an arrangement of pillowy strings and languid, Middle-Eastern-kissed guitar lines. “It’s tastefully done,” she says of the track. “And I think it’s real. It’s nice and it’s real. It’s whatever your take is. Some people may think it’s a little much, but that’s where I’m at with my life. … It’s not freaky freaky, it’s just a little freaky.” Stepping out on a creative limb has been the basis for Britney’s entire career. Dubbed by MTV as “one of the last teenage pop superstars of the 20th century,” Spears enjoyed her breakthrough success at the end of 1998. She appeared in local dance revues and church choirs as a young girl, and at the age of eight auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club. Although she was too young to join the series, a producer on the show gave her an introduction to a New York agent. She subsequently spent three summers at the Professional Performing Arts School Center. She also appeared in a number of off-Broadway productions as a child actor, including 1991’s “Ruthless.” She returned to the Disney Channel for a spot on The Mickey Mouse Club, where she was featured for two years between the ages of 11 and 13. Her demo tape eventually landed in the hands of a Jive Records executive who quickly signed her to the label. She toured American venues for a series of concerts sponsored by U.S. teen magazines, eventually joining “N Sync on tour. It all added up to 1999’s wildly infectious “…Baby One More Time” album to make its bow on the charts at No. 1. The set not only spawned a smash hit with the title tune, but also scored with the charming ballad “Sometimes” and the funky “(You Drive Me) Crazy.” Before the album finished its impressive worldwide attack of the charts, it garnered Britney 4 MTV Europe Awards, including best pop performer, and 4 Billboard Music Awards, most notably female artist of the year.
The massive demand for new Britney material was satisfied when her 2000 sophomore collection, “Oops! … I Did It Again,” was released to a Spears-starved world in May. Once again, the title cut flooded radio airwaves, as did the anthemic “Stronger” and lovely “Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know.” She also racked up more awards that year by taking home an American Music Award as favorite new artist, a Billboard Music Award as album artist of the year, and 2 Teen Choice Awards. Britney would later earn Teen Choice Award honors in 2001 and 2003. Ever-prolific, the artist returned in 2001 with “Britney,” a spirited, assertive collection on which she began to reveal her mettle as a tunesmith, not to mention as a vocalist of increasingly soulful depth. She earned high praise for the wickedly sultry “Slave 4 U,” as well as for the forceful “Overprotected” and the gentle “I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman.” The album’s was quickly followed by Britney’s motion picture debut, “Crossroads,” which proved that she has the talent and box-office pull to be a multifaceted superstar. “One of the true joys of my life and career has been trying out new things,” Britney says. “I’ve loved every step of this journey I’m on. I love singing and dancing and acting and songwriting… it all energizes and inspires me.” It’s that philosophy that has sent Britney “In The Zone,” a project that shows this ever-growing and ever-exciting at her absolute best… or as she would say, “for now.” “I can’t imagine ever reaching the point where I’ve hit the wall,” she concludes. “There’s always something new and challenging to tackle. I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
Thank you all for being so patient as we created an entirely new and different site over the past 4 months. I am so excited to share this with you. I hope you love it as much as I do!
