Much like cell phones, the internet, and Starbucks, it's hard to imagine a world without Britney
Spears.
But how well do we really know her?
From just a kid who loved to sing, to global pop sensation, to mother of two, Spears has
evolved and shape-shifted over the years.
This is the stunning transformation of Britney Spears.
Spears was born on December 2nd, 1981, in Mississippi.The daughter of a second grade
teacher and a caterer, Spears grew up in Louisiana, an hour north of New Orleans, with her parents
and siblings.
"I just knew she would do something in the entertainment business, I didn't really know
what."
From the age of two, it was obvious that Spears loved singing.
She would hog the bathroom and sing with great gusto into her hairbrush, telling Rolling
Stone,
Her mom confirmed that she did this, too, adding,
"She would have friends over, and I was like always dancing.
She's like, 'Shut up Britney, we have company over.'"
Of course, Britney's older brother, who witnessed her singing and dancing to Madonna in front
of the TV, remembered things a little differently, joking,
"I feel the need for speed!"
Spears put her skills to the test right away, winning her first talent show when she was
just six.
She told Rolling Stone,
"Here's ten-year-old Britney Spears."
Britney was a champion on Star Search in 1992, which was a pretty big deal at the time.
But even then, she was already looking for the next big thing.
She remembered,
One year later, in '93, Spears would again appear on TV at the age of 11 in The All New
Mickey Mouse Club.
She had previously auditioned for the show when she was 8, according to Rolling Stone,
but wasn't deemed old enough to join the cast.
Jive Records' senior VP of A&R, Jeff Fenster, recalled Spears' self-driven initiative saying,
"When I'm on stage,like, I'm a different person.
Like I totally explode, and I have attitude."
Spears wasn't the only cast member who went on to have a successful career in entertainment.
Other famous alumni of the series include Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling, and Justin
Timberlake.
After The All New Mickey Mouse Club was cancelled, Spears returned to her hometown, but not for
long.
Entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph got her an audition with Jive Records' Jeff Fenster,
who was immediately impressed by her.
He told Rolling Stone,
Spears signed with Jive Records, and embarked on a 26-destination mall tour in '98, while
also recording an album.
It was a huge commitment for the young artist, but Fenster recalled,
"If I hear my song on the radio, I'll just be like crazy like oh my gosh, you know, I
think that'd be so cool.
I would love that.
That would be great."
By the time the single "…Baby One More Time" dropped in '98, Spears also had a modeling
gig and had opened for N'Sync.
But once the world saw her Catholic school uniform in the video, she was no longer playing
second fiddle to anyone.
The song went to the top of the charts, and everyone wanted a piece of Britney.
"Okay, this is my first video that I ever shot."
But Spears wasn't just a prop who sang and did whatever people told her to do.
She revealed to Rolling Stone that she collaborated on the video concept, which was originally
going to be animated, along the lines of the Power Rangers.
She recalled,
"To my surprise everything turned out really really cool."
That look, and that unforgettable hook, made the song a smash hit.
Anyone who was watching the 2003 VMA's will tell you that when Spears locked lips with
Madonna, people just about lost their minds.
Same-sex couples were over a decade away from having the right to marry, and Ellen DeGeneres
had only just come out six years prior.
So seeing two women kiss on live TV was big news.
"It's not that big of a deal."
Spears dished the dirt on the behind-the-scenes mechanisms at work at the time, revealing
in a 2003 interview,
"The kiss was not my idea.
It was Madonna's idea."
The way Spears tells it, that was an actual first kiss for the pair, adding,
Madonna also kissed Christina Aguilera during the performance, but nobody remembers that
part, probably because the cameras missed it.
"They cut away to get Justin's reaction."
In the midst of recording hit after hit and embarking on extremely successful concert
tours, Spears was also wrangling a personal life in the spotlight.
She made headlines in particular in 2004, when she famously got married to childhood
friend Jason Alexander in Vegas, and had the whole thing annulled 55 hours later.
As Alexander tells it, she had him flown to Las Vegas on New Year's Day.
He told ABC News,
But when Spears told her family that the couple had tied the knot, they were upset that the
couple hadn't signed a prenup.
So Spears had the marriage annulled.
"I think everything happens for a reason."
On the heels of her first marriage, it appeared that Spears had found true love.
In 2004, Spears married backup dancer Kevin Federline in a top-secret ceremony, according
to People.
The pair had two children together; Sean Preston, born in 2005, then Jayden James in September
2006, according to E! News.
But apparently the union wasn't as blissful as it seemed.
Two months later, Spears sent Federline a text asking for a divorce.
Spears admitted in the 2008 MTV documentary Britney: For the Record,
"We had two kids.
Obviously things didn't work out the way that they were supposed to."
The pair currently co-parent their two sons.
"Embrace the moment, before the chaos."
If you were even half-paying attention to pop culture in 2007, you remember Spears'
famous meltdown, arguably due in part to the relentless presence of the paparazzi in her
life.
That likely contributed to stress in her marriage.
Federline admitted to VladTV,
"That was a whole different lifestyle than I ever imagined...Getting around from place
to place and having 20 people follow you all day long...Your whole life kind of being told
through somebody else's eyes."
Things only got worse for Spears, who lost custody of her children in 2007, according
to Today, due to her drug and alcohol use.
She also famously shaved her head in public, racked up some vehicle offenses, and hit an
SUV with an umbrella.
It seemed Spears was doomed to succumb to her downward spiral.
But she was able to find her footing after focusing on her mental and physical health.
"I just wanna be a happy person."
After that, she was primed for a comeback.
Spears managed to turn things around by the next year.
She got rid of her controlling manager, Sam Lufti, and seemed to have her custody battle
settled by August of 2008.
At the time, her father told OK!,
Spears' sixth studio album, Circus, debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard Charts, as did
her single "Womanizer."
She also made several TV appearances and went on a successful tour.
But more than anything, it was motherhood that helped Spears bounce back to health.
She said via Marie Claire,
"I'm just really excited right now.
I have so much going on, and I can't really explain it.
Just butterflies I guess."
With her darkest days behind her, Spears' seventh studio album, Femme Fatale, hit Number
1 on the Billboard 200 in 2011, and was followed by yet another successful tour.
She also snagged a coveted spot as a judge on The X Factor in 2012, along with a handsome
$15 million paycheck, according to E! News.
"The singing came in, and it wasn't very nice."
Additionally, Spears' longtime partnership with Jive Records came to an end when the
company was dissolved in 2011, according to Billboard.
Having met her contractual obligation with them with her hit album Britney Jean, Spears
was now free to renegotiate her contract or sign with whomever she wanted.
She renewed her contract with RCA and released Glory in 2016, according to the Los Angeles
Times.
In the midst of releasing albums and lighting up the small screen on The X Factor, Spears
also landed a residency in Las Vegas at Planet Hollywood in 2013, according to Rolling Stone.
Originally she was slated to perform 50 shows over the course of two years, but Piece of
Me was so in-demand that she ended up performing a whopping 248 shows.
The residency finally came to an end in 2017, with a final gross of over $137 million, according
to Billboard.
After taking Piece of Me on a world tour in 2018, Spears announced that she would in fact
be returning to Vegas once again for a new residency, this one entitled Britney: Domination.
The run was set to kick off at the new Park MGM Theater in February of 2019, but it was
put on hold just one month prior.
Spears is a multi-million dollar brand, whose performances obviously rake in loads of cash,
and require tons of preparation and manpower.
So when Spears announced that she was putting Britney: Domination on hold, fans knew something
serious was happening.
She posted on Instagram,
So what prompted the cancellation?
According to the New York Times, her father was in critical condition due to a ruptured
colon.
Britney posted,
After putting her residency on hold, there was another new development in Spears' personal
life.
In March of 2019, upset about her father's health condition, Britney was admitted into
a mental health facility, according to TMZ.
The outlet reported that Spear's father has had two surgeries in an attempt to improve
his situation, but he's experiencing complications, and doesn't appear to be getting any better.
After fans went viral with the hashtag "Free Britney", thinking that their favorite pop
star had been sequestered against her will, Spears returned home, according to The Blast,
and took the time to let fans know she's doing okay.
"Hi guys, just checking in with all of you who are concerned about me.
All is well."
She posted on Insta:
"But don't worry I'll be back very soon."
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