Britney Spears on ABC

Interviewee: Britney Spears

Interviewer: Diane Sawyer

Date: November 2003

Britney Spears is one of the most successful pop acts of the new millennium. In the US, she is ranked eight among the biggest-selling female artists by the RIAA. There, her first four albums topped the charts in a row. Worldwide, Spears has sold 83 million records.

More than any other, Britney Spears was at the forefront of the resurgence of teen pop movement in the late ’90s. Almost instantly, the likes of Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore, and Jessica Simpson cropped up in the wake of her preeminent debut single, “…Baby One More Time.”

Around Britney Spears grew an icon worship by the time she released her record-breaking follow-up, Oops!…I Did It Again. With her eponymous third album, Spears went in a racier direction. With more sexually overt material, her In the Zone album followed. Containing the Grammy Award-winning “Toxic,” In The Zone was released on the heels of her notorious lip lock with Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. In the midst of personal problems, Spears managed to finish an album, Blackout, in time for a release in late 2007.

As for her acting in movies, Britney still has to find an audience larger than that of her first vehicle, Crossroads.

If there were a time Spears was upright, it was before her romantic interlude with Justin Timberlake dissipated in 2003. Afterwards, she fell out of favor with the public for scandalous antics like baring her crotch and marrying her childhood pal Jason Alexander only to last a mere 55 hours.

After Alexander, she wed her backup dancer Kevin Federline in September 2004. That marriage gave them two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James. Spears then divorced Federline in 2006 and battled with him over the custody of the children.

Born Britney Jean Spears, the pop princess was once part of Disney Channel’s The New Mickey Mouse Club. Jive Records then ended her quest for a recording contract after the show was canceled.

For additional information about Britney Spears, see the following:

Britney Spears official website features the latest updates about the singer.

Fans of Britney Spears can join her friends list on Myspace.com.

Britney Spears has been the subject of numerous articles in the magazine publication People.