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BRITNEY SPEARS BIOGRAPHY |
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Born. 2nd December 1981, Kentwood, Louisiana, USA. One of the
last teenage superstars of the millennium, 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
appeared in a number of off-Broadway productions as a child
actor, including Ruthless (1991). She returned to the [ Walt ]
Disney Channel for a spot on The Mickey Mouse Club, where she
was featured for two years between the ages of 11 and 13. She
began to audition for pop bands in the New York area, her demo
tapes eventually landing on the desk of Jive Records' Jeff
Fenster. ''Her vocal ability and commercial appeal caught me
right away,'' he recalls. She was expensively groomed by Jive,
who put her in the studio with Eric Foster White (producer and
writer for Boyzone, Whitney Houston and others). They employed
top R&B writer Max Martin (of Backstreet Boys fame) to produce
her debut single, ''... Baby, One More Time'', and an album of
the same title. They also set up a promotional free phone number
where fans could listen to Spears' music and interviews
throughout the summer of 1998. She toured American venues for a
series of concerts sponsored by US teen magazines, eventually
joining 'N Sync on tour. The careful planning paid off when her
debut album and single went on to top the American charts at the
start of 1999. The album and single enjoyed similar success in
the UK and Europe. The ballad ''Sometimes'' and the funky ''(You
Drive Me) Crazy'' were also substantial transatlantic hits. ''Born
To Make You Happy'' topped the UK charts in January 2000. The
demand for new Spears material was satisfied when her sophomore
set, Oops! ... I Did It Again, was released in May. The album
contained the expected quota of well-produced, expertly crafted
pop songs alongside a risible cover version of (I Can't Get No)
Satisfaction. |
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