Britney Spears biography

Spears' subsequent relationship with fellow Disney Clubber and then *NSYNC singer Justin Timberlake meant she was rarely out of the headlines. In May 2000 she released her second album, Oops, I Did It Again. The title track topped the UK charts in January, 2000 and was the sister cut to her debut One More Time with Britney, in a stab at maturity, proclaiming, "I'm not that innocent." The singles Lucky, Stronger and Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know helped to maintain Britney's reputation as the Princess Of Pop although there were titters from the critics at the cover of the Rolling Stones' (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.

Britney mania was at an all-time high but her much anticipated third album, Britney, released in November, 2001, marked a slight departure for the pop princess as she tried to move away from her teen audience with a raunchier style. A performance of her new single I'm A Slave 4 U featured Britney writhing on stage with a giant python at the MTV Awards. Sales of the album were slower than her previous releases (4m worldwide compared to the 22m total sales of her previous two albums) but the record still topped the charts in the US and UK.

But Spears' movie debut in the coming-of-age drama Crossroads was a potential career-wrecker. Britney's performance in the 2002 flick was met with howls of derision from the critics (Yes, even worse than Madonna in Body Of Evidence said some pundits) and prompted her own professional crossroads. With the relatively poor sales of her third album, a disappointing film debut, a disastrous investment in New York restaurant Nyla, her well publicized break up with Justn Timberlake and her parents' divorce, Spears decided to take a six month break from the music business in 2002. After making a brief cameo appearance in Austin Powers: Goldmember, Spears announced she may concentrate more on acting in the future.

But the break was far from restful. Timberlake cast a Britney look-alike in his Cry Me A River video and spoke crudely about their sex life in a radio interview. And then Britney had to face Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst sharing extremely graphic kiss-and-tell descriptions of his fling with the Princess of Pop to anyone who'd listen. (Spears still denies anything sexual ever happened) but the mental image of the naked balding, pot bellied, goatee-d nu-metaller romancing America's sweetheart was too bizarre to contemplate.

Back to the recording studio then for some sanity. Britney's fourth album, In The Zone, saw her again try to move further away from her squeaky clean princess of pop status to a more sexually charged adult image. Britney lays on the heavy breathing and come-hither posing in a series of skeletal, club orientated beats including a duet with Madonna On Me Against The Music. (The pair made headlines when they shared a kiss during a performance of Like A Virgin at the 2003 MTV Music Awards). On another album track, Showdown, Britney whispers 'I'll let you touch me if you want,' while Touch Of My Hand is an ode to masturbation. Mickey and Minnie would never have sanctioned this on the Disney Club.

The image rethink is still ongoing then but a bizarre incident at the start of 2004 suggested that all was still not well in Britney's personal life. In January 2004 she embarked on a bizarre week-long bender in Las Vegas culminating in a 'quickie' Vegas chapel style marriage to school sweetheart Jason Alexander. When the hangover had finally lifted the couple divorced two days later with Britney telling the newspapers: "I wanted to get married, then I ran away,"

In January 2004 Britney visited London briefly to publicize her new Pepsi TV commercial filmed with Beyonce Knowles and Pink. Amazingly, she managed not to marry anyone.

Discography