Latest Release
- SEP 1, 2023
- 1 Song
- In the Zone · 2003
- Blackout (Deluxe Version) · 2007
- Circus (Deluxe Version) · 2008
- Circus (Deluxe Version) · 2008
- Oops!... I Did It Again · 2000
- ...Baby One More Time (Deluxe Version) · 1998
- Hold Me Closer - Single · 2022
- Femme Fatale (Deluxe Version) · 2011
- #willpower (Deluxe) · 2012
- Britney Jean (Deluxe Version) · 2013
Essential Albums
- By the time Blackout came out in the fall of 2007, Britney Spears’ story had been picked nearly clean by media outlets and online tongue-waggers—the paparazzi followed her to take a seemingly infinite number of photographs, which would become fodder for bloggers and pundits, which would cause more demand for photos, the cycle quickly—and endlessly—repeating itself. Spears’ fifth album and first since 2003’s In The Zone leans into the narratives swirling around her both lyrically and musically, with references to “Miss Bad Media Karma” (as she calls herself on the hiccuping “Piece of Me”) accompanied by glitchy electro-pop that feel propulsive even while being draped in a last-call haze. “Gimme More,” with its opening declaration of “It’s Britney, bitch,” sets the tone, its bouncing-ball beat (laid down by Timbaland associate Nate “Danja” Hills) accompanying a Spears vocal performance that straddles the line between playful flirtation and heated come-on. Pop titans Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake had delved into clubland’s darker side on their mid-2000s releases, and the metanarratives surrounding Spears added an edginess to Blackout that its sonics—courtesy of high-end producers such as Danja, “Toxic” architects Bloodshy & Avant, pop-R&B collective The Clutch, and futurist duo The Neptunes—bolstered. Spears doesn’t exist at the center of Blackout as much as she hovers overhead, her pitch-shifted wails and clipped sighs giving a futuristic feel to tracks like the laser-cut “Hot As Ice” and the seductive “Get Naked (I Got a Plan)”; “Heaven On Earth” is the closest thing Blackout has to a love song, its sumptuous synth-pop reveling in “the palest green” of a paramour’s eyes. For the most part, Blackout is focused on the club, a full-album update of Spears’ 2001 Neptunes production “I’m a Slave 4 U” that periodically winks at the chaos surrounding the pop supernova as it dances the night away.
- Britney Spears’ sweat-soaked fourth album celebrates her fully grown status, with Madonna (teasing Brit on the sultry “Me Against the Music”) and the Ying Yang Twins (coaxing her crunk side on “(I Got That) Boom Boom”) partying in the VIP section. The slinky “Toxic” time-warps Bond strings and Bollywood glitz far into the future; that same high-tech touch gives "Showdown" and "Breathe on Me" their alien sense of funk. Spears' spellbinding performance on the crystalline, haunting “Everytime,” meanwhile, shows off her hard-won maturity.
Albums
- 2003
Artist Playlists
- From the get-go this femme fatale has kept it in the zone.
- Futuristic videos driven by iconic looks and bold choreography.
- The generation deeply indebted to the Princess of Pop.
- The eternal romantic knows how to talk about love in the most interesting ways.
- One of the hardest-working artists in pop shows you how it’s done.
- A collection of musicians as surprising as the artist they inspired.
Compilations
Appears On
- Rihanna featuring Britney Spears
More To Hear
- After saying no to Sinatra and Bono, Madonna said yes to Britney.
- 25 years ago today, Britney’s debut album changed the game.
- Celebrating Britney ahead of the release of her memoir.
- “...Baby One More Time” was the show’s most iconic music video.
- Indulge in Britney's biggest hits and collabs on her bday.
- Celebrating pop icon Britney Spears on her 40th birthday.
About Britney Spears
Although Britney Spears’ career is often viewed through the lens of major ’80s teen-pop luminaries such as Debbie Gibson or Madonna, the vocalist outgrew her prefab, mall-music image and became one of the 21st century’s most adventurous pop stars. Spears’ initial performing experience came on TV, as a cast member on a ’90s reboot of The Mickey Mouse Club. After her time on that show ended, the Kentwood, LA-raised artist became a pillar of the nascent Y2K teen-pop boom: Her 1999 debut, ...Baby One More Time, was certified diamond (10 times platinum) in less than a year, and the next year’s Oops!...I Did It Again shipped 9 million copies by mid-2001. Multiple dance-geared hits followed, courtesy of collaborations with sonic icons—Swedish pop guru Max Martin (“...Baby One More Time”), adventurous production team The Neptunes (“I’m a Slave 4 U”), and electro mavens Bloodshy and Avant (“Toxic”). Sales aside, however, Spears became one of the biggest pop stars ever due to the savvy way she expresses the complicated calculus of being a woman in the modern world. Her lyrics tackle massive fame, romantic drama, and the challenge of maintaining a sense of self—all of which translates to an emotionally vulnerable persona that finds Spears asserting she’s a survivor (“Stronger”), sexually empowered (woe to the cheater depicted in “Womanizer”), and not a pushover.
- HOMETOWN
- McComb, MS, United States
- BORN
- December 2, 1981
- GENRE
- Pop