Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer and entertainer. Spears has some Maltese heritage, since her great grandfather, Anthony Portelli, emigrated from Malta to England in the 1920s . Born in Mississippi and raised in Louisiana, Spears first appeared on national television in 1992 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994. In 1997, Spears signed a recording contract with Jive, releasing her debut album ...Baby One More Time in 1999. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. Her success continued with the release of her sophomore album, Oops!... I Did It Again in 2000, which established her as a pop icon and credited for influencing the revival of teen pop in the late 1990s.
In 2001, she released Britney and played the starring role in the film Crossroads. She assumed creative control of her fourth studio album, In the Zone released in 2003, which made her the only female artist of the Nielsen Soundscan era to have her first four albums debut at number one. Her fifth studio album, Blackout was released in 2007. Her sixth studio album, Circus released in 2008, also debuted at number one in the Billboard 200 albums chart.
According to Zomba Label Group and Sony Music, Spears has sold over 85 million records worldwide. She is ranked as the eighth best-selling female recording artist in the U.S. with 32 million copies of her albums certified by the RIAA, and is currently the fifth best-selling artist act of the decade in the country, as well as the top-selling female artist. Spears is also ranked by Forbes 2009 issue as the 13th most powerful celebrity, and with earnings of over $35 million dollars in 2009, the 2nd-highest earning young musician of the year.
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