Britney Jean
Spears was born Dec. 2, 1981, in Kentwood, a small town
in Louisiana. Although technically her first public performance was at the
age of 4, her professional career began at the ripe old age of 8, when young
Britney traveled to Atlanta, GA., to audition for the Disney Channel's
Mickey Mouse Club (MMC). She was ultimately deemed too young for the show,
but one of the producers spotted her potential and helped her get an agent
in New York.
When Britney turned 11, she finally earned
her mouse ears and became a full-fledged member of MMC for both the 1993
and 1994 seasons. Her years with MMC would turn out to be fortuitous for
Britney; among the cast members of the children's show was the then
12-year-old Justin Timberlake and Joshua "JC" Chasez, who would go on to
become two-fifths of the teen pinup band 'N Sync.
Following the cancellation of MMC in 1993,
Britney returned home, where she went to regular high school for a
year. But the bug to perform was too strong, so she returned to New York
to give singing another shot. After an executive at Jive heard a demo tape
cut by the then 15-year-old, he signed her to a development deal and hooked
her up with Eric Foster White, a producer who had worked with Boyzone, Hi-Five,
and Whitney Houston. By early 1998, Spears' first album for Jive was
complete.
The biggest day of young Britney's career
thus far is likely Jan. 12, 1999 the day
Baby, One More
Time finally hit store shelves. After the final tallies were in, the
former Mouseketeer discovered that her debut had landed at the No. 1 spot
on the Billboard charts, with her buddies 'N Sync coming in at No. 2.
It has since gone 12x platinum. Not a bad showing
for an 18-year-old.