BRITNEY SPEARS
Born in rural Louisiana, teen pop star Britney Spears was groomed for stardom from the start. She spent her early childhood performing in talent shows and dance reviews before, at age eight, she was discovered by a TV producer who hooked her up with a New York agent. Britney spent her summers in New York studying at the Off-Broadway Dance Center and the Professional Performing Arts School and began picking up television commercials. After two years of taping the Disney show in Orlando, Britney returned to Louisiana and set her sites on a career in pop music. She was quickly recruited by Jive Records, home of the Backstreet Boys, and teamed up with Eric Foster (Whitney Houston, Hi-Five) and Max Martin (Robyn, Backstreet Boys), who produced her debut album. Baby One More Time hit record store shelves in early 1999 and became one of the best selling albums of the year, helping to earn Spears a Grammy nomination for "Best New Artist." Spears' sophomore effort, Oops!...I Did It Again, came out in May 2000. The album - earned Spears nominations in the Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance categories at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards the following year.
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