Britney Spears
Britney Spears was born on December 2, 1981 in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana as a Southern Baptist. Her parents are Lynne Irene (née Bridges), a former elementary school teacher, and Jamie Parnell Spears, a former building contractor and chef. Spears has two siblings, Bryan and Jamie Lynn. Bryan Spears is married to Jamie-Lynn’s manager, Graciella Rivera. Spears was an accomplished gymnast, attending gymnastics classes until age nine and competing in state-level competitions. She performed in local dance revues and sang in her local Baptist church choir. Spears entered New York City’s Professional Performing Arts School when she was eight. Spears’s parents would often argue, and they eventually divorced in 2002.
At age eight, Spears auditioned for the Disney Channel series The New Mickey Mouse Club. Although she was considered too young to join the series at the time, a producer on the show introduced her to a New York City agent. Spears subsequently spent three summers at NYC’s Professional Performing Arts School and also appeared in a number of off-Broadway productions. She was an understudy in the 1991 off-Broadway musical Ruthless!. In 1992, she landed a spot on the popular television show Star Search. She won the first round of competition, but ultimately lost. At age eleven, Spears returned to the Disney Channel for a spot on The New Mickey Mouse Club in Lakeland, Florida. She was featured on the show from 1993 to 1994, until she was 13. After the show ended, Spears returned to Kentwood and attended high school for a year.
Spears endorsed her first Elizabeth Arden fragrance “Curious” in September, 2004, which had $100 million in sales in the five weeks after its 2004 release, and it broke licenser Elizabeth Arden’s record for first-week gross for a perfume and went on to become the number-one fragrance in department stores on 2004.In September 2005, Spears released the fragrance “Fantasy” with Elizabeth Arden, which also saw great success. These were followed by the release of two more fragrances of “Curious:In Control” and “Midnight Fantasy” in 2006. Her latest Elizabeth Arden fragrance “Believe”, was released in September 2007. In January, 2008, Spears released “Curious Heart”.Spears released a new fragrance entitled “Hidden Fantasy” in January 2009. On March 22, 2009, it was announced that Spears has the #1 selling celebrity fragrance, making up 34% of sales. On March 2, 2009 it was announced that Spears would be the new face of Candie’s. On April 1, 2009, People magazine released a sneak peek of what the ads will look like.
