Britney Jean Spears born on December 2, 1981 is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress who helped spark the teen-pop phenomenon in the late 1990s and later 2000. Spears, who grew up in Kentwood, Louisiana, began singing and dancing at age two and was soon competing in talent shows. At age eight she auditioned for Disney’s television show The All New Mickey Mouse Club but was deemed too young for the program. At just 16 she released her first single, “…Baby One More Time.” The song soon became the subject of controversy, both for its lyrics and for its Lolita-like video, in which Spears appeared as a provocative schoolgirl. The attention, however, only helped the song, and when the album was released, it quickly went to number one on the charts and sold over 10 million copies in the United States. In 2000 she released her second album, Oops!…I Did It Again. It sold 1.3 million copies in its first week of release, setting a record for first-week sales by a solo artist. She has had 11 top 10 hits during her career which puts her just behind Lady Gaga.