Britney Spears - Personal Life & Legacy
Personal Life
Spears' personal Life has always been the subject of Rumors and Speculation. All Started in Early 1999, when Spears began a relastionship with fellow singer Justin Timberlake with whom she had worked on the New Mickey Mouse Club. This ended abruptly in March 2002, amidst tabloid press speculation on Spears' infidelity with choreographer Wade Robson, a mutual friend of both Spears and Timberlake. Lynn Harless says as a mother she too was devastated regarding the break-up, but to this day speaks warmly of Spears, "Britney grew up on my living room floor. I still love her to death. They (Justin and Britney) were together 10 or 11 years and had, from day one, instant chemistry between them. She's a sweet girl. I just hate what she's going through now." The breakup influenced the lyrics and theme of Timberlake's hit "Cry Me A River", one of the most popular singles from Justified.[183] The music video featured a Spears look-alike and fueled the rumors that she had been unfaithful to him.[54][55] As a response, Spears wrote the ballad "Everytime" with her backing vocalist and friend Annet Artani.[184] The same year, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst confirmed that he was in a relationship with Spears, only to deny it later. In a 2009 interview, he explained that "I just guess at the time it was taboo for a guy like me to be associated with a gal like her."[185]
On January 3, 2004, Spears married childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander at The Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The marriage was annulled 55 hours later, stating that Spears "lacked understanding of her actions".[186] The Following July, she announced her engagement to American dancer Kevin Federline, whom she had met three months before. The romance received intense attention from the media, since Federline had recently broken up with actress Shar Jackson, who was still pregnant with their second child at the time.[13] The initial stages of their relationship were chronicled in Spears's first reality show Britney & Kevin: Chaotic. They held a wedding ceremony on September 18, 2004, but were not legally married until three weeks later on October 6 due to a delay finalizing the couple's prenuptial agreement.[187] The couple had their first son, Sean Preston Federline, on September 14, 2005.[188] Just two days before Sean's first birthday, the couple had a second son, Jayden James Federline, who was born on September 12, 2006 in Los Angeles.[189] Spears filed for divorce from Federline on November 7, citing irreconcilable differences and asking for both physical and legal custody of their two children, with visitation rights for Federline.[190] The following day, Federline filed a response to Spears's divorce petition, seeking physical and legal custody of their children.[191] On October 1, 2007, a court ruling granted Federline sole physical custody of his children, with legal custody to be decided. On the late evening of January 3, 2008, police were called to Spears's home after the singer reportedly refused to relinquish custody of her children to Federline and locked herself in a room with her younger son, Jayden.[192] Spears was taken from her home on a stretcher and hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for appearing to be under the influence of an unknown substance.[192] As a result of this, Federline was "awarded sole legal custody and sole physical custody of the minor children."[191] On July 26, 2008, court papers were filed stating Federline would retain sole legal and physical custody of the children while Spears would get visitation rights that would increase over time. In addition to this, Federline will receive $20,000 per month from Spears in child support as well as additional funds to cover any custody-related legal expenses.[193]
In May 2009, Reports indicated that Spears and her longtime agent, Jason Trawick, had begun dating. After a year of a speculation, Spears's representatives confirmed she was dating Trawick, and that they had decided to end their professional relationship to focus on their personal relationship.[194] In December 2010 Star Magazine featured a shocking story on Britney this week which include allegations her boyfriend Jason beat her and Britney was at one point pregnant with his baby. RadarOnline.com has an alleged recording of Britney saying he beat her. Britney is supposedly talking to first (55-hour) husband Jason Alexander in the recording.[195] Britney's manager, Larry Rudolph claimed the accusations were totally false "Every aspect of the story published by Star Magazine is completely and utterly false and Star Magazine was informed of the falsity of this story before it was published. The statements attributed to Jason Alexander are a complete fabrication as Britney has not had any form of communication with Mr. Alexander in years. The audio recording posted on Radaronline this morning purporting to be between Britney Spears and Jason Alexander is so obviously fake as to be laughable. Suffice it to say, that Jason Trawick has never laid a hand on Britney. This is just another example of the irresponsible nature of the tabloid media relying on shoddy sources and false information for the sole purpose of selling magazines, without regard to the truth and without regard to who they hurt in the process. These irresponsible statements are defamatory and Britney Spears' legal team will be taking legal action against all of the appropriate parties."[196] Audio expert, Ario West, tells TMZ the recordings of Britney claiming she was beaten by boyfriend Jason Trawick are FAKE. "In my opinion, it's not her voice in the recording," said West. West compared the recordings with a half dozen interviews Britney's done over the years, says "Listening to the phonetics, it doesn't appear to be authentic," adding, "the mannerisms in her voice just don't match up."[197] Britney herself denounced the rumors via her twitter after announcing that her new album saying "PS - Star Magazine, Radar Online, Jason Alexander and the rest of you liars, Ya'll can kiss my lily white southern Louisiana ass!".[198]
Spears has ten tattoos. The first being a small fairy on her lower back, it has pink and green wings, with curly blonde hair, dressed in a yellow dress.[199]. Hebrew text, "מהש," which is one of the 72 names for "God" in texts taken from Kabbalah. The tattoo was initially wrong, the original translating to nothing, but this was eventually corrected.[200] Spears also has a kanji and flower on one of her hips, the kanji symbol in the middle can be translated to "mystery" or "strange." On her right foot, Spears has a butterfly vine tattoo running up, then on the second toe, she has a daisy design wrapping around. On the same day Spears shaved her head, she received a Pink Cross on her left hip (opposite her kanji tattoo on the right) and Pink Lips on her wrist. Spears, and her then husband received matching pink and blue tattoos on their wrists. The latest addition to Spears' body ink is a small triangle tattoo on her hand[201][202]
Legacy
Spears became an international pop culture icon immediately after launching her recording career. Rolling Stone magazine wrote: "One of the most controversial and successful female vocalists of the 21st century," she "spearheaded the rise of post-millennial teen pop ... Spears early on cultivated a mixture of innocence and experience that broke the bank".[203] She is listed by the Guinness World Records as having the "Best-selling album by a teenage solo artist" for her debut album ...Baby One More Time which sold over thirteen million copies in the United States.[204] Melissa Ruggieri of the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, "She's also marked for being the best-selling teenage artist. Before she turned 20 in 2001, Spears sold more than 37 million albums worldwide".[205]
Barbara Ellen of The Observer has reported: "Spears is famously one of the 'oldest' teenagers pop has ever produced, almost middle aged in terms of focus and determination. Many 19-year-olds haven't even started working by that age, whereas Britney, a former Mouseketeer, was that most unusual and volatile of American phenomena — a child with a full-time career. While other little girls were putting posters on their walls, Britney was wanting to be the poster on the wall. Whereas other children develop at their own pace, Britney was developing at a pace set by the ferociously competitive American entertainment industry".[206] 'Britney Spears' was Yahoo!'s most popular search term between 2005 and 2008, and has been in a total of seven different years.[207] Spears was named as Most Searched Person in the Guinness World Records book edition 2007 and 2009. Spears has also become a major influence among many new artists, including Kristinia DeBarge,[208] Lady Gaga,[209] Little Boots,[210] Selena Gomez & the Scene,[211] Pixie Lott[212] and Miley Cyrus who has cited Spears as one of her biggest inspirations and has also referenced Spears in her hit song "Party in the U.S.A.".[213][214] Spears' personal breakdown was also cited as an inspiration for Barry Manilow's album "15 Minutes".[215]
In 2011, Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly commented on the cultural significance of Spears' voice and music. "We don't ask a whole lot from Britney Spears as an entertainer...we'll still send her straight up the charts simply because she's Britney. She's an American institution, as deeply sacred and messed up as pro wrestling or the filibuster. Musically, though, Spears will always have to measure up to her own gold standards of pop euphony: the operatic slither of 2004's 'Toxic' and the candied funk of 2000's 'Oops!...I Did It Again.' Spears is no technical singer, that's for sure. But backed by Martin and Dr. Luke's wall of pound, her vocals melt into a mix of babytalk coo and coital panting that is, in its own overprocessed way, just as iconic and propulsive as Michael Jackson's yips or Eminem's snarls."[216]
Bebo Norman wrote a song about Spears, called "Britney", which was released as a single. Boy band Busted also wrote a song about Spears called "Britney", which was on their debut album.[217] She is also mentioned in P!nk's song "Don't Let Me Get Me". She was cited as the inspiration of Gwyneth Paltrow's character in the 2010 film Country Strong.[218] Richard Cheese called Britney Spears "a remarkable recording artist" and also went on to say that she was "versatile" and what the industry calls an "artist". People magazine and MTV reported that October 1, 2008, the Bronx's John Philip Sousa Middle School, named their music studio in honor of Britney Spears.[219] Spears herself was present during the ceremony and donated $10,000 to the school's music program.
