As Britney Spears’ ‘ … Baby One More Time’ turns 20, we look back at the launch of a pop career
- Spears has lived most of her adult life under the media spotlight since her debut album was released in 1999
- Despite a number of traumas, she has proven her resilience and is still at the top of her game
It’s the album that launched one of the biggest pop stars of the 21st century.
… Baby One More Time celebrated its 20th anniversary on January 12, and though it has only been two decades, it’s hard to remember a time without Britney Spears.
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A little-known teenager with Bible Belt roots and credits on Star Search and as a Mouseketeer, Spears was catapulted to international fame and pop superstardom thanks to her debut album.
The album’s eponymous single and its corresponding video are the stuff of legend, with a song that brings people together and takes you back to where you were in life when you first discovered Spears, on the cusp of becoming a major mainstream artist.
“Can you believe that this album was released 20 years ago today??!! I can’t,” Spears exclaimed on Instagram on Saturday. “It’s definitely been the journey of a lifetime, full of ups and downs, but I’m grateful for every single moment of it all.”
“Getting to know you all over the years has been such an incredible experience, and has made this all worth it. Thank you for your support from 20 years ago, all the way to today. I am blessed.”
While the album as a whole is certainly of its time (see email My Heart), its lead singles … Baby One More Time, Sometimes and (You Drive Me) Crazy are classics that are both timeless and crucial pieces of pop culture history that could be pulled out of a time capsule for Y2K.
It’s not the strongest pop debut album of all time. It probably doesn’t even crack the top 10, to be honest. But a star was born out of the Swedish-produced tracks and gave Spears the floor to dance and sing (or lip-synch, on occasion) her way into mainstream America’s hearts with her subsequent albums, music videos, tours and awards show performances.
The album launched more than just one single star – with Spears, it ushered in an entire era of everything from pop royalty rankings to paparazzi chaos and changing attitudes about womanhood and mental illness. So much that we came to know and talk about in pop music and the surrounding tabloid fodder was influenced in part by Spears.
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She has one of the most consistent careers, despite many tumultuous years in the spotlight that had fans worried that she might not pull through. Spears was caught in a downward spiral, having gone through a troubled marriage and divorce with Kevin Federline, becoming a mother of two in the spotlight before turning 25, shaving her head, being put under the conservatorship of her father and a lawyer and being chased by the paparazzi through all of it.
But she has not only pulled through, she’s pulled herself back up to a place where she’s on top in her own realm and still making music, though she’s currently on a work hiatus because of her father’s illness. She is now celebrated where she was once torn down, becoming a beacon of resilience for her fans around the world.
And though Spears has evolved and grown from the teen pop era that made her a superstar, … Baby One More Time remains as a lasting and influential vignette – of a girl, of a time, of a feeling.
