Britney Spears is a triumph of nature.
On Tuesday, the one-time pop tart releases her eighth album, “Britney Jean” — another certain-to-be-platinum disc that drops just as she begins a lucrative two-year, 100-show residency in Las Vegas.
That this singer, possessed of limited natural talent and ample personal drama, could remain so viable despite a nuclear bomb-filled career makes her more than just a survivor.
She’s the cockroach of pop music.
Spears reportedly earned $58 million last year despite juggling a career, two sons, the wrong romantic partners and the father who has been her court-ordered overseer since the mental breakdown that threatened to kill her career in 2007.
Spears remains the tabloid embodiment of Nietzsche’s famous adage about stuff that doesn’t kill you: Her messy life story has only made her more popular, more relatable. She is the most human of the current crop of pop stars.
“She has lived the last 14 years of her life in this really public way,” says Maura Johnston, editor of Maura Magazine, which covers culture.
There’s nowhere to hide her vices — but no reason to, either. A famous paparazzi photo capturing Spears eating Cheetos endeared her forever to her fans, many of whom are just as likely to dive into a bag of the neon-orange snack sticks.
Spears, 32, doesn’t do juice cleanses. In fact, this Kentwood, La., native only seems to go to the gym when forced. In the parlance of Us Weekly, Spears is a star who is Just Like Us.
She is woman. Hear her (not Katy Perry) roar — no matter how bad, or overproduced, her voice is.
“People say, ‘Oh, she can’t really sing.’ True. But she has this very individual way of delivering songs,” says music writer Brad Nelson. “She never lost her accent, so there’s always this drawl at the end. She has a very welcoming voice, even when it’s made robotic.”
Besides, adds music writer Katherine St. Asaph, “It’s really more about the performance and the showmanship for a lot of fans.”
But Louisiana lightning is born from dark clouds. In 2007, she temporarily lost custody of her children, then suffered a very public breakdown and was forcibly committed to a psychiatric institution after increasingly erratic behavior.
All of it — including shaving her head in a salon, bashing a journalist’s car with an umbrella and driving with her son on her lap instead of in a car seat — was captured on camera.
Finally, her father, Jamie Spears, was given control over her finances. Most young people complain about their dads running their lives; in this case, the woman who sings “You better work, bitch” in her latest video still has to go through her father for her hard-earned cash.
At the center of the storm is Spears herself — troubled, confused, and even conflicted about her line of work.
“You get the sense from her performances that Brit doesn’t necessarily want to be there, doesn’t necessarily want to be making pop music, maybe wants to spend time with her kids,” says Nelson. “Her investment in her career seems arbitrary.”
And it may be. Britney is not a songwriter; her success lies in who she hires to write, produce and choreograph for her. On her previous album, and in her new effort, Spears is little more than a cipher — a prop tart, if you will — in a flashy smoke-and-mirrors production.
And in Vegas, the City of Second (and Third and Fourth) Chances, she’ll thrive, thanks to the healing power of the nostalgia act.
“It’s a church kind of thing, where people just want to revel in her presence,” says Johnston. “Even though she might not be the same pop star. We all want that return to slightly debauched innocence that, at her best, she offers.”
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1990: Rejected as too young by “The Mickey Mouse Club,” she moves to New York City with her mother to attend the Professional Children’s School.
1992: Spears is finally cast on the Disney show, where she meets future rival Christina Aguilera and future boyfriend Justin Timberlake. Both exceed her in talent.
1999: Her debut record, “…Baby One More Time,” is released, selling 30 million copies worldwide.
April 1999: Rolling Stone causes a firestorm with pics of the teenage Spears clad only in underwear and high heels. “I thought the pictures were fine,” said Spears, who claimed she would remain a virgin until marriage.
2000: Begins dating Timberlake, which leads to revolting his ‘n’ hers matching denim outfits.
May 2000: Spears’ sophomore effort “Oops! I Did It Again” is released and goes on to sell 25 million copies worldwide.
February 2001: Spears signs a $7 million deal with Pepsi — though it’s later reported that she invested in Coca-Cola.
June 2002: Opens a restaurant called Nyla in Manhattan, featuring down-home Cajun food, including lobster mashed potatoes and “Southern sushi” (better not to ask). Three children suffered food poisoning within the first few weeks of its opening — and Spears abandons the eatery by November.
August 2003: Famously French-kissed Madonna at the MTV Music Awards after a three-way song-and-dance with the ultimate diva and former rival Aguilera.
January 2004: Married childhood friend Jason Alexander in Vegas; marriage lasted 55 hours.
September 2004: Married ex-backup dancer Kevin Federline, with whom she went on to have two children, Sean Preston and Jayden. She filed for divorce two years later.
February 2007: Spears suffers a prolonged public mental breakdown: she shaved her head and attacked a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella.
September 2007: Her listless performance on the MTV Video Awards ended up being more shocking than the Madonna lip lock.
October 2007: Temporarily loses custody of children.
January 2008: Involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward.
February 2008: Her father is given sole control of her life under a court-ordered conservatorship.
December 2008: “Circus,” widely referred to as her comeback record, is released. “Womanizer” is her first single on the Billboard Hot 100 since “…Baby One More Time.” The Daily News’ Jim Farber said, “Luckily, most cuts boast just enough clever hooks and snazzy beats to hold fans’ attention by themselves.”
March 2011: “Femme Fatale” released, prompting The News to call it “the giddiest and wittiest album ever cobbled together under the Britney brand.”
May 2012: Spears inks a $15 million deal to remain a judge on “X-Factor,” but is not asked to return for the third season.
2012: Forbes reported that Spears made $58 million in 2012.
January 2013: Spears ends her engagement to her long-time boyfriend Jason Trawick, who started as her manager.
October 2013: Oops! “Work Bitch,” the first single and video off the forthcoming “Britney Jean,” gets video stills leaked that show a digitally slimmed-down Brit.
September 2013: Spears announces a two-year, 100-show residency at the 4,600-seat Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. But The News reports that Spears already has issues, complaining about the venue, the “too small” stage and even the pyrotechnics.
December 2013: “Britney Jean” is released. The News gives it three stars out of five.
