It was 1998, I was 11-years old and I remember the excitement I felt when my mom gifted me with Britney Spears’ first album. I was literally screaming!

I remember having to record every single TV interview, performance, music video, every and anything Britney! (and yes, to answer your curiosity, it was all recorded on a VHS #DontHate).

 

current mood

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And yet, 20 years later, here we are – and I’m still a HUGE Britney fan.

If you haven’t already guessed, this fall will mark the 20-year anniversary of ‘…Baby One More Time’.  ‘…Baby One More Time’ is the lead single off of Britney’s debut album, of the same name.  Both were instant No. 1 hits and the track is known as one of the biggest selling singles, EVER and the album has sold over 7 million copies.  This record not only made Britney into the biggest female pop star BUT she was known as the ‘Princess of Pop.’

 

 

Speaking to The Guardian, Britney Spears talks about the recording of her first single and the beginning of her career.  “Wow, that went quick.  It was such a fun and crazy time, it was a bit of a blur,” Britney says about the past two decades of her career.  Britney says, “The whole song is about that stress that we all go through as teens.  I knew it was a great song. It was different and I loved it, [but] I don’t think you can anticipate how a song is going to be received.”

 

 

The song was produced by legendary producer, Max Martin and Britney actually had to travel all the way to Stockholm to record the track, “I remember being so in awe of Stockholm. I was out there for, like, 10 days, but we were so busy in the studio I didn’t have time to go out and explore on that first trip.  I think Max is a genius. It all just came together and felt right. In my opinion Max is the greatest songwriter of all time.”  In 2016, Max told a Swedish journalist, “I remember listening back to [the tape] after [the song] blew up and you can hear me sort of go: ‘Hit me baby one more time’, then I hear myself say, Yeah, it’s pretty good.”

 

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Here’s a little fun fact: ‘…Baby One More Time’ was actually passed over to TLC first before landing in the hands of Britney.  Max says, “I was convinced I had written an R&B song.  Pop music with a flavour – what we call R&B in Sweden, what you guys [in America] say is pop.” TLC then rejected the song and in 2013, T-Boz explained, “I was like: ‘I like the song but do I think it’s a hit? Do I think it’s TLC?’ … Was I going to say ‘Hit me baby one more time’? Hell no!” 

With Britney on the track, the song sold 500,000 copies in its FIRST day of release in the U.S. AND it went straight to No. 1.  This was a career defining moment for Britney and to me, she’ll always be the PRINCESS OF POP!

 

: Herb Ritts #tbt

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To read the full story, click here. 

 

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