Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981 in McComb, Mississippi) is an American recording artist and entertainer. Raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album in 1999. During her first decade within the music industry, she became a prominent figure in mainstream popular music and popular culture, followed by a much-publicized personal life. Her first two albums established her as a pop icon and broke sales records, while title tracks "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!... I Did It Again" became international number-one hits. Spears was credited for influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s.In 2001, she released her third studio album Britney and expanded her brand, playing the starring role in the film Crossroads. She assumed creative control of her fourth studio album, In the Zone released in 2003, which yielded chart-topping singles "Me Against the Music", "Toxic" and "Everytime". After the release of two compilation albums, Spears experienced personal struggles and career went under hiatus. Her fifth studio album, Blackout, was released in 2007 and despite receiving little promotion, it spawned hits "Gimme More" and "Piece of Me". In 2008, her erratic behaviour and hospitalizations caused her to be placed in a conservatorship. The same year, her sixth studio album Circus was released, with the global chart-topping lead single "Womanizer". After embarking on The Circus Starring Britney Spears, she released greatest hits The Singles Collection, which featured U.S. and Canadian number-one single "3".Spears has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling music artists worldwide. She is ranked as the eighth best-selling female recording artist in the U.S., having sold more than 32 million copies of her albums and all certified by the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2009, Billboard named Spears as one of the best selling acts of the 2000s, solely based on album sales as well as the 8th overall best act of the decade based on album sales, chart success, and cultural relativity. In the United States, Spears is the best selling female artist of the 2000s, as well as the fifth overall. In July of 2010, Forbes announced that Spears ranked at number six on their annual Celebrity 100 list, a jump from her rank of number thirteen the previous year. She ranks as the third most powerful female musician of the year, bringing in $64 million dollars.