An accompanying music video, directed by Nigel Dick, features Spears as a high-school student who starts to sing and dance around the school, while watching her love interest from afar. In 2010, the music video for "...Baby One More Time" was voted the third most influential video in the history of pop music, in a poll held by Jam!. In 2011, "...Baby One More Time" was voted by Billboard to be the best music video of the 1990s. It has been featured on all of her greatest hits and other compilation albums. In 2020, Rolling Stone named "...Baby One More Time" as the greatest debut single of all time.[1] In 2021, the song was ranked at number 205 on the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Spears has performed "...Baby One More Time" in a number of live appearances and during all of her concert tours. The song was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards (2000), and has been included in lists by Blender, Rolling Stone and VH1. It has been noted for redefining the sound of late 1990s music. Spears has named "...Baby One More Time" as one of her favorite songs from her catalog. It was also the final song to be played on the BBC's music programme Top of the Pops in the 1990s. A cover of the song by Windy Wagner was featured in the 2011 dance video game by Ubisoft, Just Dance 3. In 2018, readers of German teen magazine Bravo voted "...Baby One More Time" to be the biggest hit since its first music compilation was released in 1992.
Background
In June 1997, Spears was in talks with manager Lou Pearlman to join female pop group Innosense.[2]Lynne Spears asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures.[2] Rudolph decided he wanted to pitch her to record labels, therefore she needed a professional demo.[2] He sent Spears an unused song from Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded her vocals in a studio with a sound engineer.[2] Spears traveled to New York with the demo and met with executives from four labels, returning to her hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana the same day.[2] Three of the labels rejected her, arguing audiences wanted pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, and "there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson, or another Tiffany."[2] Two weeks later, executives from Jive Records returned calls to Rudolph.[2] Senior vice president of A&R Jeff Fenster stated about Spears's audition that "It's very rare to hear someone that age who can deliver emotional content and commercial appeal. [...] For any artist, the motivation—the 'eye of the tiger'—is extremely important. And Britney had that."[3] They appointed her to work with producer Eric Foster White for a month, who reportedly shaped her voice from "lower and less poppy" delivery to "distinctively, unmistakably Britney."[4] After hearing the recorded material, president Clive Calder ordered a full album.[4] Spears had originally envisioned "Sheryl Crow music, but younger more adult contemporary" but felt all right with her label's appointment of producers, since "It made more sense to go pop, because I can dance to it—it's more me."[5]
I had been in studio for about six months listening and recording material, but I hadn't really heard a hit yet. When I started working with Max Martin in Sweden, he played the demo for 'Baby One More Time' for me, and I knew from the start it [was one] of those songs you want to hear again and again. It just felt really right. I went into the studio and did my own thing with it, trying to give it a little more attitude than the demo. In 10 days, I never even saw Sweden. We were so busy.
—Britney Spears, talking to Chuck Taylor, Billboard[6]
Fenster asked producer Max Martin to meet Spears in New York, after which he returned to Sweden to write her a handful of songs with long-term collaborator Denniz Pop. Pop was ill, so Martin asked producer Rami Yacoub to help. When six songs were ready, Spears flew to Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, where half of the album was recorded in May 1998,[7] nominally produced by Martin, Pop and Yacoub.[3][5][8] Pop, however, was too ill to attend any of the recording sessions, and Spears never met him. In his place, Martin was the acting producer.[9]
Martin showed Spears and her management a track titled "Hit Me Baby One More Time", which was originally written for American boy band Backstreet Boys and the R&B girl group TLC, but they both rejected it. The label thought the song would work for the English group Five, but they also passed on it.[10] Spears later said that she felt excited when she heard it and knew it was going to be a hit record. Jive A&R man Steve Lunt recalled, "We at Jive said, 'This is a fuckin' smash'";[11] but other executives were concerned that the line "Hit Me" would condone domestic violence. The title was revised to "...Baby One More Time".[8]
Spears recorded her vocals for the song in May 1998 at Cheiron Studios.[12] She stayed up late the night before listening to Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" ("What a sexy song") to get the growl she wanted: "I wanted my voice to be kind of rusty."[1] Spears revealed that she "didn't do well at all the first day in the studio [recording the song], I was just too nervous. So I went out that night and had some fun. The next day I was completely relaxed and nailed it. You gotta be relaxed singing '... Baby One More Time'."[13] The song was produced by Martin and Rami, and was also mixed by Martin at Cheiron Studios.[12] Thomas Lindberg played the guitar, while Johan Carlberg played the bass guitar.[12]Background vocals were provided by Spears, Martin and Nana Hedin.[12] Denniz Pop was credited as producer even though he was not present for the recording or mixing.[9] Spears also recorded a track called "Autumn Goodbye", written and produced by Eric Foster White, that was released as a B-side to "...Baby One More Time".[14] "Autumn Goodbye" was recorded in 1998 at 4MW East Studios in New Jersey.[14]
"...Baby One More Time" was released by Jive as Spears's debut single on October 23, 1998, when she was only 16 years old.[15] Spears said "...Baby One More Time" was one of her favorite songs in her entire catalog,[16] naming "Toxic" and "He About to Lose Me" as the other two.[16]
"...Baby One More Time" is a teen pop and dance-pop song[17] that lasts for three minutes and thirty seconds. The song is composed in the key of C minor and is set in the time signature of 4/4 common time with a moderate tempo of 93 beats per minute. Songwriting and production is largely based on previous Cheiron productions, most notably Robyn's "Show Me Love", which shows similar song scheme, drum patterns, wah guitars and piano hits. Spears's vocal range spans over one octave from E♭3 to C5.[18][19] The song begins with a three-note motif in the bass range of the piano, an opening that has been compared to many other songs, such as "We Will Rock You" (1977), "Start Me Up" (1981), and the theme song of the 1975 film Jaws due to the fact the track "makes its presence known in exactly one second".[13] According to magazine Blender, "...Baby One More Time" is composed by "wah-wah guitar lines and EKG-machine bass-slaps".[13]
Claudia Mitchell and Jacqueline Reid-Walsh, authors of Girl Culture: Studying girl culture: a readers' guide (2008), noted the lyrics of the song "gesture toward [Spears] longing for the return of an ex-boyfriend."[20] Spears said "...Baby One More Time" is a song "every girl can relate to. She regrets it. She wants him back."[21] The lyrics, however, caused controversy in the United States, because the line "Hit me baby one more time" supposedly has sadomasochistic connotations.[22] As a response, the singer said the line "doesn't mean physically hit me. [...] It means just give me a sign, basically. I think it's kind of funny that people would actually think that's what it meant."[5] Music journalist John Seabrook has said "Everybody thought it was some sort of weird allusion to domestic violence or something. But what it really was, was the Swedes using English not exactly correctly. What they really wanted to say was, "hit me up on the phone one more time" or something. But at that point, Max's English wasn't that great. So it came out sounding a little bit weird in English."[23]
Marc Oxoby, author of The 1990s (2003), noted the song "was derided as vapid by some critics, yet tapped into the same kind of audience to whom the Spice Girls music appealed, young teens and pre-teens."[24] Amanda Murray of Sputnikmusic commented, "[" ... Baby One More Time" is] well-composed, tightly arranged, and even with Spears' vocal limitations it goes straight for the proverbial pop jugular."[25] She also said that the song was a highlight in the pop music genre and added, "There is little doubt that '...Baby One More Time' will be long remembered as one of the cornerstones of pop music in general, and it is a strong front-runner as the prototype for the late 90s pop resurgence."[25] Bill Lamb of About.com considered "...Baby One More Time" as Spears's best song, saying, "the song is full of hooks and a big mainstream pop sound. The accompanying schoolgirl video caused a sensation, and, when the single hit No. 1, Britney was assured of stardom."[26] In a list compiled by Sara Anderson of AOL Radio, "...Baby One More Time" was ranked sixth in a list of Spears's best songs. She noted the singer "somehow made the school girl outfit and pink pom-pom hair-ties trendy again, worn by every tween in the succeeding years."[27]
Larry Flick of Billboard wrote, "Produced by famed Euro-popsters Max Martin and Eric Foster, "Baby, One More Time" chugs with an insinuating faux-funk beat and super-shiny synths. Spears has a charming kewpie-doll voice that has a soulful quality that leaves the listener intrigued and wondering where she'll go with time and experience."[28] Beth Johnson of Entertainment Weekly called it a "candy-pop-with-a-funky-edge smash",[29] while Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said the song was "ingenious",[30] Brian Raftery of Blender called it "a perfectly fine, slickly conceived pop tune. [..] At the time, teen-pop was still a boys' club, but while the guys were crooning about crushes, Spears was already planning the sleep-over party".[13] In 2009, Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone called it "some of the best radio pop of the past decade-plus".[31]NME considered "...Baby One More Time" "incredible",[17] commenting that "it's a symphony of teenage lust as fully realised as anything Brian Wilson ever wrote—a truly grand pop song that overwhelms any lingering undercurrent of Lolita paedo-creepiness through the sheer fanatical earnestness of its delivery."[17] "...Baby One More Time" won a Teen Choice Award for Single of the Year and an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song.[32]
Commercial performance
The encore performance of "...Baby One More Time" during the Dream Within a Dream Tour, with Spears standing in the water screen, 2001
The music video was directed by Nigel Dick.[59] After being chosen, Dick received criticism from his colleagues about wanting to work with Spears. He responded saying, "It's a great song. I don't know anything about Britney. I never watched The Mickey Mouse Club. She seems like a great kid and she's very enthusiastic, but I just love the song. It's just a great song".[21] The video's original setup was very different from what eventually became the final product. The plan was to have the video in a cartoon-like environment, a likely attempt to attract an audience of younger children.[59] Spears was unhappy with this, and argued that she wanted her video to reflect the lives of her fans and wanted to set the video in a school.[21][59] Spears pitched this idea to Dick, and explained she wanted the video to have dance scenes. The original setting was scrapped and replaced with Spears' concept.[21] Dick's first idea for the wardrobe was jeans and a T-shirt, but during the wardrobe fitting Spears asked for a schoolgirl outfit. Dick said that "Every piece of wardrobe in the video came from Kmart, and I was told at the time not one piece of clothing in the video cost more than $17. On that level, it's real. That probably, in retrospect, is a part of its charm."[21] The knotted shirt was Spears' idea, she recollects saying, "The outfits looked kind of dorky, so I was like, 'Let's tie up our shirts and be cute'".[60] About the experience of shooting her first music video, Spears said, "It was a wonderful experience. All these people there, working for you. I had my own trailer. It was an amazing experience".[21] The music video was shot on August 7 and 8, 1998, at Venice High School, the same school used to shoot the 1978 film Grease.[61][59] The video premiered on MTV and other video stations on November 26, 1998.[62][63]
Synopsis
Spears wearing the schoolgirl outfit in the song's music video
The video begins with Spears appearing bored in class at high school.[59] Her assistant Felicia Culotta played the role of Spears's teacher.[59] When the bell rings, Spears runs out into the hall and begins a choreographed dance in the corridor. After this, Spears is outside, now adorned in a pink athletic outfit, and seen in a car. Along with a couple of other students, she performs a number of gymnastic moves before heading back inside. She is then sitting on the bleachers in the gymnasium watching a basketball game, and she dances in the gymnasium. Her love interest is revealed sitting close to her, played by her real-life cousin Chad.[59]
Reception
The schoolgirl outfit is considered to be one of Spears's most iconic looks as well as amongst the hallmarks of pop culture. It is on display at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.[64] The ensemble caused controversy among parents associations for showing the midriff of a sixteen-year-old.[21] Spears faced the criticism saying, "Me showing my belly? I'm from the South; you're stupid if you don't wear a sports bra [when you] go to dance class, you're going to be sweating your butt off."[21] In 1999, "...Baby One More Time" earned Spears her first three MTV Video Music Award nominations,[65] in the categories of Best Pop Video,[65]Best Choreography,[65] and Best Female Video.[65] In a list compiled by VH1 in 2001, it was listed at number ninety in the best videos of all time.[66] The video was the first of fourteen of her videos to retire on MTV's television series Total Request Live (TRL). On its final episode, a three-hour special aired on November 16, 2008,[67] "...Baby One More Time" was number one in their final countdown as the most iconic music video of all time and was the last video to be played on the show.[67]Wesley Yang in his essay "Inside the Box" in n+1, compared the music video to Britny Fox's "Girlschool" because it featured "a classroom full of Catholic schoolgirls gyrating to the beat in defiance of a stern teacher. [..] But that was a sexist video by a horrible hair metal band that exploited women. Britney Spears was something else—an inflection point in the culture".[68] The music video is also referenced in the 2009 single, "If U Seek Amy".[69] After she comes out of the house dressed as a housewife,[69] her daughter is dressed with a similar schoolgirl outfit while wearing pink ribbons in her hair.[69] The video was ranked at number four on a list of the ten most controversial music videos in pop by AOL on September 29, 2011.[70]Rolling Stone placed "...Baby One More Time" at number 30 on its list of 100 greatest music videos of all time.[71]
Live performances
Spears and some of her dancers performing "...Baby One More Time" during the Femme Fatale Tour, 2011
The first live performance of the song was at the "Singapore Jazz Festival" in Singapore on May 16, 1998. That day, she also performed the song "Sometimes" for the first time. Britney performed "...Baby One More Time" on several occasions. She performed the song on July 6, 1999, during her appearance at the Woodstock 99 festival.[72]Neil Strauss, from The New York Times, noted that "all the backing music was on tape, and most of the vocals were recorded, with Ms. Spears just reinforcing selected words in choruses and singing an occasional snippet of a verse".[72] It was also performed at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards;[73] after a classroom roll call ended, Spears appeared on the stage and began performing the song. Halfway through, she was joined by Justin Timberlake and the members of NSYNC for a dance routine. Afterwards, the band performed their hit "Tearin' Up My Heart".[74] The song was also performed at the 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards, along with "(You Drive Me) Crazy", the 1999 Billboard Music Awards, the 1999 Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, the Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops and the Greenwich Millennium concert on December 31, 1999, she also performed it with broadcasters David Dimbleby and Michael Buerk on 2000 Today. Spears performed the song in a medley with "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" at the 42nd Grammy Awards. Spears was wearing a turtleneck and a full tulle skirt at the beginning of the performance, while dancers surrounded her with enormous hand fans. After singing a shortened version of the song, she then took a few moments to shuffle into a form-fitting red rhinestone outfit (with side cutouts) and emerged onto a stage to perform "...Baby One More Time." Spears was also criticized of lipsynching the song during her performance.[75] Later, in 2003, Spears performed the song in a remixed form at Britney Spears: In the Zone, a concert special that aired in ABC on November 17, 2003.[76] "...Baby One More Time" was also performed at the 2003 NFL Kickoff Live on September 4, 2003, at the National Mall, in a medley with "I'm a Slave 4 U" (2001), which included pyrotechnics.[77][78][79] She sported shoulder-length blond hair and was dressed in black football pants, a black-and-white referee halter top and boots from Reebok.[80] Her outfit was later auctioned off to benefit the Britney Spears Foundation.[78]
"...Baby One More Time" has been performed in seven of Spears's concert tours since its release.[81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88] On 1999's ...Baby One More Time Tour, the encore consisted of a performance of the song,[81] in which Spears wore a black bra under pink halter,[81] a pink sequined plaid mini-skirt,[81] and black thigh-high stockings.[81] On 2000's Oops!... I Did It Again Tour, "...Baby One More Time" was performed after a dance interlude in which the dancers showed their individual moves while their names appeared on the screens.[82] Spears took the stage in a conservative schoolgirl outfit to perform the song.[82] She ripped it off halfway through the song to reveal a cheerleader ensemble.[82] The song was also the encore of 2001's Dream Within a Dream Tour.[83][84] It began with a giant projection of a hologram of Spears onto a water screen.[83][84] The projection gradually shrunk until Spears rose from the stage while wearing a plastic cowboy hat, blue hip-huggers, and a matching bra top.[83][84] She began performing "...Baby One More Time" in a ballad version until reaching the end of the runway.[83][84]Pyrotechnics surrounded the stage while the song changed to a more uptempo version with elements of techno.[83][84]
On The Onyx Hotel Tour, after performing "Showdown", a video interlude followed featuring Spears and her friends outside a club.[85] While she was leaving, she noticed a woman dressed in 1930s fashion.[85] She followed her and the woman asked Spears to enter the "Mystic Lounge".[85] Spears reappeared wearing a corset to perform "...Baby One More Time" along with "Oops!...I Did It Again" and "(You Drive Me) Crazy".[85] All of the three were reworked for the show with elements of jazz and blues.[89] "...Baby One More Time" was also performed on the promotional tour made on some House of Blues locations, called The M+M's Tour.[86] The show started with Spears singing a short version of the song dressed in a white go-go boots,[86] a white miniskirt and a sparkling pink bikini top.[86] On The Circus Starring Britney Spears, the song made into the Electro Circ act.[87] It was the final song of the act,[88] performed after "Toxic".[88] The performance consisted on Spears and her dancers performing a remix of the song.[88] On 2011's Femme Fatale Tour, "...Baby One More Time" was performed in a medley with the remix of Rihanna's "S&M" (2010).[90] At Spears's residency show Britney: Piece of Me in Las Vegas, the song was included on its setlist.[91]
Cover versions, samples and usage in media
Lea Michele from the cast of Glee covered the song in the episode "Britney/Brittany". The episode featured an appearance made by Spears herself.
"...Baby One More Time" has been covered on numerous occasions. One of the earliest live covers of the song was by the Scottish band Travis, recorded during one of their concerts in Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire, England.[92] The song was later included in the release of their 1999 single, "Turn". Lead singer Francis Healey said, "We did it for a laugh the first time. [..] And as we played it, the irony slipped from my smile. It's a very well-crafted song. It [has] that magic thing."[13]The Guardian said this cover showed a new and more "dark" side of the band, commenting "slowed down to a mournful crawl, it was amazing how ominous the couplet "This loneliness is killing me / Hit me, baby, one more time" sounded".[92] PopWreckoning.com called it "perhaps the most well done cover of Britney's catalyst to eternal fame".[93] Spears heard their version while shopping in a mall and said, "It was so weird. I liked it though, I thought it was cool. It was a very different vibe from what I did".[94] In July 2005, the Dresden Dolls performed a cover during their summer concerts while opening for Panic! at the Disco. On July 18, 2006, frontman Brendon Urie joined the band to perform the song in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PopWreckoning.com said the cover was "a strange twist to this pop ditty. It's obviously darker and actually tortured as opposed to Britney's school girl despair".[93]
On July 13, 2009, Tori Amos covered the song live during her Sinful Attraction Tour at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California.[95] On October 15, that year, Kris Allen covered the song for the first time at a concert in Seton High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. His rendition received positive reviews.[96] The song is heard, prominently but briefly, during the climactic fight-scene in the 2005 animated film Robots.[97] Fender, while wearing a skirt, was busy fighting to the beat of the song.[98] An excerpt was used in the comedy film, but this excerpt was not included on the soundtrack album.[99] In 2000, British death metal cover band Ten Masked Men included a rendition of the song on their Return of the Ten Masked Men album.[100] A cover by Ahmet and Dweezil Zappa was featured in the soundtrack of the 2000 film Ready to Rumble.[101] The song was covered twice in Fearless Records' Punk Goes... compilation album series, first by pop punk band Nicotine for 2002's Punk Goes Pop and then by metalcore band August Burns Red for its 2009 successor, Punk Goes Pop Volume Two. In 2003, the song was covered by American pop punk band Bowling for Soup for the soundtrack of the film Freaky Friday and commented that their version was "really, really, dark and really rock, [..] not the kind of 'pop'-py stuff that we usually do."[102] In 2005, power pop band Fountains of Wayne covered the song for their compilation album Out-of-State Plates. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice highlighted their rendition saying the song is "as redolent and fetching as any of [Fountains of Wayne]'s peaks".[103]
In the 2010 Glee episode "Britney/Brittany", the character of Rachel Berry, played by Lea Michele, covered the song using similar outfits to the ones of the music video. Spears also made a cameo, taking the teacher's role, previously played by Cullota.[104] In the 2010 Nickelodeon film, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, the song was featured in the end credits performed by the actors as their respective characters.[105][106][107]Darren Criss also of Glee performed a mash-up of "...Baby One More Time" with "Für Elise" on Sing Out, Raise Hope for the Trevor Project and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in December 2011.[108] In 2012, British singer Ed Sheeran performed an acoustic version of the song NOW 100.5 FM.[109] A year later he covered it on The Elvis Duran Z100 Morning Show and added a rap verse.[110] The song is sung by actresses Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine in Harmony Korine's film Spring Breakers.[111] Swedish singer Tove Styrke released a cover of the song on July 24, 2015.[112]Charli XCX and Troye Sivan referenced the song on their single "1999". Alternative rock band Slothrust recorded a cover of the song as part of their 2017 EP Show Me How You Want It to Be.Anne Marie also references the song on her single "2002". The music video also pays homage to Spears. Both singles were released in 2018. In 2020, Italian symphonic death metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse paid homage to the song in their single "No", slightly interpolating the chorus lines and melody near the end of the track with altered lyrics.[113]
The sitcom Superstore also used "Baby, One More Time" in Season 4, Episode 2 ("Baby Shower") to mark the scene with the baby shower opening for one of the main characters in the series.[114] In addition, the song was also used in the trailer of Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard in 2021.[115] In 2022, the song was re-versioned for the Mexican Netflix television series Rebelde. It was performed by Brazilian actress Giovanna Grigio and Mexican actor Alejandro Puente and was included in the soundtrack of the series released on January 5, 2022, by Sony Music Mexico.[116]
The song appears in the 2019 Max Martin jukebox musical & Juliet where it was performed by Juliet in Act 1.[citation needed]
"One of those pop manifestos that announces a new sound, a new era, a new century. But most of all, a new star. [...] '...Baby One More Time' is an apocalyptic thunder-clap of a song, with Max Martin's mega-boom production [...]. In the great tradition of debut singles, it was a divisive statement that drew a line between past and future. [...] With '...Baby One More Time,' [Spears] changed the sound of pop forever."
—Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield commenting on the song's impact.[1]
In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the song at number one on a list of the 100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time.[1] In 2021, the same magazine ranked the song at number 205 on their updated list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[120]Billboard's Robert Kelly observed that Spears's "sexy and coy" vocals on the track "kicked off a new era of pop vocal stylings that would influence countless artists to come."[121] "...Baby One More Time" was listed at number twenty five in the greatest pop songs since 1963, in a list compiled by Rolling Stone and MTV in 2000.[122]Blender listed it at number nine in the 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born.[13] The song was also listed as the 2nd best song of the 1990s by VH1[123] and in a listing compiled in 2003, ranked at number one in 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years.[124] Bill Lamb of About.com ranked "...Baby One More Time" at number one on a compiled list with the Top 40 Pop Songs Of All Time.[125] The music video was voted the third most influential promo in the history of pop music on a poll held by Jam!.[126] "...Baby One More Time" is also one of the best-selling singles of all time, with over 9 million copies sold,[127] and also earned Spears's first nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.[128] In April 2005, the British TV network ITV aired a short series called Hit Me, Baby, One More Time hosted by Vernon Kay.[129] The show pitted one-hit wonders who generally had their moments of fame in the 1980s against each other to play their own hits and a currently popular cover song.[129] The favorites were chosen by audience voting.[129] The American version of the show also aired on NBC later in the year, and it was also hosted by Kay.[130] In the 2012 poll created by The Official Chart Company and ITV to discover The Nation's Favourite Number 1 Single of all-time, "...Baby One More Time" was listed as the seventh favorite song by the United Kingdom.[131] In 2018, readers of German teen magazine Bravo voted "...Baby One More Time" to be the biggest hit since its first music compilation was released in 1992.[citation needed] In 2021, Billboard and American Songwriter both ranked the song number two on their lists of the greatest Britney Spears songs.[132][133]
Spears led the teen pop pack of Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson and Mandy Moore, who were all seen as "pop princesses" gaining chart success in 1999.[134][135][136] These four performers had each been developing material in 1998, but "...Baby One More Time" changed the market in December, opening the door for the others. Rolling Stone wrote that Spears "spearheaded the rise of post-millennial teen pop... Spears early on cultivated a mixture of innocence and experience that generated lots of cash".[137] 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".[138]
Scott Plagenhoef of Pitchfork noted: "songs like Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang", and Britney Spears' " ... Baby One More Time" altered the landscape of pop culture so quickly in large part because they were delivered to all corners of the U.S. simultaneously by MTV. ... MTV's ability to place a song and musician into the pop music conversation was unparalleled at the time, and by the end of the decade that meant absurd levels of both financial and creative commitment to music videos."[139]PopMatters's writer Evan Sawdey commented that Spears's concept for the song's music video was the one responsible for her immediate success, saying that, as a result, the singer "scored a massive No. 1 single, inadvertently started the late '90s teen pop boom, and created a public persona for herself that was simultaneously kid-friendly and pure male fantasy. Her videos got played on both MTV and the Disney Channel at the same time, showing just how well Spears (and her armies of PR handlers) managed to walk that fine line between family-friendly pop idol and unabashed sex object."[140]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Release history
Release dates and formats for "...Baby One More Time"
Britney Jean Spears is an American singer and dancer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Spears has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. She has earned numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award, 15 Guinness World Records, six MTV Video Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards, the inaugural Radio Disney Icon Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her heavily choreographed music videos earned her the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
...Baby One More Time is the debut studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on January 12, 1999, by Jive Records. Spears had been a child performer on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993 to 1994, and was looking to expand her career as a teen singer. After being turned away by several record companies, Spears signed with Jive for a multi-album deal in 1997. She travelled to Sweden to collaborate with producers Max Martin and Rami Yacoub, who had been writing songs with producer Denniz Pop and others, for ...Baby One More Time. Their collaboration created a pop, bubblegum pop, dance-pop, and teen pop record, with Spears later saying that she felt excited when she heard it and knew it was going to be a hit record. The album was completed in June 1998.
"Everytime" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her fourth studio album, In the Zone (2003). It was released as the third single from In the Zone on May 10, 2004, by Jive Records. After her relationship with Justin Timberlake ended in 2002, Spears became friends with her background singer Annet Artani. They started writing songs together at Spears' house in Los Angeles, and then traveled to Lombardy, Italy, where they collaborated on "Everytime". Musically, it is a piano-driven pop ballad, which lyrically pleas for forgiveness for inadvertently hurting a former lover. Spears composed the music herself and wrote the lyrics with Artani about a romantic breakup.
"I'm a Slave 4 U" is a song recorded by American singer Britney Spears for her third studio album, Britney (2001). Written and produced by Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes, it was released on September 25, 2001, by Jive Records as the lead single from the album. Marking a transition for Spears from the teen pop sounds of her previous singles, "I'm a Slave 4 U" is a dance-pop track with urban pop and R&B influences. The lyrics describes the plea of a young woman to be liberated and feel independent.
"Sometimes" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time (1999). Written by Jörgen Elofsson and produced by Elofsson, Per Magnusson and David Kreuger, the song was released as Spears' second single on April 6, 1999, by Jive Records. "Sometimes" is a bubblegum pop ballad that alludes to a relationship where a shy girl is reserved on expressing feelings to her lover. The song received generally favorable reviews from contemporary critics.
"(You Drive Me) Crazy" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time (1999). Written and produced by Max Martin, Per Magnusson and David Kreuger with additional writing by Jörgen Elofsson and remix by Martin and Rami Yacoub, it was released as the album's third single on August 24, 1999, by Jive Records. It was featured on the soundtrack of the 1999 teen romantic comedy film Drive Me Crazy. The song garnered positive reviews from music critics, some of whom praised its simple formula and noted similarities to Spears's debut single, "...Baby One More Time".
"Born to Make You Happy" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time (1999). It was released on December 6, 1999, by Jive Records, as the fourth single from the album in Europe. Spears—whose vision for her sound differed stylistically from that of her producer's—was unhappy with the sexual overtones of the song, and the song underwent at least one re-write before its release. The singer first recorded the vocals for the track in May 1998, which were later re-recorded in September 1999 for the 'Bonus Remix' of the song. The teen pop song alludes to a relationship that a woman desires to correct, not quite understanding what went wrong, as she comes to realize that she was "born to make [her lover] happy".
"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time (1999). It was released on December 14, 1999, by Jive Records as the fifth and final single from the album. After Spears recorded an unused song from Toni Braxton and sent it through Larry Rudolph to several labels, executives from Jive Records commented that it was very rare to hear someone so young who could deliver emotional content and commercial appeal, appointing the singer to work with producer Eric Foster White. The teen pop ballad was written and produced by White, and features Spears singing about the loss of a first love and how breaking up can be hard.
"Oops!... I Did It Again" is a pop song recorded by American singer Britney Spears from her second studio album of the same name. It was released on April 11, 2000, by Jive Records as the lead single from the album, and her sixth single overall. It was written and produced by Max Martin and Rami Yacoub. The lyrics refer to a woman who views love as a game, and she decides to use that to her advantage by playing with the emotions of a boy who likes her. Its bridge features spoken dialogue which references the hit 1997 film Titanic.
"Lucky" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her second studio album, Oops!... I Did It Again (2000). It was released on July 25, 2000, by Jive Records as the second single from the album. After meeting with producers Max Martin and Rami Yacoub in Sweden, the singer recorded numerous songs for the album, including "Lucky". The song's narrative follows the story of the eponymous famous actress, who, despite seemingly having it all – fame, wealth, beauty – is truly lonely and unhappy on the inside. It received critical acclaim, with critics praising its melody and rhythm, and Spears' vocals.
"Stronger" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her second studio album, Oops!... I Did It Again (2000). It was released on October 31, 2000, by Jive Records as the third single from the album. After meeting with producers Max Martin and Rami in Sweden, Spears recorded several songs for the album, including "Stronger". The dance-pop, synth-pop and teen pop song features self-empowerment lyrics about a girl who is tired of her cheating boyfriend and decides to move on without him. It received acclaim from music critics, who described the song as being both musically and lyrically innovative, with some deeming it the best track on Oops!... I Did It Again.
"Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her second studio album, Oops!... I Did It Again (2000). It was released on March 12, 2001, by Jive Records as the fourth and final single from the album. After meeting with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange in Switzerland, Spears recorded several songs for the album, including "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know", which she considered one of her favorites on the album. Additional lyrics were written by guitar player Keith Scott and country pop singer Shania Twain. The pop ballad speaks of a woman wanting to hear her boyfriend say that he loves her, and is sonically similar to David Bowie and Iggy Pop's song "China Girl" (1983).
"Boys" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her third album Britney (2001). It was written and produced by Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams. A version of the song titled "The Co-Ed Remix" and featuring guest vocals from Williams was released as the fifth single from Britney on June 24, 2002. The new version also served as the second single from the soundtrack of Austin Powers in Goldmember. "Boys" is a R&B and hip hop song, including funk influences. The remix carries a slower tempo than the album version, and both versions were noted by critics to be reminiscent of music by American artist Janet Jackson. Some critics praised Spears and Williams' chemistry, as well as the production on the track, while others did not think the song worked well.
"Me Against the Music" is a song by American singers Britney Spears and Madonna for Spears' fourth studio album, In the Zone (2003). It was written by Spears, Madonna, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Thabiso "Tab" Nikhereanye, Penelope Magnet, Terius Nash and Gary O'Brien. The song was released on October 14, 2003, by Jive Records, as the lead single of In the Zone. After bonding with Spears during a night in New York City, Stewart and Magnet started working on the song for her. During rehearsals for the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, Spears played Madonna the track and asked her to do the song with her.
"Toxic" is a song by American singer Britney Spears, released as the second single from her fourth studio album, In the Zone (2003). It was written and produced by Bloodshy & Avant, with additional writing from Cathy Dennis and Henrik Jonback. A dance-pop and techno-pop song with elements of South Asian music, "Toxic" features varied instrumentation, such as drums, synthesizers and surf guitar. It is played in the key of C minor with a tempo of 143 beats per minute. It is accompanied by breathy vocals and high-pitched strings, sampled from the 1981 Bollywood song "Tere Mere Beech Mein" by Laxmikant–Pyarelal. The lyrics of "Toxic" draw an extended metaphor of a lover as a dangerous and addictive drug.
"Gimme More" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her fifth studio album, Blackout (2007). It was released on August 31, 2007, by Jive Records, as the lead single from the album. "Gimme More" was recorded in 2006 during Spears' second pregnancy and was one of the first solo productions by Danja. The song opens with an intro in which Spears utters the phrase, "It's Britney, bitch." Musically, "Gimme More" is a song with elements from dance-pop, electropop and EDM using breathy vocals. The track closes with a speak-sing outro by Danja.
"Womanizer" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, Circus (2008). It was released on September 26, 2008, by Jive Records as the lead single of the album. Produced and written by the Outsyders, the song was re-recorded after a snippet was leaked onto the internet. "Womanizer" is an up-tempo electropop and dance-pop song. Described by Spears as a girl anthem, the song's lyrics recall a womanizing man, while the protagonist of the song makes clear she knows who he really is.
"Circus" is a song by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on December 2, 2008, through Jive Records as the second single from her sixth studio album of the same name. Written by Dr. Luke, Claude Kelly and Benny Blanco, "Circus" is a metaphor for the public's perception of Spears' life. After she listened to the track for the first time, she felt inspired to create an album and a tour with a circus theme. "Circus" is an uptempo electropop and dance-pop song with elements of pop rock and "half-rapped" vocals. The song's lyrics talk about being an entertainer and putting on shows.
"If U Seek Amy" also broadcast on radio as "If U See Amy" or simply "Amy" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, Circus (2008). It was released on March 10, 2009, by Jive Records as the third single of the album, chosen by a poll on Spears's official website. "If U Seek Amy" was written and produced by Swedish producer Max Martin, who also wrote previous hits for her first three albums. In the song, Spears is looking for a woman named Amy in a club, and although it appears to be about sex, it is actually about how society perceives her life. Musically, "If U Seek Amy" makes use of instruments such as keyboards and timpani.
"Hold It Against Me" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale (2011). It was written and produced by Max Martin, Dr. Luke and Billboard, with additional writing by Bonnie McKee. Luke explained that he wanted "Hold It Against Me" to sound unlike his previous productions. The song was originally offered to Katy Perry, but Luke and Martin felt that it did not suit her. A demo version of the track by McKee was leaked on January 6, 2011, and the single became available for streaming on January 10, 2011. It was released for digital download the following day as the lead single from Femme Fatale by Jive Records.
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