Author | Britney Spears |
---|---|
Audio read by | Michelle Williams |
Language | English |
Genre | Memoir |
Publisher | Gallery Books |
Publication date | October 24, 2023 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (paperback) |
Pages | 288 |
ISBN | 9781668009048 |
The Woman in Me is a memoir by American singer Britney Spears. It was published on October 24, 2023, by Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. The book was released in 26 languages. Michelle Williams narrates the audiobook.
The Woman in Me received praise from critics. Within a week of its release in the United States, the book became a #1 New York Times best-seller, selling 1.1 million copies in all formats. As of January 2024, it has sold over two million copies in the US with an estimated three million copies in print globally. [1] A film adaptation directed by Jon M. Chu and produced by Marc Platt is currently in the works at Universal Pictures as of 2024. [2]
On February 21, 2022, it was reported that Spears signed a $15 million book deal for her then-upcoming memoir, one of the biggest book deals of all time, [3] three months after a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge formally ended her conservatorship. [4] On July 11, 2023, Spears announced that the book would be titled The Woman in Me, and would be released on October 24, 2023. [5] The title is a reference to a lyric in her song "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (2001), where she sings "I'm just trying to find the woman in me". [6] It was reportedly ghostwritten together with journalist Sam Lansky. [7]
The book contains 288 pages comprising 49 chapters, and was released in 26 languages. [8] [9] The memoir was released in audiobook format simultaneously with the other editions. [10] Spears confirmed she would not fully narrate the audiobook due to its "heart-wrenching and emotional" content, enlisting actress Michelle Williams to record the main bulk of the audiobook, while Spears would participate by reading its introduction. [10] [11] She promoted the memoir in People by providing insights into its content, accompanied by a cover photoshoot, which she had not done since 2016. [12]
The Woman in Me chronicles Spears's journey to stardom, the publicized challenges she faced, and her endeavors to break free from a longstanding conservatorship that once controlled her life. [13]
In the beginning of the memoir, Spears writes that her paternal grandmother, Emma Jean Spears, was sent to an asylum by Spears's paternal grandfather. Their three-day-old baby had died and Emma Jean was overwhelmed by grief. While at the asylum, Emma Jean was put on lithium; later she shot herself over the child's grave. Spears added that "tragedy runs in my family". [14] [15]
Spears also writes that she was marketed as innocent, even though she had been a regular smoker since the age of 14 and lost her virginity around the same time. [16] In 2002, her then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake dumped her by text on the set of a music video. [16] When she became pregnant by Timberlake, she writes that he persuaded her to undergo an abortion. [17] Spears writes that Timberlake continuously cheated on her: "Photographers caught Justin with one of the girls from All Saints in a car." [7] After the break-up, her public image suffered, she started to burn out, and began abusing the prescription drug Adderall. [7] She also admitted that she cheated on Timberlake with dancer Wade Robson.
She described her two-week sexual fling with actor Colin Farrell in the memoir. Spears wrote that the reason for her 55-hour marriage to Jason Alexander was, that she was "drunk and very bored." She wrote that her family got angry after finding out about her marriage. Spears wrote: "They made way too big a deal out of innocent fun. Everybody has a different perspective on it, but I didn't take it that seriously. I thought a goof-around Vegas wedding was something people might do as a joke. Then my family came and acted like I'd started World War III. I cried the whole rest of the time I was in Las Vegas." [18] Spears also dives into the rocky relationship with her sister Jamie Lynn and apologizes to Jamie Lynn's Zoey 101 co-star Alexa Nikolas (referring to Nikolas as "that young actress") for yelling at her, adding that she was pregnant and emotional at the time. [19]
Spears discusses her relationship with Kevin Federline and the struggles she faced after becoming a mother, including suffering from postpartum depression. The memoir also goes into further detail and provides new perspective about widely publicized events in Spears' life, including shaving her head and attacking a paparazzo with an umbrella.
The review aggregator website Book Marks collected 16 reviews on the book, seven of which were classified as "rave", eight were classified as "positive" and one as "mixed". Overall, the reception was summarized as positive. [20]
The book received acclaim from The New York Times , [21] Time , [22] and The Los Angeles Times . [9] In a BBC review, Mark Savage called the book "an angry, cautionary tale," [16] while The Independent called it "raw, unfiltered and breathtaking in its rage." [7] Writing for Forbes , Toni Fitzgerald stated that the memoir "changes the conversation on mental health" and child stardom. [23]
Before its release, The Woman in Me debuted atop the Amazon's best-selling "new release" books.[ citation needed ] Following its publication, it appeared on weekly book sales charts in multiple countries. [24] In the United States, it sold 1.1 million copies in its first week. The sales figures include pre-orders, print sales, e-books, and audiobooks. The memoir became a number-one New York Times best-seller in its first week of release. [25] On January 8, 2024, Publishers Weekly included the book in their top ten best-sellers list of 2023 with 908,000 printed copies sold in the US. [26] As of January 11, 2024, The Woman in Me has sold over two million copies in the US. [27]
In the United Kingdom, The Woman in Me sold 90,656 print copies in its first week, securing the top spot on the Official UK Top 50 chart. This achievement marks it as Simon & Schuster's quickest-selling title. It became the second best-selling memoir of 2023, only behind Spare by Prince Harry. The audio version also debuted at number one and sales through all print and digital versions combined reached 170,000 units. [28] In Germany, the translated version of the book debuted at number one in the non-fiction category, whereas the English version started at number five on the same chart. Overall, it achieved sales of 120,000 copies. [29] In France, the book debuted at the number one spots in the top large-format literature and top essay charts and reached sales of 15,000 copies. [30] Worldwide, as of November 1, 2023, it sold an estimated amount of 2.4 million copies in print sales. [8] Three months after its release, the memoir was deemed the "#1 listened to title on Spotify". [31]
The release of The Woman in Me was credited as a factor to help drive UK book market growth. The book was highlighted as one of the releases to boost sales ahead of Christmas. [32]
The book release generated significant increases in streaming and sales for Spears. In the four days leading up to the release, her catalog experienced a 21% surge in official on-demand U.S. streams, totaling 8.89 million compared to its previous October 13–16 tracking period, which had 7.34 million streams. Additionally, digital sales in the U.S. for Spears more than doubled during these four-day periods, rising from under 1,000 sales from October 13–16 to 2,300 a week later. [33]
In the book, Spears stated that Timberlake had acted inappropriately and put on a blaccent when meeting the singer Ginuwine. [34] However, in December 2023, Ginuwine stated, "I can tell you I don't remember that happening. I truly don't remember that happening [...] If Justin would’ve did something like that, I probably would've looked at him like, "Why are you acting like that?" If he did that, that would be something that I would remember. That would've definitely stuck out." [35] [36]
In October 2023, Spears teased on her Instagram that she is already writing a follow-up book and initially stated that it would be released in 2024; however as of January 2025, it has yet to be released. [37]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | Goodreads Choice Awards | Best Memoir & Autobiography [38] | Won | |
2024 | Audie Awards | Best Non-Fiction Narrator [39] | Michelle Williams | Nominated |
British Book Awards | Book of the Year – Non-Fiction: Narrative [40] | Nominated | ||
World of Wonder | Best Book (The Reading is Fundamental Award) [41] | Nominated |
Country | Release date | Edition | Publisher | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | October 24, 2023 | Simon & Schuster | [42] | |
Audiobook | Simon & Schuster Audio | [43] | ||
CD | [44] |
Britney Jean Spears is an American singer. 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.
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and dancer. Dubbed the "Prince of Pop", Billboard honored him as the best performing solo act on Pop Airplay and one of the greatest pop stars of the 21st century. Timberlake remains among the best-selling recording artists of all time, with sales of over 117 million records worldwide. His awards include ten Grammy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, three Brit Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, the Contemporary Icon Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and MTV's Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
Jamie Lynn Marie Spears is an American actress and singer. Spears began her career as a child actress, when she played Zoey Brooks on the Nickelodeon teen sitcom Zoey 101 (2005–2008), and later reprised her role as Zoey Brooks in the sequel film Zoey 102 (2023). She plays Noreen Fitzgibbons on the Netflix romantic drama series Sweet Magnolias (2020–present). She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Gracie Award, two Kids Choice Awards and two Young Artist Awards. She is the younger sister of singer Britney Spears.
Elgin Baylor Lumpkin, better known by his stage name Ginuwine, is an American R&B singer. He began his career as a member of the musical collective Swing Mob in the early 1990s. As a solo act, he signed with Epic Records to release his 1996 debut single, "Pony". The song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded the release of his debut studio album, Ginuwine...The Bachelor (1996), which received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His second and third albums, 100% Ginuwine (1999) and The Life (2001), both peaked within the top five of the Billboard 200, while the latter spawned the single "Differences", which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains his highest-charting song.
Britney is the third studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on October 31, 2001, by Jive Records. Looking to transition from the teen pop styles of her first two studio albums ...Baby One More Time (1999) and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000), Spears began to embrace a significantly more mature sound with Britney. The record incorporates genres of pop and R&B with influences of EDM and occasionally dips into disco, hip hop, rock, and electronica. Its lyrical themes address the subjects such as coming of age, adulthood, control, and sexuality. Contributions to its production came from a variety of collaborators, including Max Martin and Rami Yacoub. Spears herself assumed a more prominent role in the album's development, co-writing six of its tracks.
In the Zone is the fourth studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on November 15, 2003, by Jive Records. Spears began writing songs during her Dream Within a Dream Tour, not knowing the direction of the record. She stated she was an autobiographical songwriter, although not to the point where she felt self-exploited. During the process, she ended her highly-publicized relationship with singer Justin Timberlake. With the tour's conclusion in July 2002, Spears planned to take a six-month break from her career; however, recording for the album commenced in November.
"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.
Greatest Hits: My Prerogative is the first greatest hits album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on November 3, 2004, by Jive Records.
Crossroads is a 2002 American teen road comedy-drama film directed by Tamra Davis, from a screenplay by Shonda Rhimes. The film stars Britney Spears, Anson Mount, Zoe Saldana, Taryn Manning, Kim Cattrall, and Dan Aykroyd. Set in Georgia, its plot centers on three teenage girls on a cross-country road trip, as they find themselves and their friendship in the process.
"...Baby One More Time" is the debut single by American singer Britney Spears from her debut studio album of the same name (1999). It was written by Max Martin and produced by Martin and Rami Yacoub. Released on September 29, 1998, by Jive Records, the song became a worldwide success, topping the charts in over 20 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, where it earned quintuple and triple-platinum certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), respectively, and was the latter's best-selling single of 1999. A teen pop and dance-pop about longing for the return of an ex-boyfriend, "...Baby One More Time" is one of the best-selling singles of all time, with over 10 million copies sold.
"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.
American singer Britney Spears has released nine studio albums, eight compilation albums, nine box sets, three extended plays (EPs), 50 singles, 11 promotional singles, two charity singles, and has made three guest appearances. In 1997, Spears signed a recording contract with American record label Jive Records in order to launch her career.
"Cry Me a River" is a song by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake for his debut solo album, Justified (2002). It was thought to be inspired by Timberlake's former relationship with singer Britney Spears. Jive Records released the song to contemporary hit and rhythmic radio in the United States on November 25, 2002, as the album's second single. Accompanied by an electric piano, beatbox, guitars, synthesizers, Arabian-inspired riffs and Gregorian chants, "Cry Me a River" is a pop and R&B song about a brokenhearted man who moves on from his past.
Blackout is the fifth studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on October 25, 2007, by Jive Records. Its production and release occurred as Spears' personal struggles were highly publicized and overshadowed her professional projects. She executive-produced the album, working with producers Danja, Bloodshy & Avant, Sean Garrett, and the Neptunes, among others; it is the only album on which Spears is credited as the executive producer. The final result was primarily a dance-pop and electropop record with Euro disco and dubstep influences, with lyrical themes revolving around love, fame, media scrutiny, sex, and clubbing.
American singer Britney Spears has developed and endorsed a number of products; these have included books, video releases, video games, dolls, clothing, and perfumes. In 2000, Spears released a limited edition of sunglasses titled Shades of Britney. In 2001, she signed a deal with shoe company Skechers, and a $7–8 million promotional deal with Pepsi, their biggest entertainment deal at the time. Aside from numerous commercials with the latter during that year, she also appeared in a 2004 Pepsi television commercial in the theme of "Gladiators" with singers Beyoncé, Pink, and Enrique Iglesias. On June 19, 2002, she released her first multi-platform video game, Britney's Dance Beat, which received positive reviews. In March 2009, Spears was announced as the new face of clothing brand Candie's. Dari Marder, chief marketing officer for the brand, explained why they choose the singer, saying, "everybody loves a comeback and nobody's doing it better than Britney. She's just poised for even greater success." In 2010, Spears designed a limited edition line for the brand, which was released in stores in July. In 2011, she teamed up with Sony, Make Up For Ever, and Plenty of Fish to release her music video for "Hold It Against Me", earning her $500,000 for the product placement. Spears also teamed up with Hasbro in 2012 to release an exclusive version of Twister Dance, which includes a remix of "Till the World Ends". The singer was also featured on a commercial, which was directed by Ray Kay, to promote the game. Spears was also featured on the commercial of "Twister Rave" and the game included a Twister remix of "Circus". In March 2018, it was revealed that Spears would be the face of Kenzo, a contemporary French luxury clothing house.
"Piece of Me" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her fifth studio album, Blackout (2007). It was released on November 27, 2007, by Jive Records as the second single from the album, but was actually the last song recorded. It was written and produced by Swedish producers Bloodshy & Avant and Klas Åhlund as a response to the media scrutiny and sensationalism of the singer's private life, which they had witnessed firsthand after working with her over the years. The song, acting as the singer's manifesto, has biographical lyrics retelling Spears's mishaps. It can be classified as an electropop, dance-pop and EDM-pop song that features an "electro instrumental track" and runs through a down-tempo dance beat. Spears's voice is heavily synthesized and her pitch constantly shifts; backing vocals are provided by Bloodshy & Avant and Robyn.
Oops!... I Did It Again is the second studio album by American singer Britney Spears released on May 3, 2000, by Jive Records. Following the enormous commercial success of her debut studio album ...Baby One More Time (1999) and the completion of its accompanying concert tour of the same title, Spears began recording material for her second studio album in September 1999. Pressured to duplicate the success of ...Baby One More Time, she collaborated with a wide range of producers, including Max Martin, Rami Yacoub, Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, Kristian Lundin, Jake Schulze, Darkchild, and Robert John "Mutt" Lange for Oops!... I Did It Again. The final result was a pop, dance-pop and teen pop record exceedingly in the vein of ...Baby One More Time, but incorporating funk and R&B. The production, sonic quality, and Spears's vocal performance received critical acclaim upon the album's release.
"Selfish" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from the deluxe edition of her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale (2011). It was written by Ester Dean, Traci Hale, Sandy Vee, and the production duo Stargate. The latter two also produced the song with vocal production handled by Kuk Harrell. The song received renewed interest in popularity in 2024, thirteen years after its original release, due to a campaign by fans of Spears as a response to the release of former boyfriend Justin Timberlake's identically titled single "Selfish". These efforts resulted in her song reentering the charts, charting at number five on Billboard's Digital Song Sales chart and number 12 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart.
American singer Britney Spears has had a significant cultural impact on the music industry through her music, visuals, and lifestyle. Since her debut in 1998, Spears has become a cultural figure, often becoming the subject of analysis. Being one of the best-selling artists of all time, she has garnered commercial success through Billboard charts and other achievements. Spears has since been referred to as the "Princess of Pop" in the media.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)