Britney Spears barely survived 2007. She divorced her husband, lost custody of her kids, went to rehab, shaved her head and assaulted a paparazzo. In the midst of her public breakdown, she managed to record an album, Blackout. Critics thought it spelled the end for Britney Spears' career. But Blackout turned out to be one of the most influential albums of the aughts. It not only brought glitchy digital noise and dubstep into the Top 40, but also transformed Britney into a new kind of pop star, one who shrugged off mainstream ubiquity for the devotion of smaller groups of fans who worshipped her idiosyncratic sound. This book returns to the grimy clubs and paparazzi hangouts of LA in the 2000s as well as the blogs and forums of the early internet to show how Blackout was a crucial hinge between twentieth and twenty-first-century pop.

Britney Spears barely survived 2007. She divorced her husband, lost custody of her kids, went to rehab, shaved her head and assaulted a paparazzo. In the midst of her public breakdown, she managed to record an album, Blackout. Critics thought it spelled the end for Britney Spears' career. But Blackout turned out to be one of the most influential albums of the aughts. It not only brought glitchy digital noise and dubstep into the Top 40, but also transformed Britney into a new kind of pop star, one who shrugged off mainstream ubiquity for the devotion of smaller groups of fans who worshipped her idiosyncratic sound. This book returns to the grimy clubs and paparazzi hangouts of LA in the 2000s as well as the blogs and forums of the early internet to show how Blackout was a crucial hinge between twentieth and twenty-first-century pop.

A former widower whose life was saved by writing about music spends a year waiting for his new wife to fly over from Toronto and join him in London. While he waits he observes that the world is subtly changing and that music has played a key part in these changes. A galaxy of characters, ranging from Marty Wilde to Jay-Z via Glenn Gould, Dorothy Squires, Britney Spears, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Patrick Cargill, Orson Welles and many forgotten others, conspire to alter his perspective, leading to a climax where he is finally united with his wife and the world chooses a new and better leader. The Blue in the Air is a gesture of defiance from a tiny but meaningful tugboat of resistance. At a time when we are repeatedly encouraged for reasons of demographic convenience to believe that music can change nothing and mean nothing, this writer demonstrates comprehensively that for those who stay awake, alert and alive, music still retains the power to change the fabric of the air we choose to breathe.

“A wild read.” —The Guardian Part biography, part social history, Being Britney pieces together a collage of stories, interviews, legends, and fan experiences to construct a definitive portrait of one of the biggest stars in recent history. In her unique narrative, acclaimed music author Jennifer Otter Bickerdike provides a sympathetic yet objective reexamination of Britney’s trajectory from girl next door to woman trapped by fame. Being Britney is the compelling account of a talented, troubled, and much-discussed modern icon whose life, work, and individual significance will be recognized for many decades to come. “Britney is blessed to have such a talented writer and perceptive mind broaching the complexities of her story thus far.” —Shirley Manson, Garbage

Speaking out for the first time, Spears offers a rarely glimpsed view of herself and her family--including celebrity daughters Britney and Jamie Lynn, son Bryan, and ex-husband Jamie. Candid and touching, the stories show the heart of a mother who struggles to keep faith through life's twists and turns.

Megastar Britney Spears and her mother, Lynne, have written a heartfelt novel together about the importance of the bond between a mother and daughter. When 14-year old Holly Faye Lovell becomes the youngest student ever to win a scholarship to the prestigious Haverty School of Music, her dream of pursuing a music career is on its way. But for the first time in her life, she must leave behind her mother, Wanda. Although they don't have much in the way of money, there's always been plenty in the way of love... Now that Holly's off with her posh new friends and new life, she's ashamed to find herself embarrased of her mom, and their humble background. And Wanda finds herself wanting to reveal a long-hidden secret... a secret that could destroy their bond forever...

Stevie Wonder's album, Songs in the Key of Life, came out in 1976.