“...Baby One More Time” officially introduced Britney Spears to the world, hitting radio stations on October 23, 1998. Simon Cowell tried to secure the track for his boyband, 5ive, but it had been earmarked for a “new talent.” The release established Britney as an international pop music phenomenon. In March 1999, it soared to #1 worldwide, and reached the top spot in every country it was released in. /
The release of “…Baby One More Time” proved that the Princess of Pop was here to stay, garnering favorable reviews from Blender (ranked No. 9 on Blender’s “Top 500 Songs Of The 80s-00s” list,) The Guardian (included on The Guardian’s “1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear” list,) Mojo (included on Mojo’s “100 Greatest Songs Of All Time” list,) MTV (ranked No. 25 on MTV’s “100 Greatest Pop Songs Since The Beatles,”) Rolling Stone (included on Rolling Stone’s “40 Songs That Changed The World” list,) and VH1 (ranked No. 28 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Songs From The Past 25 Years” list,) among many others. /
The “…Baby One More Time” music video, credited for altering the landscape of pop culture, and forever ingrained into the minds of fans all over the globe, premiered on November 24, 1998, outfitted her in full Catholic-school regalia, sending her well on the way to becoming an international sex symbol, and it was named TRL's “Most Influential Video Of All Time” a decade later. /
More than any other single artist, she was the driving force behind the return of teen pop in the late '90s. The success of the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys paved the way for her own commercial breakthrough, but she didn't just become a star -- she was a bona fide pop phenomenon. Not only did she sell millions of records, she was a media fixture regardless of what she was (or wasn't) doing. Among female singers of the era (many of whom followed in her footsteps,) her celebrity star power was unrivaled.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ONGOING
HISTORY-MAKING CAREER OF A POP MUSIC LEGEND:
NEARLY 100 MILLION ALBUMS SOLD IN A CAREER SPANNING OVER A DECADE /
TEN #1 WORLDWIDE HIT SINGLES /
24 TOP 10 HIT SINGLES /
4TH BEST-SELLING FEMALE ARTIST IN HISTORY /
SIX #1 ALBUMS ON BILLBOARD TOP 200 ALBUM SALES CHART /
BEST-SELLING FEMALE ARTIST OF THE MILLENNIUM /
THE FIRST ARTIST EVER TO HAVE FOUR ALBUMS SCAN OVER 500K IN THE FIRST WEEK /
YOUNGEST FEMALE ARTIST TO HAVE SIX OF HER ALBUMS REACH #1
I was only 4 when I first heard it 
HBD Baby One More Time 
