I'd say any actual interest the media had in Britney (prior to the events leading up to her breakdown) was rather short-lived, and started dying by the time she grew out of her adolescence. By 2001 onward, Aggie had long eclipsed her in media interest, and continued up until Britney became more interesting than her career, which had pretty much simmered in the US.
I'm pretty sure the members of the Beatles who are still alive get some pretty hefty residual checks from album and single sales, they won't have to work ever again.
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