Britney Spears' 'Circus' Bows at #1

This week, Britney Spears secures her status as an iconic superstar with the release of her newest album, Circus (Jive Records). Additionally, Spears makes music history by becoming the first female ever to have five No. 1 album debuts. Her sixth studio album, Circus debuts No. 1 in the U.S. according to SoundScan, selling over 505,000 albums and also enters at No. 1 on the Digital Albums chart. This is the second biggest album debut of the year for a female artist.

Released December 2, 2008, on Britney's 27th birthday, Circus is a veritable international success as well: the album debuts No. 1 in six countries including Canada, Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and Top 10 in an additional seven countries. This follows the reception of her smash hit single "Womanizer," currently a Top 10 single in 16 countries worldwide and is certified gold in six countries, and platinum in Canada and Ireland.

Circus comes one year after the release of the critically-acclaimed release Blackout, which has sold a respectable two million units world-wide to date. Circus is also earning accolades: The New York Times states, "...her new songs are crisp, cunning dance-pop..."; The Washington Times exclaims the current album is, "...the best work of Miss Spears' career"; and the Associated Press says"...like any good circus, Britney's version will leave you thoroughly entertained..."

Circus reunites Spears with previous collaborators Max Martin, Danja and Bloodshy & Avant. The second single from the album, the up-tempo title track, "Circus" makes its debut in the No. 1 position this week on the Digital Songs chart, giving Spears her second No. 1 song from this album. "Circus" was produced by Dr. Luke and Benny Blanco and the video was directed by director Francis Lawrence who previously worked with Spears on "I'm A Slave For You" in 2001.

Spears' upcoming arena tour, "The Circus Starring Britney Spears" kicks-off in New Orleans on March 3, 2009. In the days following her tour announcement on Good Morning America -- on December 2, 2008 -- fans purchased more than 400,000 concert tickets in North America alone. In order to meet the overwhelming rush for tickets, tour promoter AEG Live immediately added six shows in Los Angeles, Toronto, New Jersey, Chicago, Long Island, NY and Anaheim, CA, expanding Spears' tour to include 41 concerts. Across the pond, Spears' Circus-mania has also reached a feverish pitch, as six additional dates were just added at London's O2 Arena, with more than 100,000 tickets sold for eight total shows during the first weekend of sales.

Britney Spears is one of the top-selling artists of the last decade, and to date she has sold in excess of 62 million albums worldwide: ...Baby One More Time (1999); Oops!... I Did It Again (2000); Britney (2001); In The Zone (2003) and Blackout (2007).

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SOURCE: Jive Records

CONTACT: Gina Orr, +1-310-449-2659, gina.orr@sonybmg.com, or Wendy
Washington, +1-212-833-6886, wendy.washington@sonybmg.com

Web Site: http://www.jiverecords.com/