Britney Spears is the Comeback Story of the Year

People love a comeback story. There is something ennobling about the idea of an individual becoming successful, losing everything or simply dropping out of their career, and then, years later, reappearing and battling the odds to get to the top once more. It is a strange kind of underdog story. It is a story of turnaround, of returning from the edge, of retaking the crown. Most of all, comebacks are stories of acceptance, because without acceptance, comebacks would not be possible.

The life of Britney Spears has been all about acceptance. Losing that acceptance nearly led to her death.

Britney Spears rose quickly to the top of the pop charts in 1999 with her debut single, "...Baby, One More Time." She would follow the No. 1 single with a string of hit singles and albums throughout the next few years, selling over 30 million albums in the United States by the time she won her first Grammy Award for the single "Toxic" in 2005.

But Spears personal life was showing signs of imbalance. She married and divorced a childhood friend, Jason Allen Alexander, in the span of 55 hours in Las Vegas. She then married Kevin Federline in October 2005, who she met just three months after the whirlwind marriage to Alexander. They had two children together and divorced.

Spears' life became a literal soap opera. Paparazzi were taking pictures of her partying, committing hits-and-runs. Federline sued her for custody of the two children. She was a no-show in court. She checked into a rehab.

To get her life back together, Britney Spears planned a comeback in 2007. She released "Blackout," her fifth studio album, to disastrous results. To date, the album still has not sold a million copies.

To make matters worse, Kevin Federline was awarded custody of the couple's two children. Spears reached her low point at the turn of the New Year 2008 with a highly publicized suicide attempt. Refusing to give up custody of her children to Federline, the police were called in and found Spears to be under the influence of an unknown substance.

Her father James Spears was given conservatorship over the young artist's estate at the end of January and events seemed to settle down around the young star. Britney Spears was diagnosed as having bipolar disorder and began receiving treatment. She disappeared for a few months and even the paparazzi, ever dogging her heels, seemed to have lost sight of her.

She won three MTV Video Awards, including Video of the Year for "Piece of Me." Then she guest-starred on CBS' hit sitcom "How I Met Your Mother," for which she was nominated for a People's Choice Award. Rumors about a new album slated for the fall began to surface.

On December 2, Britney Spears' birthday, she released her sixth studio album, "Circus." The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling over a half million copies its first week of release. "Womanizer," the album's first single had been released the last week of September. On October 15, the single made the record-breaking jump from No. 96 to No. 1. "Womanizer" became Britney Spears first No. 1 song since her debut single, 1999's "...Baby, One More Time."

Spears, although only 27, has lived a strangely chaotic existence. But her complete turnaround from the disastrous three-year slide that nearly ended in an ignominious death was the comeback story of 2008. Living her life in the public eye for so many years took its toll. The emotional and psychological rollercoaster she rode was highly dependant on the acceptance of her as an artist, as a celebrity, and finally as a circus side show.

Perhaps showing signs of maturity and self-reflection, and given the last few years of her young life, it seems more than fitting that Britney Spears' comeback album was entitled "Circus."

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Sources:

Billboard.com

ClevelandLeader.com

USAToday.com