Britney Spears recalls inking her first record deal at age 15 after auditioning to ‘rooms full of men in suits looking me up and down in my small dress’
Britney Spears talks about signing her first record deal at the age of 15 and her relentless drive to perfect her debut album …Baby One More Time.
In her upcoming memoir The Woman In Me, Britney opens up about her life after Mickey Mouse Club and how her desire to return to the stage at age 15 led her to seriously pursue a singing career, according to an excerpt obtained by People.
At the suggestion of the man who would eventually become her longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, 41-year-old Britney recorded a demo of a Toni Braxton song before going to auditions with her future colleague.
While auditioning, Britney recalled singing “loudly” while performing to rooms full of music executives who “looked at me up and down in my little dress and high heels.”
Describing the entire experience, Spears began, “My mother had been in contact with a lawyer she met on my audition circuit, a man named Larry Rudolph, whom she sometimes called for business advice.”
‘My work ethic was strong’: Britney Spears talks about signing her first record deal at 15 and her relentless drive to perfect her debut album…Baby One More Time
‘He suggested I record a demo. He had a song Toni Braxton recorded for her second album that ended up on the cutting room floor. This would be the demo that would get me into record labels.’
During auditions, Britney sang the song I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston.
“Larry took me around (New York City), and I went into rooms full of executives and sang Whitney Houston’s ‘I Have Nothing,’” she said.
‘As I stared at the rooms full of men in suits looking at me up and down in my dress and high heels, I sang loudly.’
Eventually, Britney signed with Jive Records — and the company was eager to get her to work on her debut album, …Baby One More Time.
“The label immediately wanted me in a studio,” Spears recalls of the album.
‘I worked for hours. My work ethic was strong. If you knew me then, you wouldn’t hear from me for days. I would stay in the studio as long as possible. If someone wanted to leave, I would say, “I wasn’t perfect.”
‘When all the songs were done, someone said, “What else can you do? Do you want to dance now?” I said, “Yes, I will!”
Open book: Spears’ highly anticipated memoir, The Woman In Me, will be released later this month
Future hit! Spears worked relentlessly on her hugely successful debut album …Baby One More Time
Britney’s highly anticipated memoir The Woman In Me is scheduled for release on October 24, 2023.
In her memoir, Britney also revealed that she had an abortion with Justin at the age of 19.
The star said she made the ‘painful’ decision to end the pregnancy after falling pregnant in late 2000.
She writes this in an excerpt obtained by People: ‘It was a surprise, but for me it was not a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected that one day we would start a family together. This would just be a lot sooner than I expected.
“He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young. I’m sure people will hate me for this, but I agreed not to have the baby.
‘I don’t know if that was the right decision. If it had been up to me alone, I would never have done it. And yet Justin was so sure he didn’t want to be a father.’
Revealed: Britney also revealed in her memoir that she had an abortion with Justin Timberlake at the age of 19
The star claimed that while she wanted the baby and “dreamed of a family” with Timberlake, he “wasn’t ready” for the responsibilities of parenthood and felt the couple was too young.
The star said the abortion was “one of the most painful things I have ever experienced in my life.”
The book also claims that Spears reveals that she was raised “not to have an abortion” due to religious reasons and what she learned from her family, reports TMZ.
Spears would later welcome sons Sean Preston, 18, and Jayden, 17, with Kevin Federline, while Timberlake shares sons Silas, eight, and Phineas, two, with wife Jessica Biel.