The Music Goes On Without Britney

Six years ago teen pop ruled the music universe and Britney Spears had the world eating out of the palm of her hand.  Now, following her tragic interview with Matt Lauer on "Dateline," she has the world wondering what went wrong.  With the hair, the makeup, the outfit and her "country" demeanor - Britney 2.0 is not your kid sister's pop princess!

Britney, Christina and Jessica
While Brit has been holed up in her Malibu mansion making babies with 'the Fed,' the rest of her teen pop peeps have been hard at work and will see new albums released in the upcoming months. Check out what your favorite pop idols have been up to as Britney's music career takes a pregnant pause.



Christina AguileraChristina Aguilera
From the beginning, she was labeled Britney's biggest competitor. While the former Mousketeer has always lagged in sales and popularity to Spears, she does have the pipes and the Grammys to back up her talent. 

Though Britney has endured a very public and high profile marriage, Christina took a more low key approach and stayed out of the spotlight while dating and marrying her husband Jordan Bratman.  As Britney awaits the arrival of her latest tater-tot, Christina has a hot new single, "Ain't No Other Man" burning up the charts and a double album, "Back to Basics," coming out on August 15.

Justin TimberlakeJustin Timberlake
Britney's former boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, enjoyed success as NSYNC's frontman and went on to more fame and fortune as a solo artist. His 2002 solo debut cd "Justified" sold over 3.5 million copies and won 2 Grammys. After his relationship with Spears ended, Justin fell into the beautiful arms of Cameron Diaz and has been with her for three years. 

Now, Justin's future looks even brighter. On top of having several films premiering this year, his second solo cd "Future Sex/LoveSounds" comes out September 12 and the first single "SexyBack" goes out to radio stations on July 7.

Jessica SimpsonJessica Simpson
Once considered just another Britney-clone, Simpson has emerged as a pop icon to be reckoned with.  While music is what put Jessica on the map, it was her marriage to Nick Lachey and their subsequent MTV reality show that really launched her to super stardom. 

Now that her film career and her high-profile divorce have made Simpson a staple in the weekly magazines, the blonde bombshell is ready to unleash her singing chops to her legions of fans once again.  Jessica's new album is due out in August and the video for the first single, "A Public Affair," will be helmed by "X-Men: The Last Stand" director Brett Ratner.

JC ChasezJC Chasez
Even Britney, Justin and Christina's former fellow Mousketeer JC Chasez is getting back into the game.  JC is set to release his second solo cd this fall, with the first single "Until Yesterday" expected to hit the airwaves in August. JC worked on the single with Timberlake - his former NSYNC bandmate.

As these pop stars ready for the next chapter of their musical careers, here's hoping Britney Spears-Federline can pull off a Mariah-style comeback in 2007.

Tags: Britney Spears Christina Aguilera Jessica Simpson Justin Timberl, BritneySpearsChristinaAguileraJessicaSimpsonJustinTimberlakeJcCh

Reader Comments

(Page 4 of 4) Previous 15 Comments

46. Britney is a has been, she has to go on Dateline....then setup a cozy little walk with her family the day after or before...so the photographers can take the "Family photos". Can everyone say setup...

But you do have to feel sorry for her. Expecially what happened in NY. I have to admit that wasn't entirely her fault...the photographers had alot of help. And being married to a man who bleeds the money from your vains. She had to be really stupid or just blinded by love...but how blinded can one person be ...Kevin Federline. He is just a male prostitute, who married himself into money. I really don't know how he did it, because my dog is better looking then he is.

Posted at 8:32AM on Jun 21st 2006 by Irene

47. I saw her interview and I think that maybe her dream to be famous turned out to be a nightmare for her. She probably saw herself being famous and rich and always doing what she loved, however, probably never expected to be constantly trashed by the media and HOUNDED by paparazzi. With all the people who bad mouth her and crap, who wouldn't be a train reck? She has no private life, granted she could move away but maybe K-Fag needs to live their to pursue his "doomed to fail" career. And hey I wouldn't be surprised if she's a train reck on purpose. Fat, dishelved, and unfortuntly sometimes just plain gross Britney pics will only be interesting for so long. People will eventually get sick of seeing their once beautiful pop icon a now pathetic "train reck".

Posted at 9:14AM on Jun 21st 2006 by mariposajac

48. britney you're making all us "country" folk look bad!! honey put some closthes on, stop with the fake eyelashes and fake hair!! be your plain ole self. just take care of the baby and don't worry about what everybody else thinks about your parenting skills. there are a LOT worse parents in the world than you!!

Posted at 10:54AM on Jun 22nd 2006 by robbie

49. She'll shape up when she ditches k-fed....

Posted at 1:53AM on Jun 23rd 2006 by Natasha

50. Wow. Just saw the Dateline piece. I almost feel sorry for her. She had enough talent to allow herself to be molded into the perfect pop product. She was willing to sell herself out for a buck and, with no questions asked, happily allowed people to guide her every step of the way in doing this. It's almost like every single facet of the old Brit was crafted and maintained by her for-profit handlers. Then when she went supernova she quickly forgot that her whole appeal and image was carefully manufactured for her by an army of publicists, stylists, editors, record execs, and bean counters. She seems to have forgotten this and rebelled against the people who-as another poster mentioned-were putting out the smoke and mirrors that had kept her on top. Then came K-dog. I'm sure that the closer they became, the further away she moved from the people who so tirelessly groomed and maintained her image. After all she was already filthy rich. She just finally started letting the REAL Brit come out. That is who we saw with Matt Lauer. A real person. She said herself in the interview "I love money". Well, she sold out early and often and she got it. Now she feels she doesn't have to bother to try and be anything but her down-home, backwoods self. It's refreshing in a way. She obviously is not surrounding herself with a slew of assistants to groom and think for her anymore and for that I commend her. Call her trashy, call her redneck, say she has no talent, say she is stupid. You can argue fairly successfully that she is indeed all those things. But the girl is human, she is just a person. And I think she is now just trying to be herself. For God's sake she had no real education or childhood. It has to be a hurtful wake-up call for her to see how reviled she now is when she allows her barefoot bayou bumpkin persona to come full out of the closet. She was loved by millions for her image not for who she really is. I think she is just waking up to this fact. At least she is not trying to pretend that her millions have somehow made her an urbane worldly sophisticate. In a way she is getting what she asked for. She is paying for the fame and millions by being stalked like an animal 24/7. The very machine that drove her to the top is now feeding itself on her decent. Still, I'm not too quick to call her down for the count just yet. But if she knows what good for her she better do her best to hang onto some of that $$$.

Posted at 5:09AM on Jun 26th 2006 by Voodooboy

51. Britney is "the Great"! She will return with more power than ever...i dont see why people doubt and poke fun at her...she is and always will have talent...she has more potential than christina or jessica but hasnt had the time to showcase it in the past 3 years due to marriage and pregnancy and also the stupid paparazzi

Posted at 2:23AM on Jun 28th 2006 by Dustin

52. Britney is great! she is better than christina or jessica but hasnt had time to show it in 3 years due to paparazzi, marriage, and pregnancy...some say she is over but even if she comes down to having only one fan it will be me...She will ALWAYS have fans...She just needs to reinvent herself and do a REALLY good job with it or her career could take a downfall for good

Posted at 2:25AM on Jun 28th 2006 by Dustin

53. britney is very talented. if she is not why did she sell 50 million records?? why is her net worth over $120 million?? if she gets with the right producers who can bring her out to write great material then she can come back and sell 5-6 million records. it won't be like "opps" selling 12 million but she'll come back. she needs to get in a right mind frame and make some hot new material and she'll have the last laugh. you guys are haters!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 11:19PM on Jun 30th 2006 by greg

Previous 15 Comments