…Baby One More Time

“…Baby One More Time” is one of the most well-known and iconic pop songs of the late 1990’s. Sung by one of the most famous pop artists of all time, Britney Spears’ upbeat love ballad set the tone for the rest of the star’s career, and is one of the best-selling singles of all time.

“…Baby One More Time” is the first track off the same-titled first album from Spears’ first studio album, released in 1999. “I had been in the studio for about six months listening and recording material”, Spears told Chuck Taylor from Billboard in an interview on the set of the music video. “…but I hadn’t really heard a hit yet. When I started working with Max Martin in Sweden, he played the demo for ‘Baby One More Time’ for me, and I knew from the start it [was one] of those songs you want to hear again and again. It just felt really right. I went into the studio and did my own thing with it, trying to give it a little more attitude than the demo”. The track tells the tale of Britney admitting to a lover than her loneliness is killing her, and that she needs them back, despite the relationship not being what it should have been. TLC, another iconic group of artists from the 1990’s, were actually the original band the song was written for, but they turned it down.

The music video was premiered on MTV and over video music channels in November 1998, and was directed by Nigel Dick, and Spears stated in interviews that the concept for the video was hers. It takes place in a Catholic high school, where she makes her way around the school with a choreographed dance in different areas of the school, like the classroom, hallways and the gym. The whole dance sequence ends up having been a daydream in Spears’ mind. The music video was uploaded to YouTube via Britney Spears’ official channel on the 25 October 2009 and has almost 400 million views.

Release Date: 23rd October 1998

Songwriter/s: Max Martin

Producer/s: Max Martin, Rami

Label/s: Jive

Music Video Release Date: November 1998

Music Video Director: Nigel Dick

Chart Rankings & Certifications: It reached number #1 in almost every country it charted in, from Australia to Germany to the UK. It went Platinum in Austria, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and the US. It went 2x Platinum in Norway and the UK, and 3x Platinum in Australia and Belgium. It also received 3x Gold certification in Germany, and went Gold in Italy.