Whatever you think of her, it’s hard to deny Britney Spears’ impact in the past decade. As an artist, she has numerous hit singles that have seeped into our consciousness whether we like it or not. As a tabloid celebrity, it’s been impossible to look away from her downward spiral. Her antics in the mid 2000s, are the stuff of legend. She’s a 21st century Marilyn Monroe – a hyper-sexualized mild talent, who is naive enough to generate sympathy from her critics.

It was hard to escape songs by The Backstreet Boys, and N’sync in the early 2000s even if you wanted to. Even before she became a house-hold name, Spears rose above the rest. Most of this had to do with the infamous “Baby One More Time” video. With a walk down a school hall-way and a Catholic School Uniform, Britney declared herself queen of the pop-world before she was 18. It’s one of the last videos to be a significant event. And even for pop the song itself was actually quite good – as proved by the numerous covers by artists outside of the pop world.

Even if she had never put out another single, Spears would still be remembered. But she kept going, establishing herself as a pop juggernaut, not seen since Madonna. At Britney’s height there were numerous women pop stars – Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, Christina Aguilera – but none of them were even in competition with Spears. Not even close. And while her peers attempted to label themselves – Aguilera the one who could sing, Simpson the virgin – Britney Spears was simply Britney Spears. Eventually, if you said the name Britney – you meant Britney Spears.

[Edited 3/30/12 15:22pm]