Blackout (Britney Spears album) : Ask Biography

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'Blackout' is the fifth studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears, released by Jive Records on October 26, 2007. Spears began working on this album as early as February 2006, and is prominently a pop and dance-pop album. Blackout was her first studio album in four years since 2003's In the Zone and is the first time Spears is the executive producer of one of her albums. The album's title refers to "blacking out negativity and embracing life fully". The songs on the album are thematically focused on sex, love and Spears' relationship � struggle with the media.

Blackout debut at number two on the Billboard 200, becoming her first, and so far only studio album not to debut at number one, due to changes in Billboard structuring at the time. This caused controversy with some in the media, as the changes were only announced and subsequently put into effect half-way through Blackout's opening week. According to the IFPI, the album was 32nd in terms of units shipped by the end of 2007.

The album's first single, "Gimme More", peaked at number one in the Canadian Hot 100 and became a top five hit in twelve countries. The second single, "Piece of Me", reached number one in Ireland. The final single, "Break the Ice reached the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100, while all three peaked one in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play. The album won the award for "Album of the Year" at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008. In November 2009, The Times named the album as the fifth runner-up in the '100 Best Pop Albums of the Noughties'. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine called the album "possibly the most influential pop album of the last five years."

Despite the lack of promotion, to date the album has sold over 3.1 million copies worldwide.