Legacy

Spears became an international pop culture icon immediately after launching her recording career. Rolling Stone magazine wrote: "One of

the most controversial and successful female vocalists of the 21st century," she "spearheaded the rise of post-millennial teen pop ... Spears

early on cultivated a mixture of innocence and experience that broke the bank".^[136] She is listed by the Guinness World Records

as having the "Best-selling album by a teenage solo artist" for her debut album ...Baby One More Time which sold over thirteen million copies in the

United States.^[137] Melissa Ruggieri of the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, "She's also marked for being the best-selling teenage artist.

Before she turned 20 in 2001, Spears sold more than 37 million albums worldwide".^[138] Barbara Ellen of The Observer reported: "Spears is

famously one of the 'oldest' teenagers pop has ever produced, almost middle aged in terms of focus and

determination. Many 19-year-olds haven't even started working by that age, whereas Britney, a former Mouseketeer, was that most unusual and volatile of American phenomena — a child with a full-time career. While other little girls were putting posters on their walls, Britney was wanting to be the poster on the wall. Whereas other children develop at their own pace, Britney was developing at a pace set by the ferociously competitive American entertainment industry".^[139] 'Britney Spears' has been Yahoo!'s most popular search term for the last four consecutive years, seven times in total.^[140]Spears was named as Most Searched Person in the Guinness World Records book edition 2007 and 2009.

Spears has also become a major influence among many new artists, including Kristinia DeBarge,^[141] Lady Gaga,^[142] Little Boots,^[143] Taylor Swift,^[144] Selena Gomez & The Scene,^[145] Pixie Lott^[146] and Miley Cyrus who has cited Spears as one of her biggest inspirations and has also referenced Spears in her hit song "Party in the U.S.A.".^[147][148] Bebo Norman wrote a song about Spears, called "Britney", which was released as a single. Boy band Busted also wrote a song about Spears called "Britney", which was on their debut album.^[149] She is also mentioned in P!nk's song "Don't Let Me Get Me". Richard Cheese called Britney Spears "a remarkable recording artist" and also went on to say that she was "versatile" and what the industry calls an "artist". People magazine and MTV reported that October 1, 2008, Bronx's John Philip Sousa Middle School, named their music studio in honor of Britney Spears.^[150] Spears herself was present during the ceremony and donated $10,000 dollars to the school's music program.^[151]