Britney Jean Spears
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Femme Fatale's third single "I Wanna Go" reached the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 2011. Among females in the last thirteen years, Spears now has the third-most top forty hits, with twenty-one. In August, the single managed to reach the top-ten on the Billboard Hot 100, which is the first time for Spears to have three songs from one album in the top-ten. On the week ending September 24, 2011, "I Wanna Go" moved 2-1 on the mainstream top 40, becoming her sixth number-one on that chart (making her tied for third all-time) and her first number-one and third top-ten pop song for Femme Fatale. Spears now has the longest span of number ones on the mainstream top 40, with a length of twelve years, seven months, and four days. In October 2011, the music video for Femme Fatale's fourth single "Criminal" caused controversy when British politicians criticized Spears for using replica guns while filming the video in an area of London that had been badly affected by the 2011 England riots. Members of the Hackney London Borough Council felt Spears "promoted gun violence" and suggested that Spears apologize and make a donation to a Hackney charity. Spears's management briefly responded, stating, "The video is a fantasy story featuring Britney's boyfriend, Jason Trawick, which literally plays out the lyrics of a song written three years before the riots ever happened." Later that month, due to her continued popularity, Spears became the seventh artist to gain one billion cumulative views on her Vevo account. On Billboard's 2011 Year-End list, Spears was fourteen on the Artists of the Year, due to being 32 on Billboard 200 artists and 10 on Billboard Hot 100 artists. Additionally, many critics, including those at Rolling Stone, named "Till the World Ends" one of the best songs of 2011.
On March 2011, Spears announced that she would tour throughout the United States during summer 2011. The Femme Fatale Tour opened June 16 at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, California to positive reviews. Many critics noted that Spears sang more of the concert live in response to lip-synching accusations during The Circus Starring Britney Spears, and that the dancing is some of her best in years. The first ten US dates of the tour grossed $6.2 million, landing the fifty-fifth spot on Pollstar's Top 100 North American Tours list for the half-way point of the year. The tour ended on December 10, 2011 in Puerto Rico after 79 performances. A concert special of the tour was filmed in 2D and 3D in Canada on August 13 and 14. It premiered on November 12 on Epix, receiving mixed reviews. It was released to DVD on November 21 and sold 19,000 copies, debuting at no. 2 on the US Billboard DVD Chart behind Lady Gaga's The Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden. Since its release, the DVD has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).
On June 15, 2011, it was announced by Billboard that the RCA/Jive Label Group would be splitting, with Jive Records being fully moved under RCA Records staying intact. In August it was announced that Spears had officially joined the RCA's roster. During the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28 2011, MTV played tribute to Spears with a group of young female dancers that memorialised Britney's music videos, performances, and style. Following which, Spears accepted the MTV Video Vanguard Award from Lady Gaga, who said that "industry wouldn't be the same without ". On September 9, 2011, Spears announced her second remix album, B in the Mix: The Remixes Vol. 2, which was released on October 7, along with the tracklist. On October 7, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. With the shutdown, Spears (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release her future material on the RCA Records brand.
On December 16, Spears confirmed her engagement to her long-time boyfriend Jason Trawick, her former manager. Spears revealed her three-carat diamond ring at a party in Las Vegas on December 17. According to RCA's Joe Riccitelli the executive vice president of promotion for RCA Records, told U.S. radio station Hot 99.5 that Britney is taking time off in 2012. However, on January 30, 2012, will.i.am confirmed that he recorded a track with Spears, set to be included on his upcoming fourth studio album, #willpower (2012).
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