Circus (Britney Spears album)

Circus
Standard edition cover[a]
Studio album by Britney Spears
Released	November 28, 2008 (2008-11-28)
Recorded	November 8, 2006[b] March–September 2008
Studio	Legacy[c] Sony[d] (New York City) Chalice[e] Conway[f] Sunset[g] Train Tracks[h] The Underlab[i] (Los Angeles) Glenwood Place[j] (Burbank) Frou Frou Central[k] (London) Bloodshy & Avant[d] Maratone[g] (Stockholm)
Genre	Pop dance
Length	46:15
Label	Jive
Producer	Benny Blanco Bloodshy & Avant The Clutch Danja Dr. Luke Fernando Garibay K. Briscoe/The Outsyders Rob Knox Greg Kurstin Let's Go to War Max Martin Harvey Mason, Jr. Guy Sigsworth The Underdogs
Britney Spears chronology
Blackout (2007) Circus (2008) The Singles Collection (2009)
Singles from Circus
"Womanizer" Released: September 26, 2008 "Circus" Released: December 2, 2008 "If U Seek Amy" Released: March 10, 2009 "Radar" Released: June 22, 2009

Circus is the sixth studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released to coincide with her 27th birthday on December 2, 2008 in the United States, by Jive Records. Transitioning from the "darker and more urban" themes of her fifth studio album Blackout (2007), Spears wanted to make her next project "a little bit lighter". She recorded much of the album between March and September 2008, after being involuntarily placed under a conservatorship earlier that year, following her highly-publicized personal struggles in 2007. As executive producers, Larry Rudolph and Teresa LaBarbera Whites enlisted Spears' previous collaborators such as Max Martin, Bloodshy & Avant, Guy Sigsworth and Danja, as well as new ones, including Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco and Claude Kelly. Their efforts resulted in a primarily pop and dance record, whose lyrical themes addressed fame, infidelity, and infatuation.

Deemed Spears' comeback record, Circus received generally favorable reviews from music critics upon its release; the production was complimented but lyrical content and Spears' vocal performance were met with ambivalence. A global commercial success, the album debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 505,000 copies, becoming her fifth number-one album. Since then, it has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). By September 2009, the album had sold over four million copies worldwide. At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, its lead single "Womanizer" was nominated for Best Dance Recording.

Circus produced four singles. "Womanizer" debuted at number 96 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and ascended to the summit in its second week, registering the largest leap on the chart at the time. It became Spears' best-selling single in the country since her debut "...Baby One More Time" (1998). "Circus" debuted and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100; consequently, Circus became Spears' first album since her debut ...Baby One More Time (1999) to have two top-ten singles. Subsequent singles "If U Seek Amy" and "Radar" peaked at numbers 19 and 88 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. To further promote the album, Spears embarked on the world tour The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009).

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