"...Baby One More Time" is the debut single by the American singer Britney Spears, from her 1999 debut album, ...Baby One More Time. It was written by Max Martin and produced by Martin and Rami Yacoub. Released as Spears' debut single on September 29, 1998, by Jive Records, it topped the charts in over 20 countries. It was certified quintuple platinum in the US and triple platinum certifications in the UK, and was the UK's best-selling single of 1999. A teen pop and dance-pop song about longing for the return of an ex-boyfriend, "...Baby One More Time" is one of the best-selling singles of all time, with over 10 million copies sold.
The music video, directed by Nigel Dick, features Spears as a student who sings and dance around a high school, while watching her love interest from afar. In 2010, the music video was voted the third most influential video in the history of pop music in a poll held by Jam!. In 2011, it was voted the best video of the 1990s by Billboard.
"...Baby One More Time" has been featured on all of her greatest hits and other compilation albums. In 2020, Rolling Stone named it the greatest debut single of all time. Her mother Lynne Spears asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures. They appointed her to work with producer Eric Foster White for a month, who reportedly shaped her voice from "lower and less poppy" delivery to "distinctively, unmistakably Britney." After hearing the recorded material, president Clive Calder ordered a full album.
Fenster asked producer Max Martin to meet Spears in New York, after which he returned to Sweden to write her a handful of songs with long-term collaborator Denniz Pop. Pop was ill, so Martin asked producer Rami Yacoub to help. When six songs were ready, Spears flew to Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, where half of the album was recorded in May 1998, nominally produced by Martin, Pop and Yacoub.
Martin showed Spears and her management a track titled "Hit Me Baby One More Time", which was originally written for American boy band Backstreet Boys and the R&B girl group TLC, but they both rejected it. The label thought the song would work for the English group Five, but they also passed on it. Spears later said that she felt excited when she heard it and knew it was going to be a hit record. Jive A&R man Steve Lunt recalled, "We at Jive said, 'This is a fuckin' smash'; but other executives were concerned that the line "Hit Me" would condone domestic violence. The title was revised to "...Baby One More Time".
Spears recorded her vocals for the song in May 1998 at Cheiron Studios. The song was produced by Martin and Rami, and was also mixed by Martin at Cheiron Studios. Denniz Pop was credited as producer even though he was not present for the recording or mixing.
"...Baby One More Time" was released by Jive as Spears' debut single on September 29, 1998, when she was only 16 years old. Spears said "...Baby One More Time" was one of her favorite songs in her entire catalog,
Music and lyrics
"...Baby One More Time" is a teen pop and dance-pop song The song begins with a three-note motif in the bass range of the piano, an opening that has been compared to many other songs, such as "We Will Rock You" (1977), "Start Me Up" (1981), and the theme song of the 1975 film Jaws due to the fact the track "makes its presence known in exactly one second". Spears said "...Baby One More Time" is a song "every girl can relate to. She regrets it. She wants him back." The lyrics, however, caused controversy in the United States, because the line "Hit me baby one more time" supposedly has sadomasochistic connotations. As a response, the singer said the line "doesn't mean physically hit me. [...] It means just give me a sign, basically. I think it's kind of funny that people would actually think that's what it meant."
Critical reception
thumb|Spears and some of her dancers performing "...Baby One More Time" during [[The Circus Starring Britney Spears in 2009|alt=A blond female performer. She is standing on a moving jungle gym, wearing black and white clothes.]]
Marc Oxoby, author of The 1990s (2003), noted the song "was derided as vapid by some critics, yet tapped into the same kind of audience to whom the Spice Girls music appealed, young teens and pre-teens." Amanda Murray of Sputnikmusic commented, "[" ... Baby One More Time" is] well-composed, tightly arranged, and even with Spears' vocal limitations it goes straight for the proverbial pop jugular." Bill Lamb of About.com considered "...Baby One More Time" as Spears' best song, saying, "the song is full of hooks and a big mainstream pop sound. The accompanying schoolgirl video caused a sensation, and, when the single hit No. 1, Britney was assured of stardom." In a list compiled by Sara Anderson of AOL Radio, "...Baby One More Time" was ranked sixth in a list of Spears' best songs. She noted the singer "somehow made the school girl outfit and pink pom-pom hair-ties trendy again, worn by every tween in the succeeding years."
Larry Flick of Billboard wrote, "Produced by famed Euro-pop<nowiki/>sters Max Martin and Eric Foster, "Baby, One More Time" chugs with an insinuating faux-funk beat and super-shiny synths. Spears has a charming kewpie-doll voice that has a soulful quality that leaves the listener intrigued and wondering where she'll go with time and experience." Beth Johnson of Entertainment Weekly called it a "candy-pop-with-a-funky-edge smash", while Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said the song was "ingenious", Brian Raftery of Blender called it "a perfectly fine, slickly conceived pop tune. [..] At the time, teen-pop was still a boys' club, but while the guys were crooning about crushes, Spears was already planning the sleep-over party". NME considered "...Baby One More Time" "incredible", "...Baby One More Time" won a Teen Choice Award for Single of the Year at the 1999 Teen Choice Awards and an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song at the 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Commercial performance
thumb|left|upright|The encore performance of "...Baby One More Time" during the [[Dream Within a Dream Tour, with Spears standing in the water screen, 2001|alt=Faraway image of a female performer. She is walking through a water screen that is falling from the ceiling. A blue spotlight is on her. She is wearing blue jeans and a plastic cowboy hat. Green laser lights surround the stage.]]
The song was officially sent to contemporary hit and rhythmic contemporary radio on September 29, 1998. Simultaneously, it climbed to number one on the Canadian Singles Chart. The song reached the top spot of the Hot 100 Singles Sales and stayed there for four consecutive weeks. This eventually propelled the single to a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. Though not as strong as its sales tallies, "...Baby One More Time" also experienced considerable airplay, becoming her first top ten hit on the Hot 100 Airplay, peaking at number eight. The single also became an all-around hit on Top 40 radio, going top ten on both the Top 40 Tracks and Rhythmic Top 40, and to number one for five weeks on the Mainstream Top 40. It is Spears' best-selling physical single in the country. The song eventually became the second highest-selling single of the year, only behind Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5",
The track reached the top spot in the majority of countries in which it charted. "...Baby One More Time" spent two consecutive weeks at number-one on the French Singles Chart and was certified platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique after selling over 500,000 units in the country. Additionally, the song topped the German Singles Chart for six consecutive weeks and sold over 750,000 copies, resulting in a three-times gold certification by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. In the United Kingdom, according to Jive Records, "...Baby One More Time" sold more than 250,000 copies in a mere three days after its February 1999 release. Spears broke a first-week sales record for a female act in the UK at the time when "...Baby One More Time" sold a total of 460,000 copies. Eventually, the British Phonographic Industry certified it two-times platinum on March 26, 1999. The single went on to sell over 1,445,000 units by the end of 1999, making it the highest-selling single of that year and the 8th biggest song of the 1990s. As of 2018, it is the 32nd best-seller of all time in the UK. The song has sold two million units in the country as of August 2022. Additionally, "...Baby One More Time" is the fifth best-selling single by a female artist in the country, behind Cher's "Believe", Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", Adele's "Someone like You" and Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On". As of May 2020, "...Baby One More Time" has generated over 285 million streams in the US.
Music video
Background
The music video was directed by Nigel Dick. After being chosen, Dick received criticism from his colleagues about wanting to work with Spears. He responded saying, "It's a great song. I don't know anything about Britney. I never watched The Mickey Mouse Club. She seems like a great kid and she's very enthusiastic, but I just love the song. It's just a great song". About the experience of shooting her first music video, Spears said, "It was a wonderful experience. All these people there, working for you. I had my own trailer. It was an amazing experience".
Synopsis
right|thumb|Spears wearing the schoolgirl outfit in the song's music video
The video begins with Spears appearing bored in class at high school. The ensemble caused controversy among parents associations for showing the midriff of a sixteen-year-old. Best Choreography, The video was the first of fourteen of her videos to retire on MTV's television series Total Request Live (TRL). On its final episode, a three-hour special aired on November 16, 2008, Wesley Yang in his essay "Inside the Box" in n+1, compared the music video to Britny Fox's "Girlschool" because it featured "a classroom full of Catholic schoolgirls gyrating to the beat in defiance of a stern teacher. [..] But that was a sexist video by a horrible hair metal band that exploited women. Britney Spears was something else—an inflection point in the culture". The music video is also referenced in the video for Spears' 2009 single, "If U Seek Amy". The video was ranked at number four on a list of the ten most controversial music videos in pop by AOL on September 29, 2011. Rolling Stone placed "...Baby One More Time" at number 30 on its list of the 100 greatest music videos of all time.
Live performances
thumb|left|upright|Spears and some of her dancers performing "...Baby One More Time" during the [[Femme Fatale Tour, 2011]]
The first live performance of the song was at the Singapore Jazz Festival in Singapore on May 16, 1998. That day, Spears also performed the song "Sometimes" for the first time. Spears performed "...Baby One More Time" on several occasions. She performed the song on July 6, 1999, during her appearance in Bethel, New York at the original site of Woodstock. Neil Strauss, from The New York Times, noted that "all the backing music was on tape, and most of the vocals were recorded, with Ms. Spears just reinforcing selected words in choruses and singing an occasional snippet of a verse". after a classroom roll call ended, Spears appeared on the stage and began performing the song. Halfway through, she was joined by Justin Timberlake and the members of NSYNC for a dance routine. Afterwards, the band performed their hit "Tearin' Up My Heart". The song was also performed at the 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards, along with "(You Drive Me) Crazy", the 1999 Billboard Music Awards, the 1999 Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, the Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops and the Greenwich Millennium concert on December 31, 1999. She also performed it with broadcasters David Dimbleby and Michael Buerk on 2000 Today. Spears performed the song in a medley with "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" at the 42nd Grammy Awards. Spears was wearing a turtleneck and a full tulle skirt at the beginning of the performance, while dancers surrounded her with enormous hand fans. After singing a shortened version of the song, she then took a few moments to shuffle into a form-fitting red rhinestone outfit (with side cutouts) and emerged onto a stage to perform "...Baby One More Time." Spears was also criticized of lipsynching the song during her performance. Later, in 2003, Spears performed the song in a remixed form at Britney Spears: In the Zone, a concert special that aired in ABC on November 17, 2003. "...Baby One More Time" was also performed at the 2003 NFL Kickoff Live on September 4, 2003, at the National Mall, in a medley with "I'm a Slave 4 U" (2001), which included pyrotechnics. She sported shoulder-length blond hair and was dressed in black football pants, a black-and-white referee halter top and boots from Reebok. Her outfit was later auctioned off to benefit the Britney Spears Foundation. On 2000's Oops!... I Did It Again Tour, "...Baby One More Time" was performed after a dance interlude in which the dancers showed their individual moves while their names appeared on the screens. The song was also the encore of 2001's Dream Within a Dream Tour.
On The Onyx Hotel Tour, after performing "Showdown", a video interlude followed featuring Spears and her friends outside a club. All of the three were reworked for the show with elements of jazz and blues. "...Baby One More Time" was also performed on the promotional tour made on some House of Blues locations, called The M+M's Tour. On The Circus Starring Britney Spears, the song made into the Electro Circ act. It was the final song of the act, On 2011's Femme Fatale Tour, "...Baby One More Time" was performed in a medley with the remix of Rihanna's "S&M" (2010). At Spears' residency show Britney: Piece of Me in Las Vegas, the song was included on its setlist.
Cover versions, samples and usage in media
thumb|right|[[Lea Michele from the cast of Glee covered the song in the episode "Britney/Brittany". The episode featured an appearance made by Spears herself.]]
"...Baby One More Time" has been covered on numerous occasions. One of the earliest live covers of the song was by the Scottish band Travis, recorded during one of their concerts in Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire, England. The song was later included in the release of their 1999 single, "Turn". Lead singer Francis Healey said, "We did it for a laugh the first time. [..] And as we played it, the irony slipped from my smile. It's a very well-crafted song. It [has] that magic thing." Spears heard their version while shopping in a mall and said, "It was so weird. I liked it though, I thought it was cool. It was a very different vibe from what I did".
In July 2005, the Dresden Dolls performed a cover during their summer concerts while opening for Panic! at the Disco. On July 18, 2006, frontman Brendon Urie joined the band to perform the song in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PopWreckoning.com said the cover was "a strange twist to this pop ditty. It's obviously darker and actually tortured as opposed to Britney's school girl despair". On October 15, that year, Kris Allen covered the song for the first time at a concert in Seton High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. His rendition received positive reviews. The song is heard, prominently but briefly, during the climactic fight-scene in the 2005 animated film Robots. Fender Pinwheeler (voiced by Robin Williams), while wearing a skirt, was busy fighting to the beat of the song. An excerpt was used in the comedy film, but was not included on the soundtrack album. In 2000, British death metal cover band Ten Masked Men included a rendition of the song on their Return of the Ten Masked Men album. A cover by Ahmet and Dweezil Zappa was featured in the soundtrack of the 2000 film Ready to Rumble. The song was covered twice in Fearless Records' Punk Goes... compilation album series, first by pop punk band Nicotine for 2002's Punk Goes Pop and then by metalcore band August Burns Red for its 2009 successor, Punk Goes Pop Volume Two. In 2003, the song was covered by American pop punk band Bowling for Soup for the soundtrack of the film Freaky Friday and commented that their version was "really, really, dark and really rock, [..] not the kind of 'pop'-py stuff that we usually do." In 2005, power pop band Fountains of Wayne covered the song for their compilation album Out-of-State Plates. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice highlighted their rendition saying the song is "as redolent and fetching as any of [Fountains of Wayne]'s peaks". A cover of the song by Windy Wagner was featured in the 2011 dance video game by Ubisoft, Just Dance 3.
In the 2010 Glee season 2 episode "Britney/Brittany", the character of Rachel Berry, played by Lea Michele, covered the song using similar outfits to the ones of the music video. Spears also made a cameo, taking the teacher's role, previously played by Cullota.
In the 2010 Nickelodeon film, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, the song was featured in the end credits performed by the actors as their respective characters. Darren Criss also of Glee performed a mash-up of "...Baby One More Time" with "Für Elise" on Sing Out, Raise Hope for The Trevor Project and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in December 2011. In 2012, British singer Ed Sheeran performed an acoustic version of the song on NOW 100.5 FM. A year later he covered it on Z100's Elvis Duran and the Morning Show and added a rap verse. The song is sung by actresses Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine in Harmony Korine's film Spring Breakers. Swedish singer Tove Styrke released a cover of the song on July 24, 2015. Charli XCX and Troye Sivan referenced the song on their single "1999" on XCX's album Charli. Alternative rock band Slothrust recorded a cover of the song as part of their 2017 EP Show Me How You Want It to Be. Anne Marie also references the song on her single "2002". The music video also pays homage to Spears. Both singles were released in 2018. In 2020, Italian symphonic death metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse paid homage to the song in their single "No", slightly interpolating the chorus lines and melody near the end of the track with altered lyrics.
In 2018, the sitcom Superstore also used "Baby, One More Time" in season 4, episode 2, "Baby Shower", during a scene of Amy Sosa (America Ferrera)'s baby shower. In addition, the song was also used in the trailer of Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard in 2021. In 2022, the song was re-versioned for the Mexican Netflix television series Rebelde. It was performed by Brazilian actress Giovanna Grigio and Mexican actor Alejandro Puente and was included in the soundtrack of the series released on January 5, 2022, by Sony Music Mexico.
The song appears in the 2019 Max Martin jukebox musical & Juliet where it was performed by Juliet Capulet in Act 1.
A rock cover of the song by Tenacious D is featured in the end credits of the 2024 animated film Kung Fu Panda 4, which stars Tenacious D frontman Jack Black in the titular role of Po.
In 2025, South Korean singer Seulgi sampled the guitar riffs from the song, for her comeback single "Baby, Not Baby". In 2025 American singer Addison Rae sampled the song in a mashup with her 2023 single I Got It Bad during her The Addison Tour and continued to use the mashup through her 2026 festival performances.