The Real Story Behind Britney Spears’ ‘Hit Me Baby, One More Time’

Way before Britney Spears had her own residency show in Las Vegas, the 90s teen pop star was ruling Billboard charts. Both “…Baby One More Time” and “Oops, I Did It Again” were the number one songs for weeks after their release.

The bubblegum pop hit, "...Baby One More Time" was written by a songwriter from Sweden. Producer Max Martin wasn't quite known back then, but little did he know would later become the genius behind successful pop bands, creating number one hits such as Backstreet Boys' "I Want it That Way," and NSYNC's "It's Gonna Be Me."

During his work with Spears, who was a 16-year-old from Louisiana, he was the understudy of Denniz Pop at Jive Records. After hearing Britney Spears sing they gave her a deal nearly on the spot and started working on music for her. Martin became the voice behind her songs, with "Hit Me Baby One More Time" being the first record to be produced for Spears' debut album in Sweden.

Britney wasn’t the first artist to be given the song. The song was first written for TLC, but the group gave it a hard pass since soda pop wasn't really their style. This might have been for the same reason that most radio stations were trying to pass on giving the song any air time before it came out. Several executives didn't agree with the “hit me” part in the chorus, comparing it to domestic violence, which is why the title was changed to ”…Baby One More Time”.

The music video hit featuring the former Mouseketeer as a schoolgirl dancing around, midriff bared in a high school. It premiered on MTV and went immediately straight to number one. The rest is, as they say, history. At almost twenty years post, “…Baby One More Time” is one of the most iconic pop songs of Britney Spears’ career and also the entirety of the 90’s pop culture.

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