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Britney Spears' critically acclaimed 2007 album Blackout has not only topped a million in sales but it is now the pop star's only album to be added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's music library and archives. The Hall developed the archive to be the "most comprehensive repository of materials relating to the history of rock and roll … in order to broaden awareness and understanding of rock and roll, its roots, and its impact on our society."

The Celebrity Café reported earlier today (June 13) that the album was added to the archive this month, so we reached out to the Hall of Fame to get the details on the acquisition.

"We purchased that CD a few months ago as part of a project involving the acquisition of the most critically acclaimed albums of the past couple of decades," Andy Leach, director of Library and Archives at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, tells MTV News via email.

Leach cited the album's appearance on Rolling Stone's list of the top 50 albums of 2007 as the reason it ended up on the Rock Hall's list of album's to acquire and archive.

Esteem for the album, which was released during a particularly turbulent time in Spears' life that culminated a few months after Blackout's release with the singer being physically removed from her home by police, placed in an ambulance and escorted to the UCLA Medical Center, has grown in the years since its release.

In a 2010 blog post talking about Spears' demo of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" (the song was originally written for Spears and was recorded by Gaga only after she decided against using it), Rolling Stone paid the album a very big compliment, writing, "People love to make fun of Britney, and why not, but if 'Telephone' proves anything, it's that Blackout may be the most influential pop album of the past five years."

It seems the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame seems to agree.

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Things were a little different for Britney Spears in 2007 as the release of her fifth studio album, Blackout, neared. Her private life had long since overtaken her professional achievements in the headlines and she was dealing with personal struggles that culminated just a few months later in the singer being physically removed from her home by police, placed in an ambulance and escorted to the UCLA Medical Center.

Despite the chaos in her private life, Blackout received widespread critical acclaim. The notoriously indie-minded folks at Pitchfork declared it "superb modern pop," while Rolling Stone has argue that it "may be the most influential pop album of the past five years."

Five years is an interesting timeframe … because that's just about how long it took the fan-favorite set to go platinum. Billboard revealed the statistic this weekend while answer fan questions about the career album sales of Spears and Demi Lovato relating to their new gigs on "The X Factor." The music pub did not detail exactly when* the set, which dropped in October 2007, finally crossed the million mark, but in discussing the achievement, the Celebrity Cafe did reveal something we never knew before … that Spears' army of fans actively rallied behind the album last year intent to get Blackout certified platinum.

In July of last year, with sales hovering somewhere around 990,000 copies, fans held what was called "Blackout Purchase Week," an event that did result in an album sales spike that narrowed the gap to one million even further.

A little less than a year later*, Nielsen Soundscan data indicates that Blackout has officially become her sixth million-plus-selling studio album, leaving only her seventh album, last year's Femme Fatale, out of the club with around 755,000 copies sold. Spears' 2004 Greatest Hits: My Prerogative also enjoys platinum status, having sold 1.4 million copies.

So congrats, Brit! Hopefully the news will spice up all those long hours she's putting in on the set of "The X Factor."

*Ed note: Because there was a little confusion, Billboard clarified that Blackout actually passed 1 million in sales the week ending July 24, 2011. So it looks like "Blackout Purchase Week" was quite effective!

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Looking good!

While she's never far from our thoughts, it's been a while since we've seen Britney Spears in action. But the pop star has clearly been working hard since wrapping up her Femme Fatale tour in December, as pics from the set of her new commercial for Twister Dance attest.

The star is the new face of the DVD-based dance and party game, which offers 40 dance lessons of varying levels of intensity for up to four players. "Dancing has been such an important part of my life since I was a little girl," Spears said in a press release from game maker Hasbro. "As soon as I saw the new Twister Dance game, I knew I wanted to be involved. I think kids will love rocking the spots and dancing to the music as much as my boys and I do. It’s a lot of fun!"

And apparently it pays off! Check out Spears' toned arms and abs in this still she posted to Twitter from the commercial shoot. Rocking a vest, black bra top and tight black pants, the 30-year-old star looks better than ever.

Twister, Facebook

Check out a behind-the-scenes shot from the shoot after the jump! Read More...

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Last night, yet another unreleased Britney Spears song leaked online and it got us thinking about the seemingly never-ending run of leaked Brit-Brit songs and what many of them have in common.

"Ouch" is a fantastic, mid-tempo jam about heartbreak with a clean beat and a strong vocal performance from Spears, whose vibrato is on point throughout the two-minute snippet that appeared on the web. We love Britney and have a pretty good feel for her oeuvre and think "Ouch" is at least as good as, if not way better than, well, about half of what makes it on any given Britney album.

(Listen here.)

Like many pop stars, Britney records tons of songs for each planned album and along with her producers, A&R people, management and, goodness sakes who knows, the pool guy, edits it down to a 12-ish song set that (hopefully) feels like one coherent entity. That leaves plenty of good tracks, including "Ouch," on the cutting room floor.

Many of those discarded songs have found their way online and given how good some of them are, we had a thought. Why not release an EP of the best of Britney's discarded gems. Something comparable in length to Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster EP. We could call it Britney: The Cutting Room Floor Collection. Or Britney: Look At All These Great Songs I Forgot To Release, Y'all. Maybe Britney: The Best of the Rest. (If you have a better idea, feel free to share it in the comments below!)

So, with "Ouch" already on the roster, we need six more songs that leaked online without an official release. Let's get started! Read More...

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In September 2010, Britney Spears' former bodyguard Fernando Flores filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the "Till The World Ends" singer, alleging, among other things, that during his brief, early 2010 employment by the singer she "made repeated unwanted sexual advances, summoning Plaintiff to her room at her residence for no other purpose or reason than to expose her naked or near naked body to Plaintiff" and "engaged in "numerous sexual acts in front of Plaintiff, including but not limited to having sexual intercourse."

Yikes!

At the time, Spears emphatically denied the allegations, addressing them in an official statement on her website. "This lawsuit is another unfortunate situation where someone is trying to take advantage of the Spears family and make a name for himself. The Department of Children and Family Services conducted a proper investigation surrounding Mr. Flores' accusations and have closed the case without any further action," the post reads. "Ms. Spears and her attorneys have every expectation that this matter will be dismissed by the courts."

Now, according to TMZ, a settlement has been reached in the case, though no details are being made public. Spears and her lawyers decided to pursue settlement through private mediator and not the courts. It is not known if Spears provided Flores with any financial compensation, as terms of the settlement will remain confidential.

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