Heh, according to the latest Guiness Book of World Records, Thriller sold 104 million copies, the next highest selling album is Back in Black by ACDC with 42 million. Wanna talk about someone who was under pressure? =P
Anyways, on Bruteney:
I have watched her interviews from all points in her career, she is more or less a puppet. The two Tatu girls seemed to have a larger vocabulary than Britney, AND THEY'RE RUSSIAN!!! Britney was popular mainly because she was the first innocent jailbait pop singer. There were a lot who came out after. She performed some songs that were fun to listen to, but I would not call her an artist since others worked her like a puppet. She was a performer.
Anyways, as far as music goes, everyone and their brother in my generation plays guitar due to early 90's pop/rock bands.
As far as female singers go, I think Madonna and Deborah Harry absolutely destroy Britney Spears in terms of experience. Deborah Harry is in her 60's and still rocking with her Rock and Roll Hall Fame band Blondie: their latest album has a lot of songs that I like, my favourite probably End to End or Undone. Blondie has hits spanning 30 years including many #1's, the only American act in UK history to have #1 hits in three different decades. Deborah Harry also the oldest female singer in the to have a #1 hit, and I mean it is by quite a bit too (if Cher is still the second oldest).
Deborah Harry had been involved with bands from the 60's, though for the most part she was scraping to get by in Union City, New York. During the 70's she got involved with the proto-punk scene and became front of Blondie, one of the original 6 Punk bands (Coming out with Punk classics such as Detroit 442 and I'm on E), which included the Ramones:
Detroit 442
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PlNmH_-Bo4
Blondie then began to incorporate a disco sound into their music. The first song they did this with was Heart of Glass, the album Parrallel Lines sold on level beyond anything seen before this point by a female fronted group (yes, this even includes Abba). Heart of Glass was based off of a Blues song that they did in 1975 called "Once Had Love" which is a slower paced lighter version with slightly different lyrics. Disco influences in music became a staple of 80's pop music.
Heart of Glass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZXdlouMEzA
Even though Blondie saw success with this genre, they continued to play different styles of music and saw chart topping success with: the Reggae song The Tide is High, the rock song Call Me (which was the top single of 1980 in the US), and the rap song Rapture (the first song which was labelled as "rap." The name "rap" itself was based off of a hip hop song released a year prior, which was the influence behind Rapture, called Rappers Delight. Rapture was also the first song in the hip hop genre to reach #1, years before the next). Rapture also aired in the first hours of MTV. So they were pioneers in pop music, unlike others.
Rapture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHPikUPlRD8
On top of all of this, Deborah Harry's unique fashion styles would become definitive of the 1980's; during the 1970's, everything was still largely hippie influenced. Her songs in many cases included lyrics in multiple languages (which fit very well).
Britney had a good gimmick, innocent jailbait; her 99 and 2000 albums sold amazingly because of this, but nothing else she did came close because she lost that image. Look at Paris Hilton, she's famous because she was a rich guys daughter who everyone saw get fucked on the Internet; she got famous for that. Look at the Royal Family, they're famous because they are royals, they don't even have to try. Hey, if you like her music performances, I won't argue, they're just not really my style (besides the song Crazy maybe, and Baby One More Time was pretty good too). britney I just don't find as interesting as a lot of other artists because she skipped a lot of steps that a lot of others had to take to reach their fame.
Hey, speaking of Abba, they invented dance-pop as we know it today, they're real artists. Here was the birth of it right here:
Abba - Gimme Gimme Gimme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMjNNtJczDc
Madonna also was the first shock-pop artist, WELL before Britney Spears failed in comparison to Christina Aguilara =P
Like a Prayer by Madonna succedes on so many levels, definately a contender for the title "The Ultimate Pop Song." SO much in this video that pisses off right winged religious folk. This video is the main reason why Madonna became known as the Queen of Controversy. Not to mention the lyrics of the song have a hidden meaning =P
Like a Prayer -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icrUkBaSefs
So yeah, I would find famous people interesting too, even if they are crazy. Though there is a HUGE difference between the pioneers/artists (Like Blondie) and the puppets (Like Britney). The only attractive qualities that Britney really has to me that she is rich and still young enough to have sex with. Though I hope she grows some hair back, shaved heads is not exactly a very feminine thing to do =P
And Michael Jackson had greater powers than Jesus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdYn_mRke-s