The 2008 edition of Rolling Stone featuring Britney Spears on the cover is a bit different from the now-classic issue starring of a young, innocent Britney a decade ago. This one tells the story of an American dream gone wrong.

The new issue features analyzes the singer’s downward spiral and looks at some of the many events that shaped who she is today. The magazine may not offer much in the way of insight, but does make some new revelations:

The singer’s mom, Lynne Spears, allowed Britney to get breast implants as a teen. But, after going under the knife, “she regretted the implants, particularly because her chest was still growing,” a friend says. “When her natural breasts became larger, she had the implants removed.” But Spears kept the surgery a secret. Adds the friend, “When other girls had their boobs done [they admitted it] and moved on, but Britney was brought up to lie about herself.”

The singer never bonded with father Jamie Spears, mostly because of his heavy drinking. “It was upsetting for Britney Spears to be around her dad,” a pal tells Rolling Stone. “He came backstage one night, and he was wasted. Britney was devastated. Britney would tell friends her father was emotionally abusive.”

Darrin Henson, a choreographer on Britney’s first album, … Baby One More Time, says: “Britney would come offstage after performing in front of 16,000 people and start crying. She thought she was terrible. The girl doesn’t know who she is.”

In the late-1990s, Britney was bribed to work around the clock. “If she didn’t want to come out of the trailer, the label would come to me saying, ‘Please talk to Britney, make sure she performs. We’ll take you on a shopping spree,’” a friend says. “She’d work on a video for 3-4 days straight for 20 hours a day.”

Throughout her career, she lobbied “to appear sluttier.” As a kid, her parents let a naked Britney Spears walk around the house. “Every girl in America was wearing crop tops and booty shorts, and Britney felt like she was being held back,” says a friend. “She would joke about wanting to do videos topless.”

She reportedly began sleeping with choreographer Wade Robson around the time of the 2001 VMAs. “In February 2002, Timberlake discovered a … note from Robson in Britney’s room. Britney and Timberlake were performing on Saturday Night Live that night, and they sat backstage miserable — he refused to accept her apologies,” an insider says. “The breakup was a terrible shock, particularly as it was followed by Britney’s parents divorce two months later.”

Britney Spears’ 2002 split from Justin Timberlake devastated her. “Justin had his head screwed on so straight… He became the great force in her life, but it started a pattern — she began to look for guys to help her get away from the people close to her who could control her,” an insider says.

Click here for the full article on Britney’s downfall …

Ah, Blender.

This venerable music publication is renowned for its hard-hitting journalism. Not. Just the same, you can’t be hoping for much credibility if you’re plastering Britney Spears nude on your cover here in 2008. You’ve just sold out.

Not that we blame you, Blender.

This photo of a naked Britney Spears does beg the question - is this a body double, which had been rumored, considering how “out of shape” Britney is?

Take a look at the picture and let us know if this is a real image of a nude Britney Spears, or if someone has put mad photoshopping skillz to use…

Her newest single is called “Piece of Me.” Tell us, fans, would you want a piece of Britney Spears? Or whoever this nude, sexy body actually belongs to?

We know you’ve probably seen / heard this one before. We’ve even made note of it on this very site already. But Britney Spears’ latest music video, “Piece of Me,” is still Video of the Day material for many reasons …

• There appears to be orgasmic moaning mixed into the beat
• The way Britney says “derriere” is downright hilarious
• Spears’ indictment of the paparazzi is particularly interesting given her recent romantic relationship with Adnan Ghalib
• It’s nothing great, and she doesn’t really have to do much other than show up and sort-of sing, but it’s amazing, given Britney Spears’ recent meltdown, that her people even got her new album (Blackout) made

We could go on. But just enjoy the video …

Reports say Britney Spears has had a psychotic episode and was hospitalized at L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she remains under close watch and is under 72-hour lockdown. Here’s a look at what happened yesterday:

9:30 a.m.: Britney is scheduled to arrive for a court deposition with Kevin Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, in her custody case.

11:15 a.m.: The Blackout singer shows up… just in time to bolt. The deposition was only scheduled until 11:30.

12:10 p.m.: Britney arrives home with sons Sean Preston and Jayden James, with whom she has visitation rights for the day.

7:00 p.m.: Britney is scheduled to turn Sean Preston and Jayden James over to their dad, Kevin Federline. This deadline passes.

8:00 p.m.: The LAPD confirms officers were dispatched to resolve a custody dispute after Spears apparently would not give up the kids.

10:50 p.m.: Fire department and ambulances arrive. An LAPD officer says: “The officers are trying to resolve this peacefully and legally. They’ve been there since 8 p.m. and it is in regards to Britney Spears’ custody battle.”

Follow this link to read the full timeline of Britney’s meltdown …

It’s Britney, bitch.

That’s the opening to the first single released from Blackout, Britney Spears’ sex and drugs masterpiece.

The term “masterpiece” is used loosely, but Seattle’s The Stranger still believes Blackout is - we’re serious - an underappreciated smash!

All of America saw Britney Spears’ MTV disaster, “grinding” that pole like a cat on Valium. That was enough for some. Yet Britney Spears, at 26 years old, remains the seventh-best-selling female artist of all time. It’s bizarre.

With her ridiculous antics, it’s challenging to engage in a serious conversation about Britney. Despite selling 80 million albums, it’s doubtful she will ever be appraised as more than a signifier of other, more relevant cultural trends.

The intelligentsia doesn’t consider Britney Spears a musician, but a vessel.

Some critics say Britney Spears is a wholly manufactured sound / brand, the only difference between Spears and a computer program being her ability to walk onstage. But, one blogger insists, this is simply not true.

Spears has a way of dipping at the end of a verb as if she is having an orgasm so intense and fast the only thing to do is dance through it.

Other times she’s forceful, or innocent; she always feels it at exactly the right time. She doesn’t have “pipes” like Mariah or Christina. What the “Piece of Me” sex kitten has is a sweet Southern drawl that tells listeners a story, which is strange, because it’s a story she doesn’t seem to fully understand.

Her songs seem to contradict each other; and as she continues to get older, Britney’s schoolgirl drawl is being ripped in two, leaving a ragged, adult edge evidenced on almost all the songs in Blackout, her best album by far.

It’s the sound of a voice at its peak, about to go into steep decline.

Continue reading this exploration of why Brit matters …

Yes, in case you forgot, Britney Spears does occasionally release some music (in addition to half-naked photos of herself). The train wreck and celebrity gossip mainstay even has a new album out right now in Blackout. Here’s the music video for the album’s newest single, “Piece of Me” …

Well, in Britney’s case, at least in terms of Internet traffic!

As we all know by now, Britney Spears ascent to mega-fame went off the rails since she divorced aspiring rapper, spurring the bulk of her online notoriety.

For this reason alone, she was the most commonly searched for “musician” this year, narrowly beating out Beyonce, according to Yahoo!

Spears’ did release a new album, Blackout, but it looks like that will fail to go platinum, quite a departure from the Britney of years past. No, her search engine popularity is due solely to her train wreck status.

Perhaps Britney could have learned something from Fergie (#3), who suffered her personal life downfalls (crystal meth addiction) in relative obscurity first before hitting it big and hitting the confessional circuit later.

Here’s the full Yahoo! Top Ten:

1. Britney Spears
2. Beyonce Knowles
3. Fergie
4. Akon
5. Avril Lavigne
6. Hilary Duff
7. Hannah Montana
8. Shakira
9. Chris Brown
10. Ciara

Two men - Akon and Chris Brown - and one alter ego joined seven familiar starlets on the list. Hannah Montana, of course, is really Miley Cyrus.

Miley Cyrus does have her sizable Search presence (#23), but Hannah Montana hysteria proved far more relentless. That Hilary Duff sure is consistent, too, as is Avril Lavigne. You just can’t get rid of either one of those two!

As for Akon, he’s up for four Grammy Awards this year, which is about the number of times he’s gotten into legal trouble in the past 10 months.