Pop princess Britney Spears became famous in the 1990s as a singer and it is as a singer that she is now coming forth once more.

Her sixth studio album, suggestively titled “Circus,” is due for release on December 2, her 27th birthday, her label Jive Records announced this week. This only shows Spears has been keeping busy.

Her last studio album, with another meaningful name, “Blackout,” was released in 2007, a turbulent year in the singer’s life that fortunately did not reflect in her music. “Blackout” was well received by critics and earned a decent No. 50 on Rolling Stones’ Top 50 Albums of 2007, described as a “monument of deranged techno-pop amorality” – but in a good way.

Britney Spears performed “Gimme More,” the first single off the album, at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards and while that gig may have been disastrous, it did not stop the single from going platinum in the US.

“Piece of Me” did even better the following year, at the same awards ceremony, bringing Spears her first Moonmen ever – three of them too, for video of the year, best female video and best pop video.

The first single from her upcoming album, “Womanizer,” is produced by The Outsyders and will be released on Sept. 22. Jive announced that other producers and writers who have worked on Spears’ album are Dr. Luke (writer-producer of the title track, “Circus”), Danja, Max Martin, Bloodshy & Avant (who also worked on “Blackout”) and Guy Sigsworth.

Sigsworth alone has worked with Madonna, Alanis Morissette and Bjork so we may just as well expect good things from Spears’ new album.

Then again, the singer did not become the princess of pop because of her cuteness. She has sold more than 62 million albums around the world since the release of her debut effort, 1999’s “Baby One More Time” and has garnered eight No. 1 singles during her career as well as four consecutive No. 1 albums.