Britney Spears To Back Sophomore Album With Summer Tour

Eighteen-year-old Britney Spears, top-selling new artist of 1999, will take to the road in June for a jaunt that will hit more than 40 cities, according to Jive Records. Spears will be supporting her as-yet-untitled sophomore album, which is scheduled to hit stores on May 16.

In most markets, tickets for Spears' summer tour are scheduled to go on sale on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday (Feb. 25-27). The tour's presenting sponsor is Got Milk?, a marketing campaign of U.S. dairy farmers and milk processors.The summer tour will follow Spears' sold-out, month-long arena tour, which opens in March.

Amphitheaters will host most of the newly announced concerts, but some of the shows will take place in arenas. The summer tour opens on June 15 in Charlotte, N.C., and will wrap on Sept. 10 in West Palm Beach, Fla.

"Oops!...I Did It Again,'' the first single from Spears' second album, will begin airing on pop radio stations on March 27, according to Jive. Earlier this month, Spears released the ballad "From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart," the third single from her debut album "...Baby One More Time.''

More than 10 million copies of "...Baby One More Time" have been shipped to retailers, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. In October, ''...Baby One More Time'' surpassed LeAnn Rimes' ''Blue'' to become the top-selling album ever by a female teen.

Spears is scheduled to appear on the Grammy Awards and on MTV's Grammy TRL on Wednesday (2/23).