Back in February of this year, Britney Spears graced the cover of Rolling Stone magazine with a feature coverstory titled Inside An American Tragedy. When that issue of RS was published, Britney had already suffered her two mental breakdowns and had already been admitted and then released from medical/psychiatric care. This week, our dear Britney graces the cover and is featured in the newest issue of Rolling Stone under very different circumstances — she successfully made two guest appearances on CBS‘s How I Met Your Mother, successfully petitioned the court to be allowed more visitation with her children (after having her custodial rights stripped from her earlier this year), was the big winner at the 2008 MTV VMAs, recorded a new album and a new #1 song and is about to release that album and a new world tour … the title of this newest RS feature coverstory is Yes, She Can. Here is the new cover of Rolling Stone magazine with Britney on the cover and a report on the coverstory:

Nearly a year after a breakdown, Britney Spears says she feels as if she has matured. To be exact, “I feel like an old person now,” she says in Rolling Stone’s next issue, out Friday. “I do! I go to bed at, like, 9:30 every night, and I don’t go out or anything.” Spears turns 27 on Dec. 2, the same day her album, Circus, hits stores. “This is going to be the album that cements her legend status,” says her manager, Larry Rudolph. Indeed, the pop star has come a long way from her two trips to hospital psychiatric wards this year, the magazine says. After the last trip, in early February, her father, Jamie, filed for legal conservatorship so that he and attorney Andrew Wallet would oversee her finances and personal affairs. Interviewing the star is a “rigorously micromanaged process,” according to Rolling Stone. “We were never left alone together, and my questions had to be submitted ahead of time for approval,” reporter Jenny Eliscu writes. Rudolph says, “Her job is to be Britney Spears, and unfortunately, that job bleeds into her personal life and creates this odd situation where she needs to have security people around her all the time.” That goes for dates, too. Recently, Spears was accompanied by her assistant, Brett, and Rudolph’s colleague, Adam Leber. “Right when we got there, we just knew it was just bad,” Spears says. “He looked like an older version of Harry Potter, but skinnier. … So I had to get dessert first. And the other date I had, the guy was really, really tall and a lot older. … We’re trying to ask him questions, like, ‘OK, you’re into martial arts, so what kind of martial arts are you into?’ And he was like, ‘Oh, all kinds.’ … But you know how silly we are, so we were just cracking up.” She turns serious on the topic of her children. Despite losing custody of her sons, Preston, 3, and Jayden, 2, to her ex-husband Kevin Federline, Spears has been able to see them more often, thanks in part to the conservatorship. “Every time they come to visit me, I think about how they’re such special people,” she says. She is critical of her ex and says the children “are starting to learn words like ‘stupid,’ and Preston says the f-word now sometimes. He doesn’t get it from us. He must get it from his daddy. I say it, but not around my kids.”

Altho the interviewer was closely monitored while talking with Britney, it sounds like this article will offer much info that might not be included in her new documentary Britney Spears: For The Record (debuting on MTV this Sunday night). It feels like Brit Brit is airing all of her dirty laundry in an effort to show the world that she is serious about making a comeback by offering us (almost) full disclosure. It’s a bold step, it absolutely sounds like an idea that svengali manager Larry Rudolph came up with. The man is a genius, he made her a star in the first place, he can make her a star again.

This morning, The Today Show interviewed this RS interviewer about this issue of Rolling Stone and offered a preview of the magazine photoshoot as well. Here are a few screencaps of Britney‘s Rolling Stone photoshoot:

After the jump, check out all of the photos that will be included in this new issue of Rolling Stone magazine and watch the Today Show feature in full …

The photos are pretty amazing, she looks great. I love the mask one … it’s so apropos, I think. Here is the full Today Show video feature:

Again, sounds like a great piece in Rolling Stone — I can’t wait to pick up my copy. We are now one week away from the release of Circus. Those of you interested can stream the album in full HERE on Pink is the new Blog. Oh and those of you outside the US can watch the Today Show video HERE should the above embed vid not work in your country.

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