Celebrity birthdays: Jamie Lynn Spears turns 21 on April 4 - NOLA.com

As of today, April 4, we can no longer call Jamie Lynn Spears the little girl from Kentwood. Today is her 21st birthday, so now she’s the woman from Kentwood who just happens to have a super famous big sister named Britney.

AP FILE PHOTOJamie Lynn Spears, Britney's little sister, is 21 today (April 4).

The younger Spears was living the high life in 2007, starring in a Disney Channel series (“Zoey 101”) and on her way to bigger and better things. She was 16. And she got pregnant.

She quickly quit the show, high-tailed it back to the South to have her baby and marry the boyfriend who fathered the child. They set up house in Liberty, Miss., but the gig didn’t last. Casey Aldridge, she would say later, wasn’t ready for marriage, and Spears took her little girl, Maddie, and moved to Nashville, Tenn., to begin working on a new career in country music.

We’re still waiting for her debut album, which is reportedly on the way later this year. But Spears, in an interview last year with OK! magazine, said the album will feature music about her life as a pregnant teen and a young mother â€" perfect country music themes.

“I’m more honest in my lyrics than I am in anything else,” she said. “It’s where I feel the most safe to express myself. I write about growing up, my family, Maddie and getting pregnant. If I’ve lived it, why wouldn’t I talk about it? I guess that’s been the coolest thing â€" realizing that it’s OK to just be myself and really tell my story.”

Other stars making happy today are the following: Actress Natasha Lyonne (“Slums of Beverly Hills,” “American Pie”) is 33; actor James Roday, 36; singer Andre Dalyrimple of Soul for Real, 38; singer Kelly Price, 39; magician David Blaine, 39; singer Jill Scott, 40; singer Josh Todd of Buckcherry, 41; country singer Clay Davidson, 41; actress Nancy McKeon, 46; actor Robert Downey Jr., 47; comedian David Cross (“Arrested Development,” “Mr. Show”, 48; actor Hugo Weaving (“The Matrix,” “Lord of the Rings”), 52; writer-producer David E. Kelley, 56; actress Mary-Margaret Humes, 58; singer Steve Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers, 61; actress Christine Lahti, 62; actor Craig T. Nelson (“Coach”), 68; band leader Hugh Masekela, 73; author-poet Maya Angelou, 84.