Happy Birthday, Britney Spears! See the Pop Icon's Life in Photos

Britney Spears has already cemented her legacy as a generation-defining star.

The singer, who turns 44 on Dec. 2, 2025, grew up in the limelight, beginning her career at age 11 on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club. She launched a successful pop music career at the tail end of the '90s and maintained a ubiquitous cultural presence into the 2000s, including five Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers, six No. 1 albums, one Grammy Award and numerous headline-making performances.

Her superstardom has also resulted in intense scrutiny of her personal life, leading to public struggles with mental health and a controversial conservatorship that was terminated in 2021. Today, Spears has mostly withdrawn from celebrity life, shutting down rumors of her return to music as recently as last year.

On her 44th birthday, see the legend's life and career in photos, from her early days on Disney Channel to today.

01 of 11

Britney Spears' Childhood

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Britney Spears circa 1993

Britney Jean Spears was born on Dec. 2, 1981, in McComb, Mississippi, to Lynne and Jamie Spears. She has two siblings, older brother Bryan and younger sister Jamie Lynn.

As a kid, she competed in several children's talent shows — most notably Ed McMahon's Star Search. She also impressed at an open call for The Mickey Mouse Club, but at age 8, was deemed too young fo r the cast.

02 of 11

'The Mickey Mouse Club'

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Britney Spears (bottom right) and her 'Mickey Mouse Club' costars

Spears spent a few years shooting TV ads and performing in an off-Broadway play before she was cast, at age 11, in season 6 of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, which also featured future stars Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling, Keri Russell and more.

In her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, Spears wrote the experience "was honestly a kid's dream — unbelievably fun, particularly for a kid like me. But it was also exceptionally hard work: we would run choreography 30 times in a day, trying to get every step perfect."

03 of 11

Britney Spears' Debut Album '...Baby One More Time'

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Britney Spears in October 1998

The title track and lead single to her debut ...Baby One More Time was released in September 1998, with the album following in January 1999. Both best-sellers, the record-breaking era catapulted a then-17-year-old Spears into the upper echelon of pop stars and earned her teen queen status.

"The whole song is about that stress that we all go through as teens," Spears told The Guardian for the hit single's 20th anniversary. "I knew it was a great song. It was diff erent and I loved it, [but] I don't think you can anticipate how a song is going to be received."

04 of 11

Britney Spears' Relationship with Justin Timberlake

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Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears in September 2000

The former Mickey Mouse Club costars made their long-rumored romance public at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, where they were spotted cozying up in the audience. They dated until 2002, when Spears said she was "not in an intense relationship with anyone at the mo ment."

In her memoir, she revealed that she had an abortion during their three-year relationship.

"Justin definitely wasn't happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren't ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young," Spears wrote. "If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn't want to be a father."

05 of 11

Britney Spears Reaches Pop Superstardom

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Britney Spears in September 2001

She followed up her colossal debut with a sophomore record that broke ev en more records, Oops!... I Did It Again. The LP became one of the best-selling albums of all time and earned her two Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Spears' third and fourth albums, Britney and In the Zone, also reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200. "Toxic," the second single off In the Zone, won Spears her first and only Grammy.

During the early 2000s, her buzzy awards show performances bolstered her presence. Her 2001 MTV Video Music Awards performance of "Slave 4 U" with a snake, her 2003 VMAs kiss with Madonna and more have since become indelible parts of pop culture canon.

06 of 11

Britney Spears' Marriage to Kevin Federline

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Kevin Federline and Britney Spears in 2004

At the beginning of 2004, Spears married and annulled her union with childhood friend Jason Alexander, with a petition to the court stating the singer "lacked understanding of her actions."

She wed dancer Kevin Federline in a September 2004 ceremony held in Studio City, Calif., after the pair met earlier that year.

"It is great that this [we dding] has happened, because it has made me realize that I am growing up, becoming a woman, and things just need to be different," Spears told PEOPLE in a 2004 cover story. "I feel like it's a beginning."

They went on to have two sons: Sean, born in 2005, and Jayden, born in 2006. Spears filed for divorce from Federline in November 2006, citing irreconcilable differences, and the two finalized a settlement in July 2007.

07 of 11

Britney Spears' Mental Health Struggles

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Britney Spears in December 2008

Following her divorce from Federline, Spears encountered legal trouble that resulted in Federline taking custody, with the singer getting visitation rights. However, after she locked herself in a room and would not return one of her sons to Federline's care in January 2008, she was taken to the hospital and later placed on a 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold. Her father, Jamie, filed a temporary conservatorship suit, which was made permanent later that year and gave him and attorney Andrew Wallet control over her financial and personal decisions. Federline would retain majority custody of the children.

08 of 11

Britney Spears' Las Vegas Residency

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Britney Spears in June 2016

She announced a two-year Las Vegas concert residency in September 2013, which was extended until the end of 2017. Held at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, the Britney: Piece of Me residency sold nearly one million tickets, per Billboard.

Another residency, Britney: Domination, was set to launch in February 2019, but was postponed and cancelled after her father's spontaneous colon rupture.

09 of 11

#FreeBritney Movement

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#FreeBritney activists in September 2021

Following the leak of a voicemail from an alleged former member of Spears' legal team, several fans and celebrities began the #FreeBritney movement to advocate for the termination of the pop star's conservatorship.

"That was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen in my life," Spears wrote in The Woman in Me. "I don't think people knew how much the #FreeBritney movement meant to me, especially in the beginning."

The New York Times obtained documents in June 2021 that revealed Spears had pushed for years to end her conservatorship. When she appeared in front of a court, she called the arrangement "abusive" and said she "lied and told the whole world I'm okay and I'm happy."

In November 2021, Judge Brenda Penny terminated the conservatorship.

10 of 11

Britney Spears' Marriage to Sam Asghari

J. Merritt/Getty Britney Spears and Sam Asghari in April 2018

The pop star first sparked dating rumors with model and personal trainer Sam Asghari in November 2016, and they made their relationship Instagram official the following January. During her conservatorship battle, he stood by his significant other's side, telling PEOPLE, "I have always wanted nothing b ut the best for my better half, and will continue to support her following her dreams and creating the future she wants and deserves."

Spears and Asghari got engaged on Sept. 12, 2021, five days after Jamie petitioned to end the conservatorship, and they married in June 2022.

After a year of marriage, the couple separated in July 2023, and Asghari filed for divorce, which they finalized in May 2024.

"The divorce was amicable and the prenup was not challenged," a source told PEOPLE. "Britney is continuing to flex her freedom and is moving on."

11 of 11

Britney Spears' Life Now

Today, Spears continues to say her piece on social media, where she has set the record straight about potential music in a since-deleted post and responded to ex-husband Federline's allegations from his new memoir.

"I do feel like my wings were taken away and brain damage happened to me a long time ago 100 percent," the singer wrote in a post amid Federline's book release. "I have of course moved on from that troubling time in my life and I'm blessed to be alive…"

Read the original article on People