Pick a Day

Britney Spears is born in McComb, Mississippi. She is raised in Louisiana.

Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Ryan Gosling join J.C. Chasez and Keri Russell in the cast of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club.More

Britney Spears, 16, releases her first single, "...Baby One More Time." Three months later, it goes to #1 in America.

America is abuzz with Britney Spears, whose debut single "...Baby One More Time" goes to #1 as her album also reaches the top.More

Britney Spears releases her first album, ...Baby One More Time.More

In an interview published in Melody Maker, Britney Spears says, "I would have to be totally happy in every aspect before I would get married. I believe marriage is for life." She ends up getting married twice... in 2004.

Britney Spears appears on the Sabrina, the Teenage Witch episode "No Place Like Home," where she dances with Sabrina.

A teenaged Britney Spears wins for Best Female, Best Pop, Breakthrough Artist and Best Song ("Baby One More Time") at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Dublin.

Britney Spears guest stars on The Simpsons in the episode "The Mansion Family," where she presents the award for Springfield's oldest man.

Britney Spears' second album, Oops!… I Did It Again, is released. It sells 1.3 million copies in its first week, setting a new record for best-selling debut by a female artist.More

Britney Spears is the musical guest and host on Saturday Night Live, where she performs two songs and appears in four sketches. In her opening monologue, she addresses rumors that she's had implants. "I'm 18 and still growing," she says, as her breasts move around in her shirt.

Ray Charles sings "America The Beautiful" at Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa. The Backstreet Boys sing the US national anthem, and halftime performers include Aerosmith, 'N Sync and Britney Spears.

Britney Spears dons a snake to debut her new single, "I'm A Slave 4 U," at the MTV Video Music Awards.More

Having fully recovered from the flu that forced her to restructure the North American tour in support of her third Jive album, Britney, Britney Spears' tour kicks off in Washington, D.C.

Britney Spears' girl-power flick Crossroads earns eight nominations at the 23rd Golden Raspberry Awards, and two wins: Worst Original Song for "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" and Worst Actress for Spears, an honor she shares with Razzie darling Madonna for Swept Away (named Worst Picture). The Material Girl, who has been a regular contender - and five-time Worst Actress winner - since her 1986 win for Shanghai Surprise, earns two more awards. She shares Worst Screen Couple with Adriano Giannini for Swept Away and garners Worst Supporting Actress as Verity in Die Another Day.

Britney Spears and Madonna share a big, juicy kiss during the opening performance of the MTV Video Music Awards. Madonna then plants one on Christina Aguilera, but we only get a glimpse of it because the director cuts to a shot of a thunderstruck Justin Timberlake in the audience.More

Britney Spears, Pink and Beyoncé star as Roman gladiators sent to fight to the death by emperor Enrique Iglesias in a lavish Pepsi commercial. Instead of fighting, they sing "We Will Rock You" and drink soda.

Britney Spears marries her childhood friend Jason Alexander (not the actor) at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.More

Britney Spears marries her fiance, dancer Kevin Federline, at a private home in Los Angeles. The 27 guests are told it's an engagement party and are surprised to learn it's an actual ceremony, which lasts five minutes. It is Spears' second marriage in nine months; they divorce less than three years later.

Britney Spears and Kevin Federline file paperwork making their surprise wedding from a few weeks earlier legal. Spears gets a prenuptial agreement, which comes in handy when they divorce in 2007.

The reality series Britney and Kevin: Chaotic debuts on the UPN network, chronicling the adventures of the newly married Britney Spears and Kevin Federline. It proves unwatchable, and lasts just five episodes. The couple divorce two years later.

Britney Spears gives birth to her first child, Sean Federline.

Britney Spears plays a ditzy TV host on the "Buy, Buy Baby" episode of Will & Grace.

Britney Spears gives birth to her second child, Jayden James Federline, born just 363 days after her first son, Sean. In ensuing years, the kids enjoy many lavish joint birthday parties.

Two months after giving birth to her second child, Britney Spears files for divorce from Kevin Federline, whom she married in 2004.

Britney Spears shaves her head at a hair salon, then gets some fresh ink at a tattoo parlor. It's the beginning of a public meltdown for Spears, who filed for divorce from Kevin Federline months earlier and is negotiating custody arrangements for their two children.

Britney Spears opens the MTV Video Music Awards with a listless lip-synch where she appears dazed and confused. Over the next few months, she loses custody of her kids and is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility.More

The Eagles release their first album since 1979, Long Road Out of Eden, and Britney Spears issues her fifth album, Blackout. Thanks to a fanbase more comfortable with buying CDs than downloading, the Eagles easily outsell her, moving 7 million copies in America to Spears' 1 million.

A judge awards Kevin Federline custody of his two children with Britney Spears, reasoning that she can't be trusted due to her "habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol." Spears starts getting her life together a few months later after her family commits her to a psychiatric institution.

Britney Spears' family helps orchestrate an intervention that lands her in the psychiatric ward of UCLA's hospital. She's taken by ambulance, which gets a police escort and draws a frenzy of media attention. The next day, her father is named as her conservator, as a court rules that Britney cannot care for herself. She is released a few days later and starts getting her life back together. Later in February, her saga is detailed in Rolling Stone; she appears on the cover with the headline, "Britney Spears: Inside An American Tragedy."