In pictures: Pop icon Britney Spears
Britney Spears poses for a portrait that was used to promote her 2013 documentary "I Am Britney Jean."
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In pictures: Pop icon Britney Spears

Updated 1801 GMT (0201 HKT) August 17, 2023

Britney Spears poses for a portrait that was used to promote her 2013 documentary "I Am Britney Jean."
Handout/Getty Images

Singer Britney Spears became a pop-culture phenomenon when she rose to fame as a teenager in the late 1990s.

Her first two albums, 1999's "...Baby One More Time" and 2000's "Oops!... I Did It Again," became two of the best-selling albums of all time, and she has continued to make music and perform over the last two decades.

Six of Spears' albums have reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and she's been nominated for eight Grammy Awards, winning one.

A recent documentary explored the controversy that has swirled around Spears — specifically the 13 years that her father, Jamie, served as her conservator, exercising control over her daily affairs and financial decisions. After the documentary first aired, celebrities and fans began vocalizing their support for Spears.

In June 2021, Spears pleaded with a judge to end the conservatorship.

"I just want my life back," she said. "It's been 13 years and it's enough."

A few months later, Jamie Spears unexpectedly filed a petition to end the arrangement. It was officially terminated in November 2021.

Spears, seen here with her parents in an old photo she posted to Instagram, was born December 2, 1981, in McComb, Mississippi.
From Instagram
Spears, third from right, was part of "The Mickey Mouse Club" from 1993-1994. The Disney show had several cast members who have since become global superstars, including Ryan Gosling, seated next to Spears; and singers Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake, seen at right.
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Spears' first concert tour kicked off in November 1998, a couple of months before her first studio album was released. She signed a contract with Jive Records in 1997. She was 15 at the time.
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Spears performs at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. Her first album "...Baby One More Time," had become a smash hit.
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Spears poses with the boy band NSYNC, who she once toured with, in 1999. NSYNC included her former "Mickey Mouse Club" castmate Justin Timberlake, seen at bottom left.
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Spears holds a doll of herself in 1999.
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Spears performs at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000.
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Spears and Timberlake attend the American Music Awards together in 2001. The two dated for a few years.
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Spears performs with Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler as part of the Super Bowl halftime show in 2001.
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Spears holds a snake while performing at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.
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Spears and her sister, Jamie Lynn, attend the Teen Choice Awards in 2002.
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Spears stars in the 2002 movie "Crossroads" with Taryn Manning and Zoe Saldana. That year, Forbes magazine named her Hollywood's Most Powerful Celebrity.
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In 2003, Spears and Madonna set tongues wagging as they kissed during the opening performance of the MTV Video Music Awards.
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Spears joins Beyonce and Pink for the filming of a Pepsi commercial in Rome in 2003.
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Spears received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003.
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Spears married dancer Kevin Federline in 2004. They had two sons together before divorcing in 2007.
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Spears shaved her head in 2007. Headlines at the time focused on whether the star was in the midst of a breakdown.
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Spears attacks a paparazzo's car with an umbrella outside Federline's home in Tarzana, California, in 2007.
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Spears performs at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2007.
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Spears leaves a Los Angeles courthouse after a child custody hearing in 2007. A few months later, she was hospitalized over issues involving the custody of her children. Federline was awarded sole custody. In February 2008, a Los Angeles court granted temporary conservatorship to Spears' father, Jamie, after Britney was taken to a hospital and deemed unable to take care of herself.
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Spears performs on the opening night of her tour in 2009.
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In 2012, Spears became a judge on the TV show "The X Factor."
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Spears poses with her sons -- Jayden, left, and Sean -- at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game in 2013.
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Spears unveils a line of intimate apparel in 2014.
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Clark County, Nevada, proclaimed November 5, 2014, as "Britney Day" on the Las Vegas Strip. In 2013, Spears started a two-year residency at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
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Spears performs at her Las Vegas show "Britney: Piece of Me" in 2015.
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Spears speaks during the Teen Choice Awards in 2015.
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Spears joins late-night talk show host James Corden for some "carpool karaoke" in 2016.
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Spears performs at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2016.
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Spears gets a birthday cake at the Jingle Ball event in Los Angeles in 2016.
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Spears accepts the Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2018. The award goes to a performer who has made a difference in promoting and supporting equality.
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Spears appears with Jimmy Fallon in a "Tonight Show" sketch in 2018.
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Spears married Sam Asghari, a personal trainer turned actor, in June 2022. The pair first met in 2016 when Asghari co-starred with Spears in the video to her single, "Slumber Party." In August 2023, Asghari filed for divorce citing "irreconcilable differences."
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