Half your life in the spotlight is not all plain-sailing for Britney.

Britney Spears burst onto radios and TV screens worldwide as a 16 year old in 1998 after signing a major record deal the previous year. Since then the now 32-year-old has gone on to become one of the best selling female artists of all time and has spent over half of her life in the eye of the media and, consequently, the world. But, as we've seen so frequently with those thrown into the entertainment industry in their mid-teenage years, with fame comes pain; the more famous you are the more publicised your problems are going to be to a global audience containing those who live for constant showbiz drama.

We were all exposed to many of Britney's problems through the media and, in some cases, we probably knew more about her own life than she did. But how do you identify what affected Britney the most and what actually caused these shocking moments?

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Below is a timeline guiding you through the majority of significant events in Britney's life, with her age at the time of each given in brackets. Most show how she interlinks with the other Celebrity Shockers' main chosen celebrities: Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley, Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, and some, as we'll see later on, are just scratching at the surface of what was a difficult and troubled few years for the singer.


- 1981 born in McComb, Mississippi: the same state & just over 250 miles from where ELVIS was born 46 years earlier.

Celebrity Shockers 5 case studies involve celebrities spanning 4 states of the USA & Canada & are all in the East of the continent.

- 1989 (7) rejected after an audition for The Mickey Mouse Club: a show that WHITNEY made a guest appearance on two years later in 1991.

- 1997 (15) Britney's mother submitted tape of her daughter singing WHITNEY when in talks over joining pop group Innosense.

- 1997 (15) signed to her first record label, Jive, after again performing a WHITNEY song in front of executives.

- 1998 (16) released debut single ...Baby One More Time that went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide: the song was written by Max Martin who co-wrote the JUSTIN's song Beauty and a Beat.

The ...Baby One More Time music video is considered one of the most iconic of all time. Source

- 1999 (17) released debut album of the same name that went on to sell 10 million copies in a year &, as of today, 30 million worldwide: 3 times as many as the debut albums by MILEY & JUSTIN combined (both approx. 5 million).

- 2000 (18) released second album, Oops!... I Did It Again, which debuted at number 1 in the USA.

- 2001 (19) released third album in as many years: Britney, which contained 6 singles: the most of any of her albums.

- 2002 (20) made film debut in Crossroads: at the box office the film has made half ($61m) of what MILEY's debut film Big Fish has made ($122m).

- 2003 (21) released fourth studio album, In The Zone: currently her longest album at 49 minutes & 52 seconds.

- 2004, Jan (22) married childhood friend Jason Alexander in Las Vegas, a marriage that lasted just over 2 days: ELVIS married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas in 1967.

Britney & Jason were married for only 56 hours. Source

- 2004, June (22) injured left knee whilst filming video for Outrageous & cancelled tour: JUSTIN injured his knee whilst performing on stage in Cleveland in late 2010 but finished his set.

- 2004 , Oct (22) married Kevin Federline in L.A, in a marriage that lasted until July 2007: LA is home to the studios where MILEY's TV show Hannah Montana was filmed between 2006 & 2011, & where WHITNEY died in 2012.

Britney & Kevin were married after knowing each other for 5 months. Source

- 2005 (23) gave birth to first child, Sean Preston.

- 2006 (24) gave birth to second child, Jayden James.

- 2007 (25) released fifth album Blackout during a year of publicised personal struggles.

- 2008 (26) released sixth album Circus 10 months after leaving psychiatric hospital.

- 2011, March (29) released 7th studio album, Femme Fatale, which has currently sold just under 10% of what her debut album managed 12 years earlier.

There has been a gradual decline in Britney's album sales both worldwide & in the USA since the success of her debut.

- 2011, Dec (30) engaged to long-term boyfriend & former agent Jason Trawick which was called off in January 2013; Trawick was also removed as her co-conservator, leaving Britney's father in sole control of her assets.

- 2012 (30) became a judge on the second series of the American X Factor with a reported salary of $15m.

Britney mentored the eventual X Factor runner-up but did not return for the third season. Source

- 2013 (31) featured in MILEY's song SMS (Bangerz).

- 2013 (32) released 8th studio album Britney-Jean after working on it for a year.


So what were the most significant years of Britney's life that shocked us all?
A 19-month period from January 2007 to July 2008 was scattered with moments that would have affected Britney in some way and caused her to act the way she did. Some were highly publicised and others not so much. A further timeline below takes us through these in a bit more detail.


- 2007, Jan (25) lost her aunt who had been very influential in her life growing up & who she was still very close with.

- 2007, Feb (25) stayed in an Antiguan drug rehab centre for less than a day.

- 2007, Feb (25) shaved her head in Tarzana, L.A.

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- 2007, March (25) re-entered rehab & completed a month long stay.

- 2007, May (25) posted on her website that she 'hit rock bottom' whilst in rehab.

- 2007, July (25) finalised divorce & settled on an agreement to share joint custody of children.

- 2007, Oct (25) lost physical custody of children to Kevin Federline; she had to comply with a court order for random weekly drug testing.

- 2007, Oct (25) regained temporary visitation rights: 3 monitored visits a week.

- 2008, Jan (26) hospitalised after police were called to her home over a dispute over her sons & suspected her of being under the influence of drugs.

- 2008, Jan (26) had visitation rights suspended, Federline was given sole & legal custody of their children.

- 2008, Jan (26) committed to psychiatric ward & placed under involuntary hold.

- 2008, Jan (26) father & attorney given complete legal control of her assets.

- 2008, Jan (26) released from hospital.

- 2008, July (26) regained some visitation rights.

Since her release from hospital, Britney has slowly got her life back on track. She has released a further 3 albums and, with will.i.am, has managed her first UK number one single, Scream & Shout, since Everytime in 2004: making it her sixth overall. Her appearance on the American X Factor established her once again in the public eye and she's now very much the mother of her 2 sons.

Britney's sons, Sean Preston (right) and Jayden James (left), are now 8 & 7. Source

So whether it was too much too young, the loss of family or the breakdown of relationships, there isn't a moment that you can pinpoint that lead to the much-publicised struggles of Britney's mid-twenties years. The shaved head may be a while in the past now, but it's a perfect example and reminder of how spontaneous a shocking celebrity moment can be, and, that as long as there are celebrities, we will never be short of moments like this.