Britney SPEARS

America’s first pop princess, a generational mascot and a global superstar, Britney Spears’ career is what dreams are made of. But as she turns 40, the singer will be celebrating her most prized asset: freedom.

- Amy Nelmes Bissett

From the moment Britney Jean Spears made her stage debut at age five, standing in front of her peers and their parents at her kindergarten singing religious hymn ‘What Child Is This’, the tight-knit Lord-loving community of Kentwood, Louisiana, knew they had a star on their hands. Spears was a seasoned talent-show winner by the time she was seven. A talented triple threat, winning roles in New York at eight, and joining children’s television series The All New Mickey Mouse Club at 11, she was the real deal and no one doubted it. “When I was eight, my mamma realised I could sing and I’ve always wanted to sing,” Spears has explained. And her mamma, Lynne Spears, said her daughter was performing from the moment she turned two. “She was always singing – she would never hush,” she has said.

To date, the pop phenomenon has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, released nine studio albums, with six hitting #1 on the US Billboard Chart. There’ve been eight Grammy Awards, 10 concert tours and a four-year, 248-show Las Vegas residency earning her a whopping $US138 million. But those big dreams and even bigger accomplishments have come at an enormous price.

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