Britney Spears: Timeline of key moments in star’s career and conservatorship

1998 – Aged 16, Spears releases debut single …Baby One More Time. The following year, her debut album of the same name tops the charts in 15 countries.

2004 – Spears marries childhood friend Jason Alexander in a surprise ceremony in Las Vegas but the marriage is annulled three days later. Nine months later, she marries dancer Kevin Federline.

2005 – Her first son, Sean Preston, is born. The star also wins a Grammy award for hit single Toxic. Second son Jayden James is born the following year – two months later, Spears files for divorce from Federline.

2007 – Spears enters and drops out of rehab twice in a matter of days and infamously shaves her head at a salon in Los Angeles. The star later loses custody of her two sons. Despite her personal struggles, she releases fifth album, Blackout.

2008 – The court-ordered conservatorship is put in place, with Jamie Spears and an attorney put in control of the star’s personal and business affairs. Comeback album Circus is released at the end of the year and a world tour follows in 2009.

2011 – Spears releases her seventh studio album Femme Fatale and embarks on another tour.

2013 – A two-year residency in Las Vegas begins and the singer releases Britney Jean, her eighth album. The residency is later extended for another two years.

2019 – The star announces an “indefinite work hiatus” and cancels a second planned Las Vegas residency. The #FreeBritney movement is started by fans.

2020 – Spears’ lawyer asks for her father to be replaced as conservator. At a later hearing, the court is told the singer will not perform live again while he is in control.

June 2021 – In June, Spears speaks out in open court for the first time, giving an emotional statement describing the conservatorship as abusive.
The following month, Spears gets to choose her lawyer for the first time and her new attorney requests that Jamie Spears be removed as conservator.

September 2021 – Jamie Spears files a petition to end the conservatorship completely – later in the month he is removed from his role by the judge hearing the case. Spears and her boyfriend of four years Sam Asghari announce their engagement during this period.

November 2021 – Judge ends conservatorship