She was a member of The Mickey Mouse Club along with Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake when she was 11. She was turned down 3 years earlier because she was too young.
She won the 1999 American Music Award for Favorite New Artist, but lost the Best New Artist Grammy to Christina Aguilera.
In 2000, a Britney Spears museum was created in her home town in Louisiana.
In 2001, disc jockeys Keith Kramer and Tony Longo at Dallas radio station KEGL were fired after they announced she had been killed in a car accident. They were quickly hired by Detroit station WKRK.
Britney starred in her first movie, Crossroads, in 2001. She played a teenager from Georgia off to California on a road trip where she tries to become a singer. Most critics didn't hate it as much as they thought they would. (thanks, Maria - Atlanta, GA)
For years, she claimed to be a virgin, but in 2003, she admitted that she had sex with Justin Timberlake, who she went out with for 2 1/2 years. Britney thought they would get married someday, and called their breakup the most painful thing she's ever been through.
Britney's heritage is half Italian on her father's side, and half French on her mother's side. (thanks, Britney - Calabasas, CA)
In early 2004, Britney secretly wed a lifelong friend in a tiny Las Vegas Chapel. The marriage was annulled 55 hours later. Later that year, she married backup dancer Kevin Federline in a private surprise ceremony. (thanks, Maria - Atlanta, GA)
She married dancer Kevin Federline on September 18, 2004, and took a break from her career to start a family. Their first child, Sean Preston Federline, was born September 14, 2005. Britney filed for divorce on November 7, 2006 less than 2 months after the birth of their second child Jayden Federline.
Spears and Federline had their own reality TV show for a short time in 2005 called Britney And Kevin: Chaotic. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France, for above 2)
According to The Sun newspaper, Britney banned all junk food during her Femme Fatale tour. She gave caterers strict instructions not to prepare or offer her any hot dogs, pizza or cookie dough ice cream and even put a stop to any alcohol being in her presence as well. Britney also requested that Michael Jackson's albums be played repeatedly in her dressing room.
Britney served as a judge during the second season of the American version of The X Factor. With a reported salary of $15 million, she became the highest-paid judge on a singing competition series in television history. Britney quit in early 2013 after failing to boost the audience for the TV talent show.
Britney says that her her guilty pleasure foods are white chocolate and potato chips. She likes the latter "salty and sweet."
Britney Spears' tunes are used to scare away Somali pirates. Navy officer Rachel Owens, who patrols supertankers off the east coast of Africa explained to the Metro: "Her songs were chosen by the security team because they thought the pirates would hate them most. These guys can't stand Western culture or music, making Britney's hits perfect." Tracks that proved effective in scaring away Somali pirates from approaching supertankers include Britney's "...Baby One More Time," "Oops... I Did It Again" and "Toxic." "It's so effective the ship's security rarely needs to resort to firing guns," Owens added.
Britney admitted on Entertainment Tonight that she's no good at telling jokes. "I would like to be remembered as someone who makes you laugh," she said. "I just think laughter is the most joyful thing you can do. I'm really not [a good joke teller] but I wish I was."
