HispanicBusiness

Former Mouseketeer Britney Spears turns 30 today.

However, its the time Britney Spears spent after singing "M, I, C, See ya real soon," is what made her into the pop superstar that fans know today.

In 1997, Britney Spears signed with Jive Records. In 199, she released her debut album "Baby One More Time." That title track and a follow-up single, "Oops!... I Did It Again" became international number-one hits.

Spears is listed by the Guinness World Records as having the "Best-selling album by a teenage solo artist" for "Baby One More Time," which sold more than 13 million copies in the U.S.

She flew to fame and fortune because of the music, but then it became about who she began dating--Justin Timberlake--and her personal life. Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears were a match made in pop heaven and people wanted to know everything about their relationship. And people did.

Spears's relationship with Justin Timberlake ended after three years, and in December 2002, Timberlake released the song "Cry Me a River." The music video featured a woman that distinctly looked like Spears. According to rumors, it was Timberlake's way of telling everyone that Spears did indeed cheat on him.

The Spears spiral persisted, and Spears, along with Christina Aguilera opened the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards and sang "Like a Virgin." Halfway through the performance Madonna came out and they each kissed the original pop star diva. But no one talked about Aguilera and Madonna. It was all about Spears and Madonna.

Then came the 55-hour marriage to a childhood friend.

Kim Kardashian, who?

Then came disaster Kevin Federline, aka K-Fed. Then she was photographed walking barefoot in a gas station restroom. She couldn't catch a break, or hide from the paparrazi--who also caught her at a barber shop shaving her golden locks. They also took footage of an ambulance caring for her outside her home, and even lost custody of her two boys to Federline.

Thank goodness for Papa Spears, who according to many reports, took a hold of the singer's career, which is now, thankfully, on the up and up again.

In March 2011, Spears released her seventh studio album Femme Fatale. The album's single "Hold It Against Me" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In honor of the mama of two, RollingStone.com wrote a through-the-years kind of piece.

Happy Birthday Britney Spears.