Content Warning: This section includes references to substance use disorder, abusive relationships, the sexualization of minors, coercive psychiatric treatment, abortion, and suicide.



Britney Spears grows up in an emotionally tumultuous home. Her father is an alcoholic, and her parents, Jamie and Lynn Spears, fight constantly. As a child, she spends a lot of time outside, singing to herself. When she is outside in nature, she “[feels] God.”

Spears sings all the time as a child. Music is very important to her; she describes it as “magic.” She grows up in Kentwood, Louisiana, a close-knit community where Christianity is very important. Jamie’s father, June, was abusive and sent his wife Jean, Jamie’s mother, to an asylum following the death of her baby. While at the hospital, Jean was put on lithium. June did the same thing to his second wife. When Jamie was 13, Jean died by suicide. Jamie continues his father’s pattern of abuse with Spears and her older brother, Bryan.

Spears’s parents got married young and struggled financially due to Jamie’s drinking habits. Eventually, they both managed to start successful businesses. Growing up, Spears is close with the women in her extended family, including her mother’s sister, Sandra, and her cousin, Laura Lynne.