Britney Spears’ memoir, The Woman in Me, is finally out, and the Princess of Pop is letting fans in on her biggest moments. She tells all about her traumatic childhood, growing up in the spotlight, her loving and heartbreaking relationship with boy bander Justin Timberlake, her 13-year conservatorship and so much more. And while the tea she spills is piping hot, many fans who have watched the pop star grow up before our very eyes will be just as thrilled with all the new details about her music career.
Spears discovered a love of singing and dancing early on in life, when she found that performing took her out of her hectic home life and brought her peace. “I was quiet and small, but when I sang, I came alive, and I had taken enough gymnastics classes to be able to move well,” she writes in the 275-page memoir. “Before too long, my parents set their sights on bigger opportunities than what we could accomplish picking up prizes in school gymnasiums.”
She went on to appear on shows such as The Mickey Mouse Club and landed a record deal with Jive Records for her solo career. Throughout her memoir, she details her drive to entertain and become one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
From making her first music video to infamous VMA performances to where she stands on making new music today, Billboard has put together a list of 10 great (and not so great) music moments from Spears’ memoir.