Happy Birthday, Britney Spears! Take a Look Back at the Pop Princess’ Early Career Moments

By Evan Real for US Magazine.

Oh baby, baby! In honor of Britney Spears’ 35th birthday on Friday, December 2, Us WeeklyVideo rounded up some of the best moments from the “Slumber Party” singer’s younger years. Relive Brit’s early career milestones in the video above!

At just 16 years old, the future pop icon felt confident that her debut single would be a big hit. “There’s not that many pop songs out right now, for one thing,” Spears said while filming the clip for “BOMT” in 1998, as seen in the video above. “The sound, for one thing, is totally different from anything out there, which is really cool, you know?”

The Disney Channel alum was on to something. Her debut album, also titled…Baby One More Time, shot straight to No. 1 upon its January 1999 release. Since then, the LP has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.

“When it first debuted at such a high number on the charts, I was really, really overwhelmed,” an astonished Spears told reporters backstage at the 1999 American Music Awards. “I was really excited.”

While Spears was dominating the charts and cementing herself as a global superstar, she was also dating ‘NSync hottie Justin Timberlake. Though the adorable duo eventually called it quits in 2002 amid rumors that the “Lucky” songstress cheated on JT with choreographer Wade Robson, she couldn’t help but gush over the “Bye Bye Bye” crooner, now 35, during their better days.

“My first crush? Yeah, it was Justin,” Spears said of her former All-New Mickey Mouse Club costar during a November 2001 appearance on MTV’s TRL. “Yeah, it was my first one. I was 12. He was my first, like, puppy love boyfriend.”