Britney Spears in Pictures: The Rise, The Fall and The Recovery

There's More to Britney Spears Than Music Videos, Meltdowns and Justin Timberlake

There's no shortage of images that come to mind when trying to capture the highs and lows of Britney Spears' life in pictures. Her music videos are legendary. Her mental breakdown in the years 2007 and 2008 will likely go down as the worst - and most public - in Hollywood history. And so far, her comeback as both a pop artist and a judge on Fox's The X Factor has been, for the most part, successful. Right now, she hast the whole world rooting for her.

Thanks to her former manager Sam Lutfi's civil lawsuit against Britney's mom (he claims she defamed him in her 2008 book, Through the Fire),never-before-heard details of Britney's life are being brought to light. Sadly, many of them are not pretty.

So who is the real Britney Spears? She's a sweet, sunny girl from Louisiana with a serious work ethic who was dead set on pursuing her passion to be a pop star. She's a confused young adult who apparently had severe problems transitioning into adulthood. She's a woman who discovered the joys of motherhood thanks to her two sons, born only a year apart. She was a drug addict. She suffered from mental illness. She was rescued by the love of her parents, who, for her own safety, had her declared unfit to take care of her own affairs. Under their care as well as her team of doctors and lawyers, she's a talented icon determined to get her life and her career back on track.

To see all of these stages - and more - of Britney Spear's life in pictures, take a peek through our gallery.