Lynne Spears

Lynne Irene Bridges was born in Mississippi and married Jamie Spears in 1976 when she was 21 years old. They went on to start a family, welcoming son Bryan in 1977.

In 1980, Lynne filed for divorce, requesting a temporary restraining order as she feared her husband’s reaction to getting the paperwork. However, the pair did not go through with the split at the time, welcoming daughters Britney Spears in 1981 and Jamie Lynne Spears in 1991. They divorced in 2000 and reconciled in 2010 but broke up again shortly after.

The matriarch supported Britney’s singing dreams, quitting her teaching job in 2000 as Britney went out on tour. She did not manage her daughter’s career but has stated she was paid to run her daughter’s fan club at one time.

In addition to being a mom, Lynne is also an author. She has co-written two books with her eldest daughter, a nonfiction tome, Britney Spears’ Heart to Heart, was published in 2000, followed by the novel A Mother’s Gift in 2001, which was adapted into a TV movie, Brave New Girl, in 2004. She followed that with her 2008 memoir, Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World, giving her account of life as Britney’s conservatorship began and Jamie Lynn gave birth at age 16.

Britney’s adult guardianship started in 2008, and Lynne stepped into the legal battle in July 2020 when she requested to be involved in decisions related to her daughter’s finances. Jamie, who was in charge of Britney’s estate, claimed in court documents obtained by Us Weekly in April 2021 that his ex-wife had “zero involvement in her daughter’s conservatorship until very recently.”

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A judge officially ruled that the conservatorship would be terminated in November 2021, and the “Stronger” singer has made it clear that she and her mother have had a tumultuous relationship in recent years.