In four notes, we can identify the 1998 hit, 'Baby One More Time.' From that song on, Britney Spears began a multi-million-dollar career that included nine studio albums, 13 Billboard Top 10 hits, 10 sold-out concert tours and a fabulous four-year residency in Las Vegas.

Yet this hard-working, successful woman, who has yet to turn 40, has been living a good portion of her life deprived of the ability to make personal decisions for herself. I feel a little guilty caving into the paparazzi narrative. Back in 2007, they chased her and snacked on her meltdowns. She was under incredible pressure and in the middle of a painful custody battle with her ex-husband Kevin Federline. They presented her as an emotional train wreck, and I bought it with little appreciation of what she was going through and how international fame and the media takes things to bizarre, extreme levels that would test the limits on anyone's sanity.