What Britney Spears Has Said About The Future Of Her Music Career
Save for a handful of collaborations and remixes, Britney Spears has been ostensibly quiet on the solo music front since 2016. However, rumors circulating in the grapevine suggest that fans may soon be treated to brand-new music from the pop princess.
Haters be damned, but there's no denying Spears' transformative impact on the music industry at large. The "Toxic" singer broke into the entertainment scene as a kid, starring in "The Mickey Mouse Club" alongside fellow luminaries like Christina Aguilera, Ryan Gosling, Keri Russell, and ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake. She landed a music deal when she was just 15 years old, and two years later, she dropped her studio album "...Baby One More Time," which became a worldwide sensation and turned her into an immediate superstar. Her sophomore album, "Oops!... I Did It Again," also obliterated the charts, further cementing her status as a formidable force in pop music.
Despite relentless scrutiny from the media and her personal life being tabloid fodder, Spears went on to tour the world and churn out hit after hit, including "Womanizer," "Piece of Me," and "Work B***h." However, in 2021, after she was liberated from her years-long conservatorship that had largely dictated the direction of her career, she expressed a desire to turn her back on music entirely. Then again, according to some sources, Spears is reconsidering her decision and may release new material in the foreseeable future.
Britney initially said that she was done with music
It's no secret that Britney Spears' conservatorship took a toll on her physical, emotional, and mental well-being. The Grammy winner has repeatedly blasted everyone involved in controlling her career, noting that in the past, she was coerced into doing things she never wanted to do. In her heartwrenching testimony in court in 2021, she detailed the cruelty she's faced under the hands of her managers, revealing that she was threatened litigation if she didn't follow their orders.
Since breaking free from her conservatorship, Spears has repeatedly shared on social media that she was no longer interested in pursuing her music career. "Guess all those rules and not having a voice for 13 years in what I wanted gave a lot of people a thrill ride !!! ...Psss no wonder I quit the business," she wrote in a since-deleted post on Instagram. She also once noted that quitting was her form of retaliation to people who have wronged her, declaring in another post: "Not doing my music anymore is my way of saying 'F*** You' in a sense."
In her explosive memoir, "The Woman in Me," Spears wrote that going on a hiatus was the right move for her. "Pushing forward in my music career is not my focus at the moment," she penned. "Right now it's time for me to try to get my spiritual life in order, to pay attention to the little things, to slow down. It's time for me to not be someone who other people want; it's time to actually find myself."
But according to sources, she's releasing a new album
Despite her past statements, Britney Spears fans need not fret about not hearing more music from the pop star. While she dished that she no longer wanted anything to do with the industry, her actions say otherwise. She collaborated with Elton John in 2022 and released "Hold Me Closer, " a modern take on the classic "Tiny Dancer." The following year, she returned to the studio to collaborate with will.i.am for the song "Mind Your Business." The Black Eyed Peas frontman even told TMZ that Spears has tons of material up her sleeve. "She had ideas and an idea factory. I can only imagine that Britney is sitting on a plethora of songs that she has done with different producers," he revealed.
According to an industry insider, Spears indeed has something in the works, although it's tough to figure out the specifics at this time. "She has an upcoming writers camp and is getting songs from some big artists," they told Page Six. As a tease, the singer also took to Instagram to reveal that she's gone back to songwriting. "I wrote a new song !!!" she told fans.
It may take some time for the artist to release a new album, but there's no questioning the fact that it will happen soon. You just can't expect her to tour just yet, however, with another source noting that it's not in the cards for now. "Britney has trauma from touring," they divulged. "The beauty of Britney being free again is that she gets to call the shots for the first time in a very long time, and she'll do it at her own pace."