Britney Spears is no stranger to criticism, but she’s not afraid to stand up for herself. Like any iconic artist, Spears’ career has been subjected to thrilling highs and challenging lows. But despite all the struggles she’s faced, Spears has managed to consistently put out music that exudes confidence and proves her strength in the process. From surprise singles to live performances, Spears has been defiant against her critics through her art. Check out some of her boldest musical statements below.
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1. “Piece of Me”
There is arguably no greater fight song in Spears’ catalog than “Piece of Me.” Released as the second single from Blackout in 2007, “Piece of Me” arrived at a tumultuous time in Spears’ life. But “Piece of Me” proved that she has grit in spades. Writers Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, and Klas Åhlund were advised not to write about Spears’ personal life at the time, but they couldn’t help themselves and ended up writing “Piece of Me,” which got the stamp of approval from the superstar herself.
From the moment the track opens with Spears professing: I’m Miss American dream / Since I was 17, it’s clear that she’s going to be no-holds-barred – and we’re all the better for it.
2. “Everytime”
Spears was caught in the midst of a media firestorm following her highly publicized breakup with Justin Timberlake in 2002. The flames were only stoked by Timberlake’s hit debut single, “Cry Me a River,” which left many wondering if Spears had been unfaithful. When Spears released “Everytime” as a single in 2003, many speculated that the song was a response to Timberlake.
Rather than responding in anger, Spears took the high road with the gentle “Everytime” that features emotional lyrics like: I may have made it rain / Please forgive me / My weakness caused you pain / And this song’s my sorry. Though it may not seem like a fight song on the surface, “Everytime” demonstrates how Spears fought back against the critics in her own, gentle way.
[RELATED: The Meaning Behind Britney Spears’ Heavenly Ballad “Everytime”]
3. “Lonely”
On her third studio album, Britney, the superstar took a more active role in the songwriting process. This is reflected in one of the album’s strongest deep cuts, “Lonely.” Here, Spears is as feisty as a vocalist as she is a writer, taking the reigns of her life in the wake of a breakup, asserting that her decision is final. I don’t want to let you back in / Let’s just face it / Better off alone and I won’t turn back / You thought that I would be lonely / I don’t want to let you back in, she proclaims in the chorus.
In 2021, 20 years after the song was released and months before the conservatorship was terminated, Spears revealed her passion for the song when she shared a video of her and then-husband Sam Asghari driving in the car while listening to “Lonely.” “This is a song I wrote that I was proud of,” Spears can be heard saying in the background as she sings along.
4. Re-issuing Glory album
In 2016, Spears released one of the best albums of her career, Glory, acting as co-writer on five of the 12 tracks. In 2020 while embroiled in her conservatorship battle at the height of the #FreeBritney movement, Spears surprise-released a re-issue of Glory featuring the fan-favorite track “Mood Ring,” as well as bold new cover art that showed her chained up in the desert.
In 2022 nearly a year after the conservatorship ended, Spears opened up about that time and how working on the album gave her a sense of freedom that she didn’t feel in other aspects of her life. “I think producing and making music…I got the fire back in my eyes,” she said in the audio clip about Glory. “Things started taking a turn because I started getting more confidence just in myself…I think with confidence comes enlightenment, which makes you think better, and that’s the last thing they wanted me to do was to actually be better because then who would be in control then?”
5. “Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About” live in Vegas
Spears’ voice has been criticized since the beginning of her career, and she’s often been accused of lipsyncing in her live shows. However, she made an attempt to silence her critics during one of the shows in her Piece of Me Las Vegas residency. Spears ditched the backing track, grabbed a microphone, and delivered a lively cover of Bonnie Raitt‘s “Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About” that showed off the deeper tones in her voice.
“The press and the media my whole life …it’s really crazy, one minute they tear you down and they’re really horrible, and the next minute you’re on top of the world,” she told the crowd before the performance. “I’m from the South and I like to keep it real, so I want to just make sure I keep having you motherfuckers something to talk about ok?”
Photo by Visual China Group via Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images
