If you were to rattle off a list of the biggest pop stars the world has ever seen, it wouldn’t take long to come up with the name Britney Spears. In fact, depending on your age, she might be the first person your pop star-oriented brain goes to. She’s that impactful.
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But have you ever wondered what Spears’ favorite songs are? While she’s provided many tracks that are other music fans’ favorites—from “Toxic” to “Oops!…I Did It Again,” what are her favorite songs to listen to around the house or to put on for a dance party?
[RELATED: Ranking All of Britney Spears’ No. 1 Hits]
1. “Say My Name,” Destiny’s Child
In 2020, Britney Spears shared a number of her favorite songs with Apple, taking over the platform’s “I Miss Y2K Pop” playlist, which was later shared by Buzzfeed. On that playlist, Spears shared about a dozen of her favorite songs, including this 1999 hit from Beyoncé and her group, Destiny’s Child. Spears was just becoming a household name as Queen B was, too.
2. “Shape of My Heart,” Backstreet Boys
It’s not hard to believe that pop icon Spears had an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music around the turn of the millennium. So, given that, it makes total sense that she would pluck another big bubble name from the era to put on the list. This time, Spears gave a nod to “Shape of My Heart,” the harmonious love song by Backstreet Boys.
3. “Foolish,” Ashanti
“Foolish” was a well-known song for anyone who was in middle school in the early 2000s with that signature piano riff and Ashanti’s butter-smooth voice. This 2002 number is a classic R&B single that many tweens have slow-danced to while their parents stayed in the cars in the YMCA parking lots. Give it a spin here below to feel those pangs of nostalgia all over again!
4. “What A Girl Wants,” Christina Aguilera
Perhaps surprisingly, Spears also included her rival—or frenemy (?)–Christina Aguilera on her Y2K pop list for Apple. The two were compared to one another constantly in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Both were Mickey Mouse Club kids and both were pin-up pop stars for many a college dorm room. But Spears shows there are no lingering bad feelings with Aguilera’s inclusion.
5. “Rock Your Body,” Justin Timberlake
Another former Mickey Mouse Club kid and former rival for Spears, the “…Baby One More Time” singer included her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake and his song “Rock Your Body” on the Apple playlist. Taking the high road, including Timberlake here was a nice touch, despite the fact that he wrote breakup songs about them that helped launch his solo career.
6. “The Hook Up,” Britney Spears
While Spears included a few others on her Apple list, including Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby,” Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love,” and The Chicks’ “Cowboy Take Me Away,” we will finish here with another recent revelation from Spears, that her favorite song of hers is the track, “The Hook Up.” The song, from her 2003 album In the Zone, wasn’t even released as a single in its day. Yet, the heart loves what it loves.
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