When Britney Spears released Glory in 2016, her fans likely wouldn’t have bet that their rallying cries for a different one would be answered years later. The original cover featured a close-up shot of Spears wearing a white, floral lace top, backlit by a spotlight.
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Around the time of the album’s release, a fan named Austin Dame created an online petition calling for a new album cover since he and several other fans felt it was not an accurate representation of Spears’ icon status.
“Since the cover art for Britney Spears’ 9th studio album, Glory, has been revealed, we Britney fans find that the cover art is not a suitable representation of the music that Britney is putting out and we are calling for it to be changed,” Dame wrote in the petition, which drew more than 1,200 supporters. “We ask that RCA Records/Sony Music Entertainment change the album cover to one that would be a better and more suitable choice for the album.”
Much to their delight, fans got their wish in May 2020 when the superstar surprised them with an updated cover that boasts a much more striking photo of her chained up in the middle of a desert. Donning a gold leotard, Spears lies on her back in the sand, her hands bound by silver chains with the mountains in the background meeting the colorful sunset-soaked skyline. The photo was taken by revered photographer and videographer David LaChapelle, who directed Spears’ video for her single “Everytime” in 2004 and an unreleased video for “Make Me,” the lead single off Glory, in 2016.
So why did the pop star feel compelled to release a new cover four years after Glory‘s initial release? It all started with an online campaign from fans that landed Glory at No. 1 on the iTunes chart in 2020.
“Hi guys, so I’ll tell you I just figured out that Glory went to number one on the iTunes charts,” Spears said in an Instagram video at the time. “I have no idea what happened, but because of you, I’m having the best day ever.”
The unexpected success prompted Spears and her team to reissue Glory with the new album artwork, along with three previously unreleased songs, “Matches” featuring the Backstreet Boys, the longtime fan favorite “Mood Ring” and “Swimming in the Stars.”
“You asked for a new Glory cover and since it went to number one we had to make it happen !!!!” Spears wrote in a May 2020 Instagram post. “Couldn’t have done it without you all.”
Spears is no stranger to the desert. Her 2013 video for “Work Bitch” was filmed in the desert and she headlined her wildly successful four-year Las Vegas residency, Britney: Piece of Me, from 2013 to 2017.
Photo by JB Lacroix/WireImage
