On the same day that multiple reports in the Sun and the New York Post claimed that songwriters such as Charli XCX and Julia Michaels had contributed songs to a planned Britney Spears comeback album, the star herself labeled the news "trash" and vowed to "never return to the music industry" in an Instagram post.
Accompanied by the image of Guido Reni's painting Salome With the Head of John the Baptist, Spears' post reads, in full: "Just so we’re clear most of the news is trash !!! They keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album … I will never return to the music industry !!! When I write, I write for fun or I write for other people !!! For those of you who have read my book, there’s loads that you don’t know about me … I’ve written over 20 songs for other people the past two years !!! I’m a ghostwriter and I honestly enjoy it that way !!! People are also saying MY BOOK WAS RELEASED WITHOUT MY APPROVAL ILLEGALLY and that’s far from the truth … have you read the news these days ??? I’m so LOVED and blessed !!!"
It is unclear what Spears is referring to regarding the comments about her book being released illegally, but the news reports about her new album presumably refer to anonymously sourced claims in the Sun and Page Six that Spears was plotting a comeback album. She has not issued a full-length release since 2016's Glory.
Spears' memoir was an international bestseller in 2023.
Since earning a release from her conservatorship in 2021, Spears has only appeared on two songs: a 2022 duet with Elton John, “Hold Me Closer,” and a 2023 collaboration with Will.I.Am, “Mind Your Business.” She nonetheless made plenty of headlines with her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me, which sold 2.4 million copies worldwide in its first week of release. Spears’ struggles to end her controversial conservatorship — in which her father, Jamie Spears, maintained tight control of her life and career — made international headlines in 2021 following the release of the New York Times documentary, Framing Britney Spears.
This month marks the quarter-century anniversary of Spears’ debut album, …Baby One More Time, which has since been certified 14x platinum by the RIAA.
