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It's hard to believe, but as of September 30th this year living legend Britney Spears will have been driving us crazy, loving rock and roll and seeking Amy for exactly twenty years - and what a wild ride it's been. Apart from all the personal crises (think that Justin Timberlake break-up, the whole K-Fed saga and the infamous umbrella incident), Britney has also consistently wowed us with hit single after hit single, from 'Me Against the Music' to 'Make Me'. But amidst all the brilliant releases (Britney's last single 'Slumber Party' was her forty-first), there was a multitude of songs that didn't quite make the cut. Some of them (like Gaga's 'Telephone') were recorded by Britney before being scrapped at the last minute; while others (like Rihanna's 'Umbrella') were offered to Britney but rejected for recording for one reason or another. While some of these songs would have contributed absolutely nothing to Britney's legacy and are no loss whatsoever, its interesting to see just how many more hits she could have had if she'd played her cards right, especially in the last decade. In this list we'll be looking at twenty-five such songs which Britney decided to pass on. Keep in mind that in this list we're including only tracks that were officially released by an artist in some capacity jthat we're able to listen to, although other confirmed demos for Britney that are still stashed away in the vault (such as ones written by Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, Sky Ferreira, Dev Hynes and Danja) would undoubtedly be equally amazing. 25. Lady Gaga - Telephone (Feat. Beyoncé) The story of Britney passing on 'Telephone' is at this point legendary, but just in case you've forgotten about the whole saga we'll give a brief recap here. 'Telephone' was originally written by a pre-fame Gaga alongside a song called 'Quicksand' to be considered for inclusion on Britney's sixth studio album and official comeback, Circus. But while 'Quicksand' was included as a bonus track on the album, 'Telephone' was scrapped due to the presence of another similiarly themed song, the Bloodshy & Avant produced 'Phonography'. Later, the song was reworked as a duet between the two artists; but conflict arose when Gaga wanted the track to be on the tracklist of her re-release The Fame Monster while Britney's team wanted the song on her greatest hits The Singles Collection. Ultimately, Gaga took the song back and replaced Britney's part on the duet with a new verse by Beyoncé, and the Britney version was never released either as a solo song or as a duet. Thankfully, her version went on to leak in 2010 and we got a fan-made version of the duet soon after. 24. The Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up 'When I Grow Up' was the song of the summer back in 2008, and was a huge hit for the newly reformed Pussycat Dolls minus Carmit Bachar. The song was written by Darkchild (who also worked on 'Telephone') and Rock City, but we had no idea it was meant for Britney until a demo sent to her leaked in 2011. When it was originally written for Brit, the lyrics were tailor made to her situation, opening with, "My name is Britney and I don’t care what you say," before continuing "I swear at first that I was flippin'/When they said I looked like Debbie Gibson/And then I tried to dance like Michael Jackson/But people saw me and started laughing." It's unknown why Brit passed on the song that would go on to be a huge hit, but it's interesting to note that she was originally confirmed to have a short cameo appearance in the music video. Originally, Britney was meant to have a blink and you'll miss it appearance in the traffic jam at the beginning of the video, waving at the Dolls before driving away. Like her version of the song, however, the cameo was scrapped for unknown reasons. 23. Charli XCX - Secret (Shh) 'Secret' is one of Charli XCX's more experimental songs, which is why it may be surprising to hear that it was originally intended for the princess of pop herself. The song's co-writer, Jesse Saint John spilled the tea when discussing another song he wrote for Britney's latest album 'Love Me Down'. "I did [a] song for Charli XCX called 'Secret'' that Karen [Kwak, Britney's A&R] really liked, and for a second she thought it could be for Britney Spears." Sadly, Britney never got around to recording the demo and Charli ended up releasing it on her own EP Vroom Vroom, but it was the strength of 'Secret' that allowed Saint John to pitch 'Love Me Down' in the first place. 'Secret' is actually the second Charli song to be considered by Britney, after she wrote a song specifically for the popstar back in 2013; but we're unsure exactly what that song was, or if it has since been released by anyone other than Brit. 22. Girls Aloud - Graffiti My Soul If you don't live in the UK, you may not have heard of Girls Aloud. Manufactured on an English television show called Popstars: The Rivals, the group soon became a mainstay of the UK charts for over a decade until their break up in 2013. While its release as the fifth single from their album What Will The Neighbours Say? was scrapped, the song 'Graffiti My Soul' nevertheless became one of their most well known tracks, with group member Cheryl Cole later stating in 2008 that if she'd had the chance to release she song as a single she would have. Interestingly though, the song was originally written for Britney, who recorded her own version of it for inclusion on In The Zone. "The record company loved it, but Britney's people said 'Where's the chorus? Why are there no repetitive parts?'," said Bryan Higgins, who produced the song as part of Xenomania. While we've never heard even a snippet of Britney's version of the song, we may not be missing out on that much. Whether it's jealousy or honesty, Cole stated that Britney's version was "strange" and that she sang it "in that really strange voice and it freaked me out"; although she later admitted that the source of her nervousness may have come from the fact that the version she heard was unmixed. 21. Enrique Iglesias - Maybe 'Maybe' is a song written by Enrique Iglesias, Steve Morales, Kara DioGuardi and David Siegel which was first released on his Escape album in 2001. The track was later reworked as an uptempo number for the album's reissue and released as the project's fifth single in May of 2002. What's bizarre is that a month prior to the song's single release, Britney started introducing the track under the title 'My Love Was Always There' and performing it live at her Dream Within A Dream Tour shows, even going so far as to say that she wrote the song. 'Maybe' was far from a flop, hitting #12 in the US and #3 in the UK, so it's unknown exactly why Britney thought she could get away with claiming the track as her own. 20. Jennifer Lopez - Brave 'Brave' is the title track of Jennifer Lopez's sixth album, produced by frequent Britney collaborators Bloodshy & Avant and The Clutch. Originally, the song was actually written for Britney's album Blackout, but it was rejected from the final tracklisting before release. That said, I can't say that I'm too disappointed about not hearing Britney's version - while the tracks lyrics stating "I'm not afraid/Because I am brave" definitely fit into Britney's narrative, the song is pretty typically generic R&B and doesn't really offer anything new to the pop music genre like the rest of Blackout did. 19. Momoiro Clover Z - Rock The Boat Momoiro Clover Z released 'Rock The Boat' on the album Hakkin no Yoake in 2016; but as any true Britney stan will know, the track has been in the works for much longer than that. Britney fans first heard the song in late 2011 as part of the semi-annual Britmas leaks tradition, when it was heard under it's working title 'Dangerous'. Recorded for the Circus album, 'Dangerous' has the same songwriters as bonus track 'Rock Me In' of Greg Kurstin and Coco Morier, and apart from the translated lyrics not much changed at all between it's recording and it's reinterpretation as 'Rock The Boat'. 18. LIZ - When I Rule The World LIZ has been open about her love for Britney, from her confession that Brit taught her "how to be a popstar" to her obsession over every stan's favourite unreleased track, 'Mona Lisa'. But she got closer to Britney than she ever could have expected with her PC Music-inspired single 'When I Rule The World'. "I heard she wanted 'When I Rule'," she told The Guardian, apparently astounded that Britney even knew who she was. LIZ was ultimately so attached to the song that she had to fight for it to be her own release; and although the track definitely would have fit in with the 'Pretty Girls' vibe and aesthetic, we can't say we're sad that she won. 17. Kelis - Milkshake Britney fell into step with The Neptunes crew as early as 2001, when they produced Britney stand-outs 'I'm A Slave 4 U' and 'Boys'. Choosing them to produce songs for her next record In The Zone then seemed like a natural choice, and so the group wrote several songs for the project back in 2003 - one of them being a track called 'Milkshake'. Ultimately, the track never made the album and it was sent later that year to an up-and-coming singer named Kelis, who turned it into her biggest hit to date and an endlessly quotable banger. Although there's no proof that Britney ever recorded a demo of this track, a Brit version of 'Milkshake' would definitely be something to behold, and would work brilliantly on an album next to 'Me Against the Music' and 'Early Mornin''. We can practically hear Britney's breathy vocals all over that iconic chorus already. 16. Leah McFall - Home (Feat. will.i.am) Leah McFall was a runner-up on the second series of The Voice UK, where she was mentored by the infamous will.i.am - a man who was at the same time taking Britney under his wing on the other side of the pond. That's why it makes total sense for any record will worked on around that time to have been shopped around to both Brit and Leah, as happened with 'Home'. The track is typical will.i.am, complete with nonsensical lyrics, an overused sample and a tacky lyric video, so we can't say we're sad that Britney never jumped on this one; although with that said it would definitely be an improvement over 'It Should Be Easy'. 13. Jordin Sparks - Shy Boy/14. Jordin Sparks - Young and In Love/15. Jordin Sparks - See My Side It might be hard to imagine winner of the sixth season of American Idol Jordin Sparks and Queen of the Lip Sync Britney Spears being offered the same tracks, but believe it or not it happened back in 2007. 'Shy Boy', 'Young and In Love' & 'See My Side' are a handful of tracks which were originally worked on by production team Bloodshy & Avant for Britney's long-awaited Blackout album; but after they didn't make it onto that album, they were passed on to label-mate Jordin Sparks for her self-titled debut. 'Shy Boy' and 'Young and In Love' aren't much of a loss: they both sound like the typical messy 2007 R&B demo that sprouted up in the wake of Timbaland's success, although undoubtedly they would have been improved by some of Britney's vocal stylings. But 'See My Side', which like 'Piece Of Me' was worked on by pop's fairy godmother Robyn, would have worked nicely alongside 'Why Should I Be Sad?' as a lullaby end to the Blackout album. 12. Jamie Lynn Spears - Follow Me Remember Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney's little sister who made a name for herself on Nickelodeon show Zoey 101 before being fired for her unexpected teenage pregnancy? Well, she also sang the theme song for that show, titled 'Follow Me', which just so happened to be written by her big sister Brit and frequent collaborators Bloodshy & Avant. Weirdly the song was never officially released in full on any soundtrack album, although we did get an official instrumental as well as dozens of snippets of the song played throughout the show which has allowed fans to compile their own versions of the song. A demo also leaked in 2014, but it wasn't sung by either Britney or Jamie Lynn which makes Britney's writing credits and the original intent for the song a total mystery. 11. Rachel Stevens - Sweet Dreams My LA Ex A reunion of 'Toxic' producers Bloodshy & Avant and songwriter Cathy Dennis, 'Sweet Dreams My LA Ex' was actually a pretty big hit for English popstar Rachel Stevens back in 2003, hitting #2 in the UK charts and selling 210 000 copies that year. Originally, like 'Everytime', the track was intended to be a response to Justin Timberlake's 'Cry Me A River', which was long rumoured to be about Britney; but when Stevens sang it, it was to break out from her role as a singer in S Club 7. Britney apparently passed on the track because she found the lyrics just a little too obvious, which is a real shame because the western R&B sound in the song would have worked perfectly on In The Zone. 10. f(x) - Chocolate Love/Girls' Generation - Chocolate Love Another K-Pop convert, 'Chocolate Love' was first heard back in 2009 as a dual release for K-Pop supergroups f(x) and Girls' Generation. The song was used to promote the LG Cyon Chcolate phone in commercials, with f(x) jumping on the 'Electronic Pop Version' and Girls' Generation singing the 'Retro Pop Version'. Also worth noting is that f(x) alone recorded an English version of the song entitled 'Topbillin' Love', which was performed live during their international tour in 2010. What's interesting is that this version of 'Topbillin' Love' was actually a throwaway track that had been written years before by Karen Poole as a demo for Britney which got rejected. Poole tried her hand at writing to the instrumental after Cathy Dennis's attempt, called at that point 'Phony Lullaby', was also rejected due to it's inclusion of lyrics Britney apparently found objectionable. Britney even tried her hand at writing to this instrumental alongside Michelle Bell, which resulted in the unreleased track 'Take Off', a song which discussed Brit's anti-war and anti-discrimination views. Cathy Dennis would later reclaim the song and morph it's instrumental into 'Sweet Dreams My LA EX', the Rachel Stevens hit mentioned above; but that didn't stop the K-Pop groups from reusing it's demo years later. 9. BoA - Look Who's Talkin' 'Look Who's Talkin'' is a song originally written by Britney alongside Bloodshy & Avant, Henrik Jonback and Michelle Bell in 2003 during the same sessions that produced songs like 'Chaotic' and 'I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)'. Later, it resurfaced on Korean superstar BoA's debut English album, also titled BoA, as the second single from the R&B-pop project. The Britney demo leaked just a little later on as 'Look Who's Talking Now', and features almost exactly the same lyrics and production; although the words are a little more meaningful coming from a popstar who spent a lot of her early life silenced by her record label or management. Britney's version of the song was probably never strong enough to be a single, but it could have worked well as an an additional track for the Chaotic EP. 8. Pitbull & J Balvin - Hey Ma (Feat. Camila Cabello) 'Hey Ma' was released last year for the The Fate of The Furious soundtrack album as a collaboration between Pitbull, J Balvin and Camila Cabello; but if things had gone differently, the song could have had a twist from the Holy Spearit. When it was originally recorded, 'Hey Ma' featured Romeo Santos and Britney in the Balvin and Cabello parts, with Britney cooing "If you touch me right, I might stay the night" over a Latin-inspired beat. But when the song was pitched for The Fate of The Furious, the producers requested that they be replaced, presumably to appeal to a younger audience and capitalise on the Latin American vibe of the film. While we'd generally cringe at the idea of Pitbull releasing a song with with Britney (or Pitbull releasing any song full stop), we have to admit that 'Hey Ma' featuring Britney is an absolute bop, thanks to the fact that her version was leaked as a Christmas present to the fans. We can only imagine how great this song would have sounded in a mash-up with 'Change Your Mind (No Seas Cortés)' on the Piece of Me shows. 7. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Pulse 'Pulse' was published on the ASCAP registry back during the In The Zone era as a potential candidate for Britney's album, but it didn't end up making the cut there. Instead, it was released in 2010 on the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark album History of Modern. While we're unsure if anything was changed over that seven year period, we can definitely imagine Britney's vocals on the current version of the track, which has the same breakbeat R&B kind of style she explored on ITZ tracks such as '(I Got That) Boom Boom' and 'Me Against the Music'. 5. Kylie Minogue - Nu-Di-Ty/6. Kylie Minogue - Speakerphone Britney and Kylie have a long history of working with the same producers and thus swapping tracks, with Kylie even turning down the demo that would go on to be a hit for Britney with 'Toxic'. "I wasn't at all angry when it worked for her," she said of the track. "It's like the fish that got away. You just have to accept it." Let's hope the feeling is mutual, because Kylie took two tracks that Britney worked on for Blackout for her own album X, both of which were produced by longtime collaborators Bloodshy & Avant. 'Nu-Di-Ty' is a quirky, fragmented pop song with a hint of R&B and tropicana which plays out like a more light-hearted version of Britney's own 'Freakshow'. While we don't have a Britney version of the track, she definitely did record one as some of her background vocals can be heard in the final version, and are even clearer when filtered out from the other vocals. Then there's 'Speakerphone', a precursor to 'Telephone' with a dreamy Euro-pop production which was definitely an album highlight. We've never heard anything of the Britney version of this one but it's safe to say she would slay it. 4. Kylie Minogue - Get Outta My Way 'Get Outta My Way' is not just one of Kylie Minogue's best songs: it's one of the best pop songs of this decade full-stop. The perfect slice of dance-pop for the summer season, 'Get Outta My Way' was originally shopped around to several artists including Britney, Alexandra Burke and Pixie Lott, and Wynter Gordon also wrote a song to the Cutfather-produced instrumental. But ultimately it was Kylie who nabbed the song, apparently due to the fact that the other potential candidates were too slow to respond. This is one of the few times where we're happy the song went to it's original artist: Britney's version of the track would probably have worked well on Femme Fatale, but Kylie needed the hit desperately and she put way more energy into the choreography than Brit could have at that point. 3. Nelly - Tilt Ya Head Back (Feat. Christina Aguilera) The rivalry between Britney and Christina is basically a tale as old as time at this point, so it's no surprise that they'd both be put up for the same part on Nelly's 'Tilt Ya Head Back', which was a moderate hit when it was released back in 2004. Britney actually recorded vocals for this song, some of which were leaked in 2016; but according to producer Dorian Moore, her label nixed the idea of Britney collaborating with Nelly, finding the song "too urban". Janet Jackson was also considered before XTina took the final spot. It's not entirely surprising given that in 2004 Brit was still fighting for creative control with her record label, leading to the Original Doll saga that would begin her downwards spiral in 2007. 2. Selena Gomez - Whiplash 'Whiplash' is definitely not one of Selena's better known songs, and at the end of the day it is just album filler; but for a non-single track, it's surprisingly fun. Alternating between a silly metaphor-ridden chorus and a bouncy rap part spoken with an English accent, 'Whiplash' was highlighted as a standout track from When The Sun Goes Down and was performed on tour alongside a medley of Britney's own hits. But if things had gone differently, the song may actually have ended up on Brit's comeback vehicle Circus. Britney wrote and recorded the song alongside Coco Morier and Greg Kurstin at the same time as she worked on 'Mmm Papi' and 'Rock Me In', but it failed to make the cut for unknown reasons. So far we haven't heard the demo of the song, which is a shame because I'm dying to know if the English accent was a Selena addition or if it was present in the original version as well. Judging by Englishney's raps in 'Scream & Shout', I wouldn't be surprised if that was something Brit came up with all on her own. 1. Rihanna - Umbrella What more needs to be said about 'Umbrella', the monster hit which launched Rihanna's career properly and transitioned her from Bajan Princess to Bad Girl? Tricky Stewart, who had previously worked on 'Me Against The Music', wrote the track alongside The-Dream intending for it to be a comeback single for the troubled Spears; but when they sent the track to her label, it was rejected without Britney even hearing the track. After Mary J. Blige passed on it too, the song ended up in Rihanna's lap, at which time she utilised her accent to create that signature "ella ella eh eh eh" chorus which made the song such a hit. It's a credit to Rih that her stamp on the song is so huge that we can't even imagine Britney singing this one. Which of these songs would you most like to hear Britney's vocals on? Let us know in the comments down below! Editor's Note: This is an updated version of an article that was originally posted on 04/01/2018.

Britney Spears announced on Sunday that she was engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Sam Asghari, three months after she told a Los Angeles judge that the conservatorship that has governed her life since 2008 was robbing her of the ability to make personal decisions. Brandon Cohen, a talent manager for Mr. Asghari, confirmed the engagement on Sunday night. “The couple made their longstanding relationship official today and are deeply touched by the support, dedication and love expressed to them,” Mr. Cohen said. Ms. Spears and Mr. Asghari each shared posts on Instagram to announce the engagement and to show off Ms. Spears’s ring. Mr. Cohen said a New York City jeweler, Roman Malayev, designed the ring. The engagement came just days after lawyers for Ms. Spears’s father, James P. Spears, wrote in a filing, “If Ms. Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance.” Ms. Spears gave a statement in her case in June, sharing that she had been drugged, forced to work and prevented from removing her birth control device. “I just want my life back,” Ms. Spears said. “I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive. I don’t feel like I can live a full life.” In her statement, Ms. Spears said that under the conservatorship she was not able to marry or have a child. “I want to be able to get married and have a baby,” the singer said. “I was told right now in the conservatorship I am not able to get married or have a baby.” In a highly contested legal battle, Ms. Spears in July filed to have her father removed from his role as conservator of her estate. Mr. Spears initially pushed back on the request, but announced last month that he would step aside and work with the court to assure “an orderly transition to a new conservator.” Mr. Asghari is an actor who has worked on a number of movies and TV shows, including the Showtime series “Black Monday.” He also works as a fitness trainer. Mr. Asghari told Men’s Health in 2018 that he met Ms. Spears in 2016 while working on a music video for her song “Slumber Party.” Ms. Spears has been married twice before. In 2004 she married Jason Alexander, a childhood friend, for 55 hours. Later that year, Ms. Spears married Kevin Federline, a backup dancer, actor and rapper; they have two sons. Ms. Spears filed for divorce from Mr. Federline in 2006. x

After 13 years of a conservatorship which she has said has left her "abused" and "traumatized", things are suddenly moving very very quickly in Britney Spears' efforts to reclaim her own independence. Just a week after a well-publicised court day in which she addressed the conservatorship publicly for the first time, and four days after her co-conservator Bessamer Trust officially quit, Britney has now made it known that she has no plans to return to music anytime soon. While she has yet to discuss her plans publicly, Britney's longtime manager Larry Rudolph (who, incidentally, she alluded to several times during her court hearing) has revealed the news in a letter he sent to Britney's co-conservators - her father Jamie Spears and the controversial Jodi Montgomery. As well as the bombshell about her retirement, Rudolph's letter also elicited other tidbits of information, including the fact that he hadn't talked to her in over two and a half years until today - an interesting point given that her record label has released several songs under her name in the last year alone. While we're somewhat reluctant to trust anything that Britney allegedly said that we're not hearing from her very own mouth, Britney's plans to retire haven't come as a total surprise to fans. Last year, her son Jayden stated in a controversial Instagram live that Britney may never return to performing; and in her own Instagram posts, Britney has said that was unsure if she would ever return to music again. Still, the news is a sad moment for Britney fans who have supported her recording career for the last 23 years. Your thoughts?

Watch the video version of this article here: If you're not a fan of Britney Spears (otherwise inexplicably known as a member of the 'Britney Army') or a hissing Illuminati overlord, you may never have heard of 'Rebellion'. The little-known track was never released as a single, never performed live, and never received any critical response from anyone outside of the Britney fanbase. It's not much to listen to, right? And yet, since it was hinted at by Britney way back in 2006, it's been beyond doubt the most anticipated song for release in her back catalogue since that rumoured duet with Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Backed by questionable conspiracy theories regarding the Illuminati as well as certifiably true occurrences that happened during Spears' very public meltdown in early 2007, the song took on a life of it's own, standing in for a Britney on autopilot as a testament to her creativity and artistic integrity. But what lead to the song's initial creation and immense rise to popularity? Read on to find out more! 'Rebellion' was first teased way back in 2006 when Brit posted a short, fifty second snippet of the track on the main page of her website, accompanied by a very 2000's animation of the Princess of Pop transforming into a Bengal Tiger and a cacophony of roars. The snippet came just months after the announcement of Spears new album, intended at that time to be called The Original Doll (the title was a stab at labelmates The Pussycat Dolls), and the debut of what Britney was touting as the lead single without her label's permission, 'Mona Lisa'. Even though fans only heard a minute sample of what the track fully had to offer, it was clear that the song marked a new change of direction for Spears: 2003's masterpiece In The Zone may have introduced a mature, more emotionally in touch Britney, but 'Rebellion' explored the dark side of fame in a way that 'Lucky' had never done. Interestingly, the snippet wasn't the first time fans had heard lyrics to the same effect. Just months before, in May 2006, Britney had posted a poem on her website in a section called ‘Love B: Stream of Consciousness’. A personal diary, 'Love B' was a place for Brit's somewhat sentimental innermost thoughts to be shared with her fans: a typical entry in 2005 stated "Now that the chaos has subsided, I finally feel as though I have the control I've wanted over my own destiny". Titled ‘Remembrance of Who I Am’, the poem appeared beside Spears' diary entries only briefly before being pulled down only shortly after publication. The poem was accompanied by another message: "This is for everyone who thinks they know me..." Some of these lyrics did end up being used word for word in another unreleased Britney song. 'All That She Wants' was recorded in 2006 and leaked in 2008, and samples the Ace of Base song of the same name. But the lyrics regarding "voodoo" and being "fed" either poison or guilt have only been heard in 'Rebellion'. Here's where some snooping comes in. Using Wayback Machine, a website that allows you to view the contents of a website on a specific date, we can see that a full set of lyrics was actually uploaded to AZLyrics on the 24th of June, 2006, alongside an audio track that's no longer available. Looking at these lyrics, we can deduce that the snippet Britney posted was in fact of the second verse of the song, and that the first verse has remained unheard - almost. A low quality snippet of the song's opening can be heard in the following video of Spears cruising around Los Angeles in her car back in 2007, accompanied by boyfriend Isaac Cohen and listening to demos for her upcoming album Blackout. Songs on the tape also include 'State Of Grace', 'To Love Let Go' and 'Baby Boy', all of which leaked after the demo CD was found on eBay a few years ago; but 'Rebellion' has remained conspicuously unheard. Skip to 0:53 for the opening few moments of the track. Working on 'Rebellion' with Britney was three male collaborators: Christopher "Notes" Olsen (who had worked on Spears' husband's Kevin Federline's album Playing With Fire just months before), Scott Storch (who had remixed 'Me Against the Music' a few years prior) and Jeff Dandurand (a relative unknown). When interviewed about the track in 2013, Dandurand claimed that the song was "about the evil forces that pull the strings" and "very obscure in its presentation", going on to say that he and Spears had written lyrics to the track before Notes added melody and Storch polished the overall product. "People connect it with Iluminattis and this could be true," he added. Dandurand's opinion, however nonsensical, is one shared by a multitude of Spears fans. Perceiving 'Rebellion' as a cry for help, fans say that the track was Britney's attempt to expose the Illuminati cult that controlled Hollywood, and that it's failure to be heard represents a stifling of this effort by higher forces. Dandurand claims that he has attempted to purchase and release the track officially, even going so far as to state that he uploaded the entire song to YouTube at one point without fans noticing before being forced to take it down. Furthering this notion according to fans are Spears' increasingly robotic appearances following 2007, as well as the fact that Notes fell to his death in a casino in 2010 and that Storch embarked on a multi-million dollar cocaine binge that almost killed him in 2009. But despite fan thirst, we can't honestly say that we're sure that people would want to hear the full song at this point. Since 2007, a wealth of Blackout demos have leaked sporadically, such as the saccharine bounce 'Sugarfall' or the haunting ballad 'Untitled Lullabye'. Upon it's release, the album went down in history as the best in her catalogue, pushing boundaries sonically and sexually; but the songs on the demo CD that Britney jammed to in her car were all notably absent, as were any others that had been written by the singer herself. Instead, we got an album full of tracks such as 'Gimme More': a groundbreaking jam of a song which nevertheless disappoints when we consider how emotionally open Spears had been in earlier tracks. Amid rumours that Spears' team "destroyed" any copy of the track (one seemingly started by a disgruntled former RCA Records employee) and what fans see as a continued downward spiral in Spears personal life and music, 'Rebellion' could reveal something crucial about the most difficult period in Spears' life; or, even better, inspire her to try her hand at songwriting in the future. On the other hand, it's unlikely that any song released after almost a decade of hype will achieve everything that the fans expect of it. Judging by Spears' shaky vocals in the snippet and the outdated, clumsy R&B production, the song was in incredibly early demo stages when recorded: and even if Dandurand says that the track was remixed by Notes in 2009 and considered for release once more in that year, it's unlikely that any song Spears wrote in the lead up to her breakdown could be updated to align with her current situation. Perhaps it's better off that the full version of 'Rebellion' remains unreleased, and that fans are left only with a small, shaky snippet full of promise and intrigue: a clip unaffected by record labels or the general public which will remain forever as a lasting testament to Spears talent and identity even as the rest of the world turned on her.

In December 2004, a 22 year old Britney Spears walked into the KIIS FM offices in Burbank carrying an unmarked CD to meet radio host Jesse Lozano. The meeting was pre-planned, but only barely; Spears had called about an hour before to ask whether she could play her new song live, a phone call that Lozano had immediately thought was a prank. “Usually, you don’t believe that,” he would later state. In other words: usually, this kind of meeting would have to be cleared by layer upon layer of managers, PR agents and radio executives before it could ever come to fruition. But on that particular day, Britney had gone rogue. Following the worldwide success of her 2003 album In The Zone, Britney had gone on to release Greatest Hits: My Prerogative the month before, and was still promoting the titular Bobby Brown cover as the album’s first single when she showed up at KIIS. But that wasn’t all that had happened in her life recently. In 2004 alone, Britney had joined the religion Kabbalah on recommendation of her friend Madonna; eloped to Vegas with childhood friend Jason Alexander only to annul the marriage 55 hours later; cancelled The Onyx Hotel Tour after breaking her knee and having to go through arthroscopic surgery; married backup dancer Kevin Federline after five months of knowing him; and been writing new material for an album since at least November 2003, when In The Zone was released. Somewhat contradictorily, she had also announced an extremely short-lived career break through her official website in order to start a family. Later, Britney would backtrack from her planned “break” in a letter posted to her official fansite. “I think I should rephrase myself from my previous letters when I was talking about taking a 'break'. What I meant was I am taking a break from being told what to do [...] It's cool when you look at someone and don't know whether they are at work or play since it's all the same to them. The things I've been doing for work lately have been so much fun, because it's not like work to me anymore.” After a year of huge career highs and personal lows, Britney was headed to KIIS to take control of a situation and prove her own independence, despite what her management team may have wanted. The song that Britney played on that day was ‘Mona Lisa’, a strangely introspective and prophetic song which would go on to launch a thousand fan theories. Using da Vinci’s famous artwork as it’s subject, the song discusses a character on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Now see everyone's watching as she starts to fall/They want her to breakdown, be a legend of her fall,” Britney sings, her voice unusually shaky, sharp and unpolished; before launching into an unexpected hymnal during the bridge. "It definitely has the raw thing going on," Brit mentioned during her radio appearance. "My band, we didn't use ProTools or anything with it. It's all live [...] It will get better — this is a really, really rough mix." Britney’s choice to compare herself to ‘Mona Lisa’ is an interesting one, and one that she would maintain when she directed her next music video for ‘Do Somethin’’ under the pseudonym ‘Mona Lisa’ a few months later. "I kinda think she's like my alter ego whenever I feel like being mean or possibly like bustin' people around to get stuff right," she told TRL at the time. "It's kinda easier to be called 'Mona Lisa' instead of Britney." But as much as Britney stated that Mona Lisa was an alter ego, in many ways it seemed as though that was the real her. da Vinci’s artwork is one of the most well-known images in the world, yet with its with it’s enigmatic smile and mysterious backstory it's also one of the most hotly debated. Moreover, it’s one of the most commonly reproduced artworks in history, with innumerable copies being made for placement on office walls, handbags and phone cases. Britney related to ‘Mona Lisa’ as a public figure who was ready to tear down her reproductions and let people finally see the real her. This interest in “originals” and “copies” was one Britney clearly intended to explore more, as she let slip in a short interview prior to the ‘Mona Lisa’ premiere. "[The album is] probably going to be called Original Doll," Britney told Lozano on air. She hoped to release it by summertime, and had clearly been working on it in earnest given that it was "halfway done". The title of the album - as well as the subject matter of 'Mona Lisa' itself - was a sly dig towards Britney’s management, who at the time was in the process of seeking “Britney Spears types” for an up-and-coming girl group, The Pussycat Dolls. Later, it would be used by fans in dark corners of the Internet as evidence that the “original” Britney had been replaced with an emotionless clone around this time to fulfil the rest of her career duties. But despite the excitement Britney expressed during her impromptu announcement of the album, her record label was adamant that there were no concrete plans to release anything officially. At the time, no one involved in the recording of the song had even been paid yet. “No album is scheduled at the moment, but Britney is in the studio working on some material,” Jive Records said in a statement to Billboard. “There are no plans to service ‘Mona Lisa’ to the radio.” Ultimately, ‘Mona Lisa’ was the only song that was ever officially confirmed for Original Doll, and when that album didn’t come to fruition it was reworked for the Chaotic EP, the soundtrack to Britney and Federline’s short-lived reality show. Also on the EP was 'Chaotic', which was recorded with Bloodshy & Avant, Henrik Jonback and Michelle Bell; and ‘Someday (I Will Understand)’, which Britney wrote herself. Of all the songs that have been speculated to appear on Original Doll, these two are the most likely choices: Henrik Jonback confirmed that he had written with Britney on her German Onyx Hotel Tour bus in 2004, which was around the same time that ‘Mona Lisa’ was recorded, and the Guy Sigsworth-produced ‘Someday’ was written in early 2005 before Spears learned of her first pregnancy, just a month or two after the Original Doll announcement. The EP’s bonus track ‘Over To You Now’, shares a producer with 'Someday' and is another possible inclusion for the album, although many fans speculate that the album was instead an In The Zone outtake due to its sound. It’s also possible that the new recordings on Greatest Hits: My Prerogative had at one point been considered for Original Doll. ‘My Prerogative’ and ‘Do Somethin’’ were both recorded on different legs of the Onyx Hotel Tour, around the same time as ‘Mona Lisa’, and feature a similar percussive R&B style. Some fans have speculated that as both of these songs were produced by Bloodshy & Avant (the producers of 'Mona Lisa'), they were at one point intended to have produced the whole album - in interviews in early 2004, Britney stated that she wanted to work with one producer on her next album, and she worked with them in spring of that year. Another Bloodshy & Avant production 'I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)', which was also on the album, had already been released nine months earlier alongside 'Don't Hang Up', 'The Answer' and 'Girls and Boys' as bonus tracks on Britney's DVD for In The Zone; but as these were all recorded pre-Onyx Hotel they are generally considered to be from a different era. On top of this, there’s several songs which have leaked in recent years which fans attribute to Original Doll, even though in reality they were recorded prior to In The Zone. These songs include ‘Look Who’s Talking’, a song about Britney’s ex Justin Timberlake; ‘Like I’m Fallin’', a country inspired song; ‘Take Off’, an anti-war and pro-gay rights anthem; ‘Money, Love, and Happiness’, produced by a young RedOne; ‘Welcome to Me’, a sex kitten anthem which asks Britney’s lover to "take control"; ‘Peep Show’, which we’ve only heard a snippet of; ‘Ouch’, a song about heartbreak; and ‘Conscience’, known alternatively as ‘Conscious’. While all of these songs in their demo form are quite stripped back and could sit nicely alongside ‘Mona Lisa’, there’s no suggestion that they were ever brought out of the vault to be reworked after In The Zone. With fans eagerly awaiting the 2005 release date of Original Doll, the hot dry summer days seemed so stretch on endlessly with only the announcement of B In The Mix: The Remixes Vol. 1 to keep them satiated. Despite this, Britney continued to write and record songs around this time that matched the Original Doll style, including 'Pulse', which was later repurposed for English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark; 'Sippin' On', which was allegedly originally recorded for In The Zone; 'Welcome To Me', written by Britney alongside her tour choreographer Wade Robson and Carole Bayer Sager; 'State Of Grace', a lush mid-tempo written by Steve Anderson, Lisa Greene and Steve Lee; ‘For My Sister’, a soulful guitar track written entirely by Britney; 'Untitled Lullabye', an eerie ballad written and produced by William Anderson; and 'To Love Let Go', written by Britney, Tom Craskey and Devo Springsteen. While all of these songs explored variations on the R&B genre, most are notable for featuring intensely personal lyrics about love, family and fame. Fan-made album artwork for Original Doll Although all of these songs would have made sense on an album alongside 'Mona Lisa', it's impossible to predict where planning for that project truly ended and recording began to morph into what would ultimately become Britney's next official release, Blackout. The only clue we have to Original Doll being totally scrapped is a comment by 'Everybody' producer J.R. Rotem, who met Britney in March of 2006 and stated in April that she had just begun recording a new album and "doesn't have too much" material for it. Similiarly, it's unknown exactly why Original Doll was cancelled, although some fans speculate that the album became the centre of a dispute with Jive Records, who was unhappy about Britney premiering new unreleased music in the middle of the promotional cycle for Greatest Hits: My Prerogative and who recognised the criticism Britney launched their way with 'Mona Lisa'. This was alluded to in a BBC Entertainment UK article which stated that Jive put the album on hold as punishment for Britney playing the song without permission - a viewpoint shared by KIIS host Clarence Barnes, who stated, "In the back of my mind I’m thinking, 'No signed artist would ever do that because [Jive CEO] Barry Weiss would cut them in half with a cleaver'". According to the BBC, Spears allegedly also backtracked on Original Doll during the TRL interview, stating that there was no album in the works; however, video footage of this can not be found.. Even if Britney was persisting with the album, 'Mona Lisa' was already dead in the water by January 2005, when Britney confirmed that the song would no longer appear on any album but would instead be repurposed for Chaotic. Regardless of the reasoning, by 2007 it seemed as though Britney had officially given up the fight for Original Doll. By this point she had instead turned her full attention to recording Blackout, which had a markedly different sound. While ‘Mona Lisa’ focused on the raw vulnerability in Britney’s voice with percussive, funky production, Blackout cuts like ‘Gimme More’ used Spears’ voice as just another processed instrument to layer atop heavy EDM beats, and their lyrics were for the most part a world away from any of Britney’s earlier more personal cuts. Despite being a revolutionary album, Blackout lacked the emotional connection that Spears had teased two years prior with ‘Mona Lisa’. Of course, Blackout wasn’t the only thing to happen to Spears in 2007. Britney’s mental breakdown is at this point stuff of legend, with images of her shaving her head, wielding an umbrella as she smashes car windshields and crying in a British accent all taking a permanent place in pop culture history. A bald Britney Spears wields an umbrella Looking back at Original Doll retroactively, we can’t help but wonder: would Spears’ breakdown have even happened if she’d been able to release the album of her dreams? Celebrities nowadays have unprecedented allowance to express themselves however they want, with social media like Twitter and Instagram allowing them to speak directly to fans without interference from management. But Britney didn’t have that luxury: the only way she could tell the world how she was feeling was through her music, and, if she was up for the risk, through impromptu KIIS FM interviews. With both of those avenues taken away from her, it seems like it was almost inevitable for Britney to crack under pressure the way she did. With the Britney Spears of 2018 more overprotected and inaccessible than ever, it seems likely that fans yearning for information on Original Doll will only intensify. But it’s not just the music that has them hungry for more; it’s the promise of a Spears who was breaking out of her shell to be exactly who she wanted to be for the first time in her life. In October of 2004, around the time she became engaged to Federline and two months before she premiered ‘Mona Lisa’, Britney wrote a letter to her fansite alluding to the release of Greatest Hits: My Prerogative. It’s charming in a “little girl writes in her diary” kind of way, but it’s also an incredible insight into Britney’s mindset at the time. Editor's Note: This is an updated version of an article that was originally posted on 22/11/2018.

Watch the video version of this article here! Lady Gaga is well known for making promises to her fans which she doesn't always come through on. Between a handful of unreleased music videos and an entire scrapped album, Little Monsters have gotten used to taking every announcement with a grain of salt and waiting for concrete releases before jumping on the hype bandwagon. But out of all of her broken promises, most likely the hardest for Gaga's fans to digest are the failed collaborations which she's teased before their ultimate cancellation. There are endless reasons for such cancellations, but it's safe to say that many stem from Gaga's own pickiness when it comes to her musical output. Although Gaga has worked with legends like Cher, Elton John and Britney Spears, none of these collaborations were ultimately released due to Gaga's displeasure with the material; while songs featuring rent-a-rappers such as Flo Rida and Too $hort and alleged child molester R. Kelly have been pushed by Gaga as potential hits. In other cases, behind the scenes dramas seem to have been the major contributing factor to cancellations, while yet others appear to simply be a case of bad timing. In this list, we'll be looking at eighteen of Gaga's most high-profile features which have remained unheard. Is anyone else as excited as I am to hear #9? 1. T.I. - Lick It (Feat. Lady Gaga) T.I. and Gaga worked together on the infamous 'Jewels and Drugs' for Gaga's ill-fated ARTPOP album, but if T.I. had had his way they would have done so a lot sooner. Back in 2010, T.I. teased that he and Gaga had worked together on a song called 'Lick It', intended at that point for his album No Mercy. "The one we have right now is entitled 'Lick It'," he stated, teasing, "I think we both have a tendency to shock the world in a lot of different ways." He further hinted that the two may continue to work together, saying "[We're] gonna go back in [the studio] and record some more songs." Ultimately, any collaboration they worked on for the album remained unreleased. According to former RadioARTPOP host Derek, who had ties to Gaga's team, Gaga found the song too "raunchy" and had never truly intended to release it with her vocals, even sending it to other singers to feature on. 2. T.I. - New National Anthem (Feat. Lady Gaga) Following the release of 'Jewels and Drugs', T.I. later mentioned that he was in the "final stages" of having Gaga record the chorus vocals for 'New National Anthem', a song later released as a single off Paperwork. Originally featuring demo vocals from Victoria Monet, the song would later go on to feature frequent collaborator Skylar Grey, with T.I. stating that Gaga was too "busy with her current project" to record vocals for the song. 3. Britney Spears - Telephone (Feat. Lady Gaga) You may remember that 'Telephone' was one of many hits offered to Britney that she eventually turned down for the Circus album, apparently because of the presence of another phone-themed song 'Phonography' on the project. But what you may not realise is that 'Telephone' was eventually reworked in duet form for Gaga and Britney, before debate over who owned the song halted it's release. At the time, Britney's team wanted the track for her upcoming greatest hits compilation The Singles Collection, while Gaga wanted it for The Fame Monster. After failing to come to a compromise over who the song belonged to, Gaga ended up taking it back and adding Beyoncé as a featured artist instead, leading to the hit we all know and love today. 4. Lady Gaga - TBA (Feat. Britney Spears) It was later hinted that Gaga and Britney may have had something in the works following the release of ARTPOP. When asked who she would like to work with next, Britney stated, "I would do a duet with Lady Gaga. I think that would be a lot of fun," continuing, "I think she's very different and interesting and intricate." Gaga then took to Twitter to publicly support the duet, stating: Although it was never officially confirmed that they worked on anything together, Gaga did attend Britney's Piece of Me show soon after, which may have been a way for them to further discuss the duet. Sadly, nothing ever eventuated. 5. Elton John & Lady Gaga - Hello Hello 'Hello Hello' was the first of many Elton and Gaga duets, and was recorded for the release of the 2011 Elton-funded musical animation Gnomeo & Juliet. Originally, the duet was meant to be included on the official soundtrack to the film; but possibly due to label disputes, the duet version was cut from the soundtrack and can now only be heard in the full film. While Elton's solo version appears on the album, the duet did leak several months later. 6. Lady Gaga - Room In My Heart (Feat. Elton John) In an interview with Zane Lowe prior to the release of Joanne, Elton confirmed that he had a writing session with Gaga scheduled for the next day, saying "I'm writing with Lady Gaga tomorrow". He stated that while he wasn't a fan of ARTPOP, he had heard several songs from Joanne and found them to be a return to form. Several months later, a title named 'Room In My Heart' was registered to publishing sites, with the writers listed as Gaga and Elton and the performer as Gaga alone. A song with the same title, but this time written by Diane Warren, was also registered at the same time. Unfortunately, any Elton collaboration that may have existed remains unreleased, despite the fact that it doubtless would have worked well on the rockabilly-inspired album. 7. Kendrick Lamar - PARTYNAUSEOUS (Feat. Lady Gaga) 'PARTYNAUSEOUS' was originally conceived as a song by Kendrick Lamar featuring Gaga back in 2012. It was planned to be released as a single on September 6th of that year from Lamar's album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, but was cut due to creative differences on which direction the song should take. This led to two different versions of the song existing: one, a slow R&B version which leaked in 2015; and another, an EDM-styled rave track which Gaga reworked as an interlude for the ARTPOP Ball tour. The song, from Gaga's perspective, details her efforts to make peace with the country of Indonesia, which banned her from performing during The Born This Way Ball Tour in 2012. 8. Kendrick Lamar - Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe (Feat. Lady Gaga) 'Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe' was another Kendrick Lamar collaboration which Gaga sang the chorus for. After their creative relationship ended, Kendrick released a solo version of the track on his album (later recruiting Jay-Z for the single release), while Gaga later leaked her contribution to the song online. "We had a date, but we had to meet the deadline for the pre-order date," Kendrick explained when asked why the song went unreleased. "That’s just the business side coming through and messing things up. But you know it’s God’s plan. I’m not really too tight about it because I know we have something special." 9. Paul McCartney - TBA (Feat. Lady Gaga) Paul McCartney has had a song with Gaga in the can since 2015, when Gaga announced via Instagram that they had been in a session alongside instrumentalists such as Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. It was later revealed that the track, described as a "rollicking tune", was in fact a soundtrack selection for McCartney's long-awaited film High in the Clouds. An adaptation of his 2005 book on capitalism, High in the Clouds has been in the works since 2009 and has only just gotten a writer, so it's unlikely to be released anytime soon; but as far as we know, this duet is still planned for release at some point in the future. 10. The Midway State - Don't Give Up (Feat. Lady Gaga) 'Don't Give Up' is a cover of a duet originally recorded by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. The idea for the collaboration came from Gaga's producer Martin Kierszenbaum, who introduced The Midway State and Gaga in 2008. "When we finished [recording], we were both super into it so shortly thereafter we recorded a video for the song [in L.A.]," said the band's Nathan Ferraro. The video itself was a homage to the original video by Gabriel and Bush, and features a still shot of Gaga and Ferraro embracing as the camera moves around them. The video, along with the song, leaked in 2008. "I didn't cry but I was disappointed," said Ferraro. "In this business you get used to that, it's just a snap of the fingers. It was just a matter of she was blowing up at the time and they can't put a huge push or millions of dollars behind every single artistic thing she does". 11. Cher - The Greatest Thing (Feat. Lady Gaga) 'The Greatest Thing' is a song originally recorded in 2007 by Gaga and longtime producer RedOne under the name 'Greatest'. "I wrote that song a long time ago, and I've never put it on one of my own albums for, really, no particular reason," Gaga said in an MTV interview. "I always write these concept records, and it just didn't fit in. But it's always been, like, this big, massive, beautiful hit record and everyone always says, 'Why don't you put that on your album?' And I said, 'I don't know, it just doesn't fit with everything else.'" Later, in 2011, when RedOne and Cher were collaborating, he pitched her the song for potential inclusion on her 25th studio album Closer To The Truth. Originally, the song was meant to be a solo track; but it was later revealed that Gaga wanted to appear on a remix "for the gays", before being convinced by RedOne to appear on the original. While the song was at one point intended to be the second single from the album, Gaga ultimately decided that she didn't like her vocals on the song, and Cher ended up axing it entirely after RedOne failed to get in contact with her in time. The song would later leak in 2013. 12. Trina - Let Dem Hoes Fight (Feat. Lady Gaga & Kalenna) 'Let Dem Hoes Fight' was one of three songs Gaga worked on alongside Kalenna, Jim Jonsin and The JAM in 2008. "We started writing a song called 'Freezer Burn' and that song turned out really good, so we did another song called 'Kaboom.'," explained Jonsin. "We were playing the songs back, trying to figure out who to give them to. So I said, ‘As far as the labels are concerned, just let them hoes fight over who gets the song.’ Everyone was like, 'Jim, that’s a great song title!' And in like 20 minutes, we had that song with Lady Gaga." A year later, when Trina was working on her album Amazin, Jonsin suggested that she rework the track for herself featuring Gaga for release on the album. While Gaga was featured on the song when the album was sent out for review, she was removed from the track by the time the album was officially released, possibly due to label conflicts. However, her version did later leak. 13. Barbra Streisand - TBA (Feat. Lady Gaga) Barbra Streisand's thirty fourth album Partners, an all-male duet album, was in the works for over two years before it was ultimately released. When it was first announced in 2012, producer Walter Afanasieff teased that the album would include collaborations with Robin Thicke, Usher, Yo Yo Ma, Willie Nelson and Babyface - although ultimately, only the Babyface duet would make the cut. Two years later he teased that "Lionel Richie, [...] Blake Shelton, Stevie Wonder, Josh Groban, Michael Bublè, Lady Gaga, Bette Midler, Andrea Bocelli, Beyoncè, Billy Joel [and] John Mayer" would all appear on the album, but ultimately the three females made mention of were not included on the final tracklisting. It's unknown if a duet was ever recorded, but it's possible that Barbra and Gaga recorded a song together which was scrapped when she decided to go with an all-male list of partners. 14. Lady Gaga - Ratchet (Feat. Azealia Banks) 'Ratchet' was a collaboration recorded with Azealia Banks, intended for the ARTPOP project. Ultimately, after some untimely Twitter beefs on Banks's part, the song was cut from ARTPOP with Gaga stating that Banks had a "bad attitude". We have a small snippet of Gaga performing the track live, and an official instrumental was later released by producer DJ White Shadow on his Clock Is Ticking EP in 2013; but as of yet, the full version of the song has yet to be heard. 15. Lady Gaga - Red Flame (Feat. Azealia Banks) 'Red Flame' was another collaboration recorded with Azealia Banks for ARTPOP, which was cut for the same reason as 'Ratchet'. A sister song to 'Mary Jane Holland', the song explores the 'Princess High' persona Gaga was embodying at the time. A watermarked version of the song went on to leak in 2016, but it seemed to be in an unfinished state. 16. Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett - Paradise 'Paradise' was initially announced for Gaga's collaborative album with Tony Bennett, Cheek to Cheek, as one of several original songs on the album. Like much of Joanne after it, the song was a dedication to Gaga's aunt who passed away of lupus, and was intended to mark the conversation she had with her brother before she passed. Ultimately, the song went unreleased due to Gaga's nervousness over her jazz composition abilities, although she hinted that she may release the song in the future. It's unknown if Gaga was the sole artist to feature on the song or if Bennett was also involved. 17. Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett - TBA When Cheek to Cheek was first announced, it was initially only going to include songs by one songwriter. "I can't mention the composer because I don't want anybody to do it before we do it, but there's a great composer that's very underrated, very famous, but not as famous as Gershwin or Porter," Bennett stated. "But he did as many hit songs as anybody, and so we're gonna do a big swinging album." Ultimately, the album featured a collection of songs from the Great American Songbook (including cuts from Gershwin and Porter), and only a few of them were written by the same composers. Given that recording for Cheek to Cheek occured quite a while after it's announcement, it's unlikely that a full album of songs by just one songwriter was ever recorded. 18. Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett - TBA Immediately after the release of Cheek to Cheek, Bennett announced that he and Gaga were planning a potential sequel to the album inspired by Cole Porter's musical Red, Hot and Blue, a statement he echoed a year later when he revealed that they were releasing an album full of Porter renditions. According to Bennett, Gaga wanted to record a follow-up "right away". While giving a performance in Idaho in 2015, Bennett announced that the album would drop in 2016; and a year later, Bennett stated that the two had continued discussions regarding a second album, and that they would begin recording in 2017. In late 2017, he stated that he and Gaga had a duet that would drop on New Year's Eve, but this also did not occur. It's currently unknown if the two have recorded anything beyond their first album together. Which of Lady Gaga's unreleased collaborations do you most want to hear? Who are you most interested in hearing her collaborate with next? Let us know in the comments down below!

When Britney Spears received the MTV Video Vanguard Award in 2011, she was praised for her iconic music videos like the schoolgirl-themed '...Baby One More Time', the intergalactic 'Oops, I Did It Again...', the sweaty and sexy 'I'm A Slave 4 U' and the film noirish 'Toxic'. But what went unmentioned was the multitude of music videos that Britney has planned throughout her career that have been cancelled for one reason or another. From music videos that were entirely filmed and edited before being scrapped (such as 'Make Me...') to others which were edited heavily after their themes proved to be problematic (hello, teen pregnancy in 'Born To Make You Happy') to mere concepts that never even saw a day of filming (like 'Hot As Ice'), Britney has had at least twenty four music videos in her career that have been scrapped. In this article we'll look over everything we know about these videos so far, and explore some of the iconic moments that could have been if they'd been released. 1. ...Baby One More Time '...Baby One More Time' is the song that propelled Britney into stardom, and it's music video is an undeniable part of it's appeal - but if it hadn't been for Britney herself, the video could have turned out very differently. Jive initially hired Joseph Khan - who would later go on to work with Britney on music videos for 'Stronger', 'Toxic', 'Womanizer' and 'Perfume - to direct, and he got to the storyboard stage with a sci-fi inspired concept involving 2D animation, monsters and Britney as part of a hero group alternately described as "Power Rangers" or "Transformers". "They had this really bizarre video idea, this animated Power Ranger-y thing," Britney explained in her first ever Rolling Stone cover story. "I said, 'This is not right. If you want me to reach four-year-olds, then OK, but if you want me to reach my age group...'" Ultimately, Jive scrapped the projected $800 000 Khan video and opted to go with Britney's much more simple vision which featured her as a bored schoolgirl dancing with her friends, which was made for around $250 000. Even then, Britney was continually making changes, especially when it came to wardrobe. When director Nigel Dick brought in jeans and a t-shirt for her to wear, Britney instead suggested, "'Why don't we have knee-highs and tie the shirts up to give it a little attitude?' - so it wouldn't be boring and cheesy." Britney ultimately had these pieces purchased from Kmart, and her first iconic outfit was born. 2. Born To Make You Happy Although it can't be confirmed, rumour has it that the original Billie Woodruff-directed music video for 'Born To Make You Happy' was to feature a sleeping Britney dreaming about her ex-lover, with whom she was secretly pregnant. Allegedly, once the idea was leaked to the press and received a negative reception, Jive cancelled the idea and instead went with the dance-heavy version of the video we ultimately received. Interestingly, reviewers have pointed out that the scenes that frame the beginning and end of the video feature a sleeping Britney who appears to be heavily pregnant in at least one shot. It's possible that these scenes, and others involving the same bedroom set and Britney and her lover having a pillow fight, were leftovers from the original music video. 3. When Your Eyes Say It 'When Your Eyes Say It' was originally considered as the fourth single from Oops!... I Did It Again, to the extent that a music video was shot for the song in January 2001. The video was shot by directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who would later go on to direct films such as Little Miss Sunshine and Battle of the Sexes. Ultimately, 'Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know' was instead chosen to be the album's last single, and no elements of 'When Your Eyes Say It' have been seen by the public since it's filming. 4. Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know After 'When Your Eyes Say It' was scrapped, a music video for 'Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know' was filmed in early 2001. Britney was inspired to choose American photographer Herb Ritts as the director following his work on Janet Jackson's 'Love Will Never Do (Without You)'. In February of 2001, however, MTV.co.uk posted a story claiming that, "Britney Spears will re-shoot the video for her next single, 'Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know' because she is unhappy with the final edit." Ultimately, it appears as if the video was not reshot, as the MTV article explicitly states that the original video was shot on a Miami Beach with Ritts in the last week of January and featured a French model - all of which is also true for the released version. Despite this, cuts were made to the music video to remove some of the raunchier scenes. Amidst reports that her boyfriend at the time Justin Timberlake was bothered by her kissing scenes in the music video, The Philadelphia Enquirer reported that Britney's mother Lynne asked for certain shots to be removed from the video to avoid some of the more explicitly sexual content, to which Britney agreed. 5. I Love Rock N Roll 'I Love Rock N Roll' was recorded for the Crossroads film in which Britney stars, before making the tracklisting for her third album Britney as the album's fourth single. Directed by Chris Applebaum, the music video was shot in New York and was one of Britney's raunchiest yet. The raunch factor was pushed to the next level in a director's cut of the video that leaked online which featured Britney licking a puddle of oil from the floor, amongst other unseen shots. These scenes was not featured in the original video, or in the alternate cut that appeared on the Greatest Hits: My Prerogative home release, but can still be found online. 6. Me Against The Music (Feat. Madonna) It's possible that 'Me Against The Music' was originally meant to be directed by Madonna's filmmaker husband Guy Ritchie, known for directing films such as Sherlock Holmes and Aladdin. After People.com first announced his involvement, IMDB confirmed this saying that Madonna will play a "kinky leather-clad dominatrix" and "scary nightclub owner with a string of luscious ladies on leashes" who "lures innocent scantily-clad Britney into a private room filled with other beauties". However, when asked about these rumours at an Italian press conference, Britney stated, "No, that isn't true"; and Madonna's representative Liz Rosenberg explicitly stated, "Guy Ritchie is not directing". Even so, MTV confirmed that there are at least some deleted scenes from 'Me Against The Music'. Describing their first look at the music video, MTV described specifics about it's plot while mentioning "cool kids, flaunting pink and purple hair while taking whiffs from an oxygen tank". While most of the scenes MTV described were present in the finished product, the oxygen tank scenes are nowhere to be found. 7. Everytime Like 'Born To Make You Happy' before it, 'Everytime' originally had a much darker video concept which was altered after it was leaked to the press and received a negative reaction. In March of 2004, MTV reported an exclusive first look at the video concept, which explicitly described Britney dying due to an overdose before being reincarnated in some form, as well as a mysterious final shot. Director David LaChapelle, who had previously shot Britney for Rolling Stone, confirmed later in 2019 that the death theme had been Britney's own idea, saying, “For the video ‘ever time’ [sic] the only direction Britney gave me for the video was that she wanted to die, that she wanted to die in the video." After the press picked up on the video and the suicide concept began to receive negative attention, Britney's team released a statement stating that there was never any intent for her character's overdose to be viewed as intentional and that she had changed the music video to make this apparent. "Britney Spears was uncomfortable with these treatments due to the potential for a fictional accidental occurrence to be misinterpreted as a suicide," said Jive representatives. "Ms. Spears revised the treatment to ensure the video for 'Everytime' will not have a scene in it that could in any way be perceived as a reference to a suicide." Ultimately, the final version of 'Everytime' plays out relatively similiar to its original treatment for it's first half, although the scene in which Britney pours wine from the gift basket was cut. In the final version, however, Britney's brush with death comes from a head trauma presumably caused by her violent interactions with the paparazzi, and all hints towards a drug overdose are removed. Furthermore, Britney walks through a hospital and witnesses a child being born in the final cut of the video, instead of walking past her boyfriend trying to revive her. The final version of 'Everytime' ends with Britney emerging from the bathtub with a smile on her face, as if her death was simply a fantasy; it is unknown if this was the final scene that was planned to appear in the original video. 8. Outrageous Possibly the most infamous of all of Britney's unreleased music videos, 'Outrageous' entered production with full storyboard, plot and choreography planned out with the assistance of director Dave Meyers, who would also direct videos for 'Lucky', 'Boys' and 'Radar' as well as the 'Curious' fragrance commercial. Reports state that filming began on June 8, 2004 and the video was scheduled to be ready for air by June 28 when it would premiere on MTV. Along with making a cameo in the music video, rapper Snoop Dogg was also intended to be featured on a remixed version of the song that would be serviced to radio stations. The song was also intended to be featured as the main theme song for the Halle Berry-fronted Catwoman film. Sadly, after one day of shooting the entire production was abruptly cancelled due to a knee injury sustained by Britney on set. Fans did see some of the scenes, however: a makeshift promotional video was spliced together from the footage that had been shot pre-injury for the Greatest Hits: My Prerogative video tape release, which included Britney walking the streets of New York in a black trench coat, performing choreography alongside her back-up dancers on a wet city street, and playing basketball with Snoop Dogg. Rumour has it that there were at least two other scenes that were initially planned for the music video, although it is unknown if either of them ever progressed past the initial planning stage. One report stated that Meyers wanted Britney to "don a replica Catwoman outfit" for the video, which Britney refused; while another said that the video was to follow Britney "being mugged in New York and Catwoman comes to the rescue". Sadly, with the video's cancellation the song also lost its status as theme song for Catwoman and Britney cancelled all remaining dates on her The Onyx Hotel Tour, marking the beginning of the downward spiral that would occur in years to come. 9. Gimme More Although the final version of the Jake Sarfaty-directed 'Gimme More' is relatively simplistic, featuring a blonde-haired Britney voyeuristically watching a brunette-haired Britney as she pole-dances in a nightclub, the music video was actually in the works for several months and shot over multiple days before being "tweaked with input from her advisers" for it's final release. Notably, the "rebirth" and "vintage"-themed video was said to have been "choreographed entirely by Britney herself," with Brit also being involved "as early as the storyboard process, all the way through to casting and production design, with Sarafty being "handpicked by Britney". Britney was also alleged by OK Magazine to have spent $30 000 of her own money on the music video, with extras being asked to volunteer their time for free so as to save on budget. Amongst the deleted scenes include shots of Britney walking down a street wearing funeral garb - some of these shots were leaked in 2011 alongside an alternate cut of the video, although yet others which feature her entering or exiting a limo in this outfit have yet to be seen outside of a leaked behind the scenes photo. Continuing the funeral theme is another behind the scenes photo that allegedly shows a casket in the middle of the nightclub. Another shot in the alternate cut of the video features Britney sitting in a bed alongside a cat - a still posted by Sarfaty on his official website following the video release confirms that there was another outfit change that was shot for this scene. Similarly, yet another still posted by Sarfaty shows Britney pole-dancing in a denim outfit that was not featured in the final cut. There are also stills online that feature Britney completely shirtless, with a rose-like design similar to the pattern on her arm (alongside the snake on her forearm) tattooed over her nipples. A star-like design was also featured on the wall on-set, although it didn't end up making an appearance in the video. Instead, the background featuring silhouettes of James Bond-esque women (who also appeared in the VMAs performance and the 'Piece of Me' video) are references to the logo of fashion brand Lisa Kline. Although it has been mostly erased in the final video, the original vision for 'Gimme More' was also meant to feature a strong Elvis Presley influence, which explains Britney's short rendition of Presley's 'Trouble' at the VMAs in the month before the video's release. Britney hired Slim K, a dancer and noted Elvis impersonator, to appear in the music video, and matching drawings of Elvis and Britney were featured on the wall. Following his removal from the video, Slim K stated on MySpace, "Britney took a direction I'm not part of.. and quite frankly got NO idea where she's heading.. not my cup of tea though ... the video is dissapointing in my opinion .." 10. Piece of Me 'Piece of Me' was filmed on November 27th and 28th, 2007 and directed by Wayne Isham, who had previously worked with Britney on 'I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman'. Before the music video was shot, actor Billy Orson (who was cast as a paparazzo in the clip) described a scene to the Spanish-language Jaleouse Magazine in which Britney walks the red carpet. "While passing on a red carpet, she walks with her dancers, poses, and suddenly begins to dance in front of us," the translation reads. "The paparazzi begin to move forward, to push her and at some point she takes out a grenade, which ends up being only a sphere of water. Her and her laughing dancers go into a building, where the video continues." It's possible that this scene was cut due to Britney's fourteen hour lateness to the set, which was confirmed by Isham in 2009. In the same 2009 interview, Isham also confirmed that the choreography Britney performs in the bathroom during the song's breakdown was a last minute addition by Spears herself. "She choreographed that last dance at the very end," he confirmed. "She did that on her own and said, 'Let's go for it.'" Additional scenes from 'Piece of Me' can also be found in the international version of the music video, which substitutes many of the opening shots with scenes of Britney wearing a short bob wig and stripping off her jacket. The improved transitions in this version between Britney dancing and the newspapers covering her suggest that this was the original cut made by Isham. 11. Hot As Ice In early 2008, several news outlets with personal connections to Britney began to report that she was planning a music video for 'Hot As Ice' and that she'd been working intensely on the choreography. On January 21st, X17Online reported that several of their photographers had been invited to a party at Britney's house and that she'd voiced her displeasure with the 'Piece of Me' music video, saying, "I don't like the 'Piece of Me' video. The stuff they show of me on TV looks old," - a sentiment she would echo later in the year in a radio interview with Z100. As a result, Britney stated that she'd be taking control of her next music video which would be "something new, something really cool", which the publication confirmed to be 'Hot As Ice'. On the same day, People Magazine reported that Britney had been seen at Millennium Dance Complex, with the dance studio's owner Robert Baker confirming "She is working on the choreography for her song 'Hot as Ice'. She rehearsed an amazing routine with a chair." While Britney's rehearsals were briefly paused by her hospitalisation on January 31st, People reported that she returned to Millennium on February 8th and 9th to continue working on the choreography for 'Hot As Ice'. The last confirmation we have of Britney rehearsing 'Hot As Ice' was by People on February 12th, who reported that she had spent around 90 minutes working on a routine for the song after teaching an hour-long dance class to six children at Millennium earlier in the day. Despite her hard work, Britney's efforts to create a music video for 'Hot As Ice' were proven to be in vain when Jive announced that they would be launching a poll on Britney's official website to decide on which single would be the third from Blackout, with 'Break The Ice' receiving 39% of the votes. It's possible that Britney's displeasure over this decision is what led to her refusal to appear in the 'Break The Ice' music video, with Jive being forced to use an animated version of the star instead. Britney's original concept for 'Hot As Ice' was never revealed, and her chair choreography for the song hasn't been seen on any tour since. 12. Radar Due to contractual obligations with producers Bloodshy & Avant, a single release and music video for 'Radar' was always planned from the time of it's original inclusion on the Blackout album, with songwriting group The Clutch suggesting that it was at one point meant to be the album's third single. Following strong digital downloads for the song that led to it peaking at #52 on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs Chart and #7 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, Sony confirmed 'Radar' as the fourth single from Blackout and sent out CD singles to certain countries in July of 2008, including Sweden (where it peaked at #8) and New Zealand (where it peaked at #32). To supplement the song's release as a single, Britney's manager Larry Rudolph confirmed in June of 2008 that she would be filming a music video that month in England. "The theme is her and her girlfriends are going to be looking all around London trying to find a boy who she met in a club," he told the New York Post. "Every time they think they have him, it's someone else." Following reports that Britney would be directing the music video, Rudolph further clarified that she would be co-directing, saying "She will be behind the camera as much as possible; she wants to make sure it's exactly right." Despite Rolling Stone seemingly confirming that the video was in fact shot later that month, nothing more was heard from Britney's team regarding it and the 'Radar' single release was scrapped when Britney began recording Circus sooner than expected and Sony wanted to move on from the controversies surrounding the Blackout era. Ultimately, the song was remixed and added to Circus as a bonus track and a new music video was shot in May of 2009 with Dave Meyers in order to fulfil Britney's contract with Bloodshy & Avant, and no more details about the original music video have ever been released. 13. When I Grow Up Following the news that she at one point conceptualised a whole diss album about them, fans were surprised when it was announced that Britney was set to make a cameo appearance in the music video for The Pussycat Dolls' comeback single 'When I Grow Up', directed by frequent Britney collaborator Joseph Khan. "In the scene shot [Wednesday], Britney is driving in a car. They all wave at each other as they are passing in traffic — that is it," a source told Us Magazine. "Of course, Britney looks hot and blonde." Ultimately, the scene didn't make the music video's finished version, with lead Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger confirming that the cut was due to a continuity error. When asked about the deleted scene in a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest, Scherzinger stated, "We were on a seperate location, so we didn't even get to shoot together, so like, her eye line and our eye line were like, staring at each other's boobs and foreheads, and it just didn't, it just didn't work out." 14. Circus The 'Circus' music video, directed by Francis Lawrence, has many alternate cuts, some of which can be seen in the version of the video used in All Star Saturday Night promos. However, the most significant deleted scenes involve Britney walking a tightrope with a miniature umbrella while wearing a pink bustier and a multi-coloured skirt. While these scenes have never been officially released in HD, fans quickly spotted behind the scenes footage of her filming them in the 'Circus: Making The Video' featurette. 15. If U Seek Amy 'If U Seek Amy' was always going to make for a controversial music video, but the version that fans received in October of 2009 is actually toned down compared to the initial video concept conceptualised by 'My Prerogative' director Jake Nava. In February 2009, the video concept and storyboard stills for the song leaked were leaked by StarzLife, and detailed a party in which Britney goes from "wearing a super sexy pair of black leather underwear and dancing around provocatively with “all of the boys and all of the girls”, to putting on a new face and looking like a primp and proper conservative upper class housewife". The leak described the apple pie scene in detail, before claiming that the video was meant to end with Britney winking into the camera. While the final version of the video loosely follows this setup, Britney was more covered up throughout the opening half of the final version, and her transformation into Stepford Wife-ney was sudden rather than gradual. Furthermore, the Fox News-esque scenes which bookmarked the beginning and end of the finished product went unmentioned, suggesting that these were later additions. In a more minor change, X17Online reported that the front door of the house that Britney emerges from at the end of the video allegedly originally displayed a red heart reading "I Love You" in large letters. It is unknown why this was removed from the final cut. 16. 3 Following the release of the directors cut of '3', Rolling Stone writer Daniel Kreps commented that the original version "was essentially filmed and edited in the matter of days to coincide with The Singles Collection release", and that the directors cut "seems to find a better cadence with the music". It's possible that the rushed nature of the original video is the reason for several deleted scenes featuring Britney with her hair in a bun and alternating between two all black outfits which were not shown in the original video. These scenes were restored in the director's cut version of the music video. 17. Hold It Against Me 'Hold It Against Me' was directed by Jonas Åkerlund in early January 2011, and features at least one deleted scene. In teasers released before the video's February 17 premiere, eagle-eyed fans can spot a shot of Britney wearing a white shirt with black and red hot pants surrounded by backup dancers. While some scenes from this set-up do appear in the final music video, they are displayed only in extremely quick cuts and only in black and white. It's unknown why the majority of these scenes were cut from the final version. Prior to the video's release, choreographer Brian Friedman also teased several details from the music video in an interview with MTV which did not make the video's final cut. Along with confirming that the music video was initially meant to feature ten male backup dancers (the finished product featured only six), Friedman also simply stated "I love nudity," when asked what his favourite part of the video was. Ultimately, there was no nudity from either Britney or her dancers in the final cut of the video. 18. TBA (David LaChapelle Directed) David LaChapelle, who had previously worked with Britney for 'Everytime', mentioned in an interview in January 2011 that he wanted to work on the music video for the second single from Femme Fatale and that he planned to use designs from Heidi.com as outfits. While Heidi.com designers were excited about this prospect, it was also specifically mentioned that, "There's still a lot of administrative stuff to be done," and that "David LaChapelle has to send his concept for the video to Britney's managers." 19. I Wanna Go The music video for 'I Wanna Go' was filmed in LA and directed by Chris Marrs Piliero. Several hours ahead of the music video's premiere, Britney posted two images of her in a red dress on her Facebook page, along with the caption, "So excited for you all to see the music video for ‘I Wanna Go’ tonight at 12am PST!" Ultimately, the scenes involving the red dress were not included in the final music video, despite Britney's official website confirming that they were stills from the shoot. It's unknown why these scenes were scrapped. 20. Work Bitch Like 'Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know', the Ben Mor-fronted 'Work Bitch' originally had a raunchier cut that was scrapped in favour of a less mature version. This time, however, it was Britney herself who was pushing for a more tame video. “Oh my god, we showed way more skin and did way more stuff for the video then what is actually there," Britney stated in an interview with The TJ Show. "Like, I cut out half the video because I am a mother and because, you know, I have children, and it’s just hard to play sexy mom while you’re being a pop star as well. I just have to be true to myself and you know, feel it out when I do stuff.” While a raunchier cut of 'Work Bitch' would be more than welcome, it was later confirmed that the sexier scenes that were cut from the final music video didn't actually involve Britney at all. In an interview with MTV, Mor stated that anything that Britney found too racy didn't involve her or her costuming, and said that "It was easy to make a racier cut only because of the extras and the cutaways". 21. Perfume The 'Perfume' music video was directed by Britney mainstay Joseph Kahn and filmed over three days from November 19th to 21st in 2013 in the California desert. It depicts Britney as one of two women vying for the attention of their lover, played by Alexander Kjellevik. Prior to it's release on December 10, Kahn Tweeted that the released video was "extremely different" from his original edit, further stating that Britney's performance in it was "unbelievable". He would later say that the original cut was a minute longer, and that it featured a "shocking" ending. Following several months of pressure from fans to release the original 'Perfume' music video, including an online petition addressed to RCA, the music video's original concept was leaked in July of 2014 on Britney fan-site Exhale. Kahn himself would later confirm the validity of this concept, but remarked that he changed the shots of Britney disintegrating towards the end during filming to keep the music video "more grounded". It is currently unknown what the "shocking" ending Kahn alluded to would have entailed. He further confirmed that the song would have stopped playing at the moment Britney realises that she is being asked to kill her lover, most likely accounting for the one minute of additional runtime that Kahn's cut would have had. While it can't be confirmed, it's probable that the wire ring described in the original concept is the same one Britney gave to her partner in the final cut. The released version of the video also features a shot of Britney in the bathroom reacting to a phone (implied to be her lovers) as it receives a message from someone named Cindy. It's likely that the original context of this shot was Britney learning about her next assassination, and that the contents of the message were changed in post-production. Although RCA never gave a reason for their cancellation of the music video, Kahn speculated that it had to do with Britney's upcoming Vegas residency and her label's desire to shy away from the dark subject matter. The source which leaked the video's original concept further stated that the label was worried mostly about the killing scenes, possibly due to the negative reaction that 'Criminal' received internationally for it's gun violence. While there are no announced plans to release the director's cut anytime soon, fans did receive some leaked stills which feature a battered and bruised Britney from towards the end of the video in mid-2016. 22. Alien During her I Am Britney Jean documentary, Britney confirmed that she planned for 'Alien' to be released as an upcoming single from the album, but this never came to fruition. It's unknown if a music video was ever conceptualised for the track. Similarly, 'It Should Be Easy' and 'Tik Tik Boom' both serviced official remixes and were serviced to nightclubs, but it was later confirmed that neither were considered as singles from the album; it is unknown if they ever were or if music videos were envisioned. 23. TBA (Chris Applebaum Directed) Following their discussion of the original concept for 'Perfume', the same source also mentioned that Britney was planning to release a new "big budget" music video in "late summer/early fall" of 2014. The music video was intended to be directed by Chris Applebaum, who also worked on film clips for 'Overprotected' and 'I Love Rock N Roll'. Ultimately, no other music video ever eventuated in 2014, with Britney's next music video for 'Pretty Girls' in 2015 being directed by Cameron Duddy. 24. Make Me... (Feat. G-Eazy) On June 2nd of 2016, E! News reported that Britney was in the midst of filming the music video for her comeback single 'Make Me...' and that it was set to be directed by former 'Everytime' collaborator David Lachapelle. Britney also posted behind the scenes photos of her making the video on her Twitter, including a shot of her with guest rapper G-Eazy, a photo set of her with an unidentified male model, and a final photo of her surrounded by sixteen half-naked male backup dancers. A low-quality minute long clip of the music video would also go on to leak in mid-July, featuring Britney and her dancers performing choreography in a warehouse-like scene and shots of Britney in a cage covered in sparkly red body paint. Despite this, when Britney spoke of the music video to Australian radio station 104.1 2DayFM later that month, she described a video that seemed to be entirely different from the one teased to fans. "The video that I just shot is me and all my girls. We're making guys audition for us," she stated. "The whole theme is us basically playing with them. It's really kind of fun and it's interesting." When the video was finally released in early August, almost all traces of the original David LaChapelle concept were nowhere to be seen and the new director was confirmed to be Randee St. Nicholas. While there was never any official confirmation, multiple fan theories exist as to why the LaChapelle version of the video was scrapped. Early reports simply stated that Britney thought the video was "too sexy"; while Britney's manager Larry Rudolph responded to a fan petition to release the music video by saying "The video just didn’t work", a sentiment echoed by LaChapelle in 2019 when he commented, "The video/song wasn’t released because Britney didn’t like it." Some fans have suggested that the music video was scrapped due to a disagreement between Britney and LaChapelle, due to a behind the scenes video from the set of his cut that featured Britney calling the director an "asshole" and saying "I don't like it" (although it's impossible to tell whether or not this was in jest). Still, allegations of Britney being unhappy with the video's concept or raunchiness seem strange given how involved she was in the concept. In particular, Britney specifically requested that LaChapelle shoot her in the cage to create one of the video's most explicit moments, a possible nod to her ongoing conservatorship. "The only direction Britney ever gave me for this video is for me to film her in the cage," LaChapelle stated when discussing his support for the #FreeBritney movement. "At the time I didn’t understand why would you want to be filmed in a cage? At first I envisioned to film her as a tigress, but she wanted to be filmed more timid, like a kitten. For everyone on my team, at least, we could tell something was off.” A version of the music video containing scenes shot by LaChapelle leaked in 2019 and extensively featured this scene. The video also featured a loosely biblical plot which followed Britney and her lover leaving a music video shoot to drive through the desert and arrive at their home, only to find an eviction notice on the door from "Eden Jurisdiction #1" for "Adam" and "Eve". After resuscitating her lover after a near-death experience, he and Britney demolish the house using a crane. Despite the fact that it utilised the scenes he shot with Britney, however, LaChapelle would later confirm that this leaked version of the video was not the full extent of his original concept, but a cut created by RCA. "This is some of my footage, this is not my edit," he stated, before insinuating that her record label had released the leak as something of a distraction for fans. "I find it very suspect that the video was ‘leaked’ while Britney was 'away.'" LaChapelle's statement adds credence to the idea that the video was scrapped after relationships between himself and RCA broke down, an idea first suggested by fans when they noticed that he had refused to give the label his footage with G-Eazy, forcing them to use watermarked copies in the official video. Fans have further speculated that the original cut of the video was over ten minutes long and featured scenes that still have yet to leak. In their exclusive behind the scenes look at the LaChapelle version of 'Make Me...', E! also posted a video interview with Britney in which she wore black boots and a nude leotard with black detailing, which was not depicted in the leak. The next day, a video leaked from the set which depicted Britney in the crane with backup dancers on top of it, another scene which didn't appear; and the Lachapelle-shot single cover, which features Britney wearing white in the desert, is also rumoured to be taken from a scene in the video. Given the tense relationships between all parties involved, it's unlikely that LaChapelle's original length cut will ever be seen. Which scrapped music video would you most like to see from Britney? Let us know in the comments section down below!

2016 has been a great year for pop music, featuring defining releases from several bonafide legends (think Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga), a couple of albums from our more stable hitmakers (such as Tove Lo, Sia and Ariana Grande) and some groundbreaking debuts from total newcomers to the game (like Zayn, Aurora and Petite Meller). The sheer volume of impressive albums from our faves and flops this year has made deciding how to rank each one a difficult task; but after several weeks of consideration we've managed to whittle down our list from several dozen amazing LPs to just the absolute best of the best. Our list below features our top ten favourite albums of the year 2016, ranked from least favourite to most favourite. Check it out below and let us know who we've neglected and who we've misranked in the comments section! When Sia announced last year that she would be releasing an album comprised entirely of demos that she had failed to sell to other artists, fan reactions were a mixture of intrigue, excitement, and disappointment. They had long wanted for Sia's versions of her co-writes on tracks such as Rihanna's 'Diamonds', Britney Spears' 'Perfume' and Beyoncé's 'Pretty Hurts'; but there was concern from some that Sia including songs she'd written for others would create a sense of disassociation and detachment from her own music. The Australian-born singer has for a long time had a certain self-loathing towards the pop songs she writes for others, and when you compare the tracks she now writes such as the Jamaican dancefloor ready 'Cheap Thrills' or the Shakira reject 'Move Your Body' to the masterpieces of her early career such as 'Breathe Me' or 'I'm In Here', you can't help but feel as though she's simply going through the motions without putting any real effort into her latest subjects. Nevertheless, This Is Acting still provides a handful of club ready hooks, some spectacularly catchy choruses and, of course, her trademark husky vocal runs. It may not quite hit the level of amazement that we know Sia's capable of, but This Is Acting still makes for a solid pop album. Zayn Malik's departure from One Direction last year may have shocked fans, but the true shock came this year when he became the first of the boyband's members to release a solo single, the metaphor-drenched ode to sex that was 'Pillowtalk'. Lighting the charts ablaze internationally, the song was a total turning point for Zayn, who had previously complained about his inability to write his own songs, explore new sounds, talk about sex and, weirdly grow facial hair during his time in 1D. And 'Pillowtalk' was only the beginning, with Zayn going all in to release his debut album Mind of Mine several months later. Backed by a consistent slew of heavy R&B beats, a more accessible version of the trippy hazy production popularised by The Weeknd in recent years and some velvety vocals, the album manages to nail the halfway point between pop and personal, allowing an intimate look at the enigmatic singer through a collection of slinky R&B slow jams. The album does tire some during it's second half - after all, eighteen tracks is a lot to get through - but when it's at it's best, as it is with the aforementioned lead single, 'Befour', 'Like I Would' and a handful of others - Mind of Mine is the most promising debut we've had from a popstar in the past few years and a bold step forward for any former boyband member to take. Since blowing into the pop stratosphere back in 2013 with the Hippie Sabotage remix of her debut single 'Habits' (redubbed as 'Stay High' for the single release) Tove Lo has been a pop anomaly: she rarely makes headlines for her personal life, makes pseudo-experimental music and doesn't have any social media presence to speak of but her songs still do surprisingly well and she thus has a healthy relationship with her label. Like Gaga before her, Tove restrains herself from making songs which are too edgy in content by softening the blow with a catchy hook or two and some intricate production work, this time around handled largely by The Struts and Oscar Holter. The end product of her labours is Lady Wood, a loose concept album split into two parts which centre around the highs and lows of a drug hit (and a relationship) respectively. It's not a particularly complicated concept, but it's unique enough to intrigue; and the same can be said for the songs, with the closest we come to real vulnerability coming in the form of 'Flashes', a song which details the conflict between fame and relationships. Nevertheless, there's an honesty which pervades each drug-related confession Tove makes and a lack of repetition in the songs which makes Lady Wood a transformative and enjoyable listen; and it definitely helps that 'Cool Girl' can turn any nightclub into a dancefloor with just one verse. After a somewhat disappointing showing with Don't Look Down, Skylar Grey's 2013 debut release full of angst, trailer trash imagery, rent-a-rappers and white girl hip hop beats, expectations weren't particularly high for Natural Causes, her latest project released in September. But Grey surprised everyone with an understated, tender and vulnerable album which trades in the harsh genre changes and lyrical inconsistencies of her first for an atmospheric concept album loosely (but not strictly) based around the wonders of the natural world. From the vibey introduction track, 'Wilderness', to the cold and sombre 'Come Up For Air' (which may surpass 'Coming Home' as the most beautiful song she's ever written), to the acoustic musings of the Radiohead-esque 'Moving Mountains', Grey continues to find new and unique ways to express herself without ever sounding scattered or confused as she did on her debut. More impressively, she's been able to carve out a new lane for herself and develop a new sound far distanced from the piano ballads she wrote for others, like Rihanna ('Love the Way You Lie') and Christina Aguilera ('Castle Walls'). With Natural Causes, Grey has finally found her unique voice and sound that work for her; now all she needs is for the public to find it as well. Kanye West's latest album went through a plethora of changes since its inception three years ago in 2013, when it still went under the working title So Help Me God. Back then, the album was intended to feature productions by Rick Rubin and Q-Tip and had a new soulful, acoustic sound showcased by the stand-alone singles 'Only One' and 'FourFiveSeconds', both of which featured Paul McCartney; but it wasn't long before SWISH was teased as a title and then WAVES, with each new project title bringing a harder, more classically hip-hop sound than the last. Even after the album was released on February 11th, updates continued to arrive in the form of altered tracklistings, updated productions and even entirely new tracks up until the albums final form in June. Listening to the final product of The Life of Pablo, it's easy to hear the multiple changes in direction that took place throughout the recording process; but rather than detracting from the project as a whole, these inconsistencies instead serve as our only doorway into one of the most creative and genius minds of our time. Whether he's spitting mean bars over the new wave instrumental on 'Feedback', harboring the combined talents of Sia, Frank Ocean and Vic Mensa on 'Wolves' or courting controversy with the Nina Simone sampling 'Famous', West makes sure to keep all the attention squarely on himself - a talent he's since extended to his personal life as well. The Life of Pablo hasn't had any new tracklist changes recently; but even without the monthly updates, the albums spirit of experimentation, recklessness and courage is bound to live on in West's future releases. Gwen Stefani's long-awaited third LP might have had a few false starts - even though 'Baby Don't Lie' goes off, we're still recovering from the misstep that was the Pharrell-assisted 'Spark The Fire' - but when she finally came through for her fans, Gwen gave them everything they'd been waiting for and more. Inspired by her breakup with longtime husband Gavin Rossdale, Gwen threw aside the co-penned tracks that had been written for her by the likes of Charli XCX and Ryn Weaver and instead headed back into the studio to record an entire albums worth of songs over several weeks - this time with each one written by herself and the current pop dream team of Justin Tranter and Julia Michaels. Ultimately, the albums designation as a "breakup album" turned out to be a little inaccurate - Stefani spends much of the time buoying from songs about dirty text messages ('Send Me A Picture') to singing about new love ('Make Me Like You'), and even when she allows a moment to mope, it's often backed by a strong beat and some classically Gwen vocal delivery ('Used To Love You'). But the sound is consistent, effortless and fresh, and most importantly it sounds like a true Gwen album that she, not her label, has helmed. Let's just hope we don't have to wait so long for the popstar to find her voice again for the next one. JoJo's third studio album may have taken over ten years to finally be released (although we did get several albums worth of unreleased songs to hold us over in between), but if Mad Love proved anything it was that she was definitely worth the wait. After a somewhat lukewarm reception to the three singles she released through her C-side Tringle project, JoJo retooled the album from the house-leaning project The Aftermath to the version we ended up with, a fusion of futuristic R&B, house beats and piano ballads; and while she might have originally been known for her cheesy 2000s R&B tracks and vocal-led ballads, JoJo proves here that she can hold her own with the up-tempo girls, bringing some dancefloor ready hooks on tracks like 'Vibe.' and the MNEK-produced fan favourite 'Good Thing.'. She asserts herself further with the sexy, sassy ode to independence 'High Heels.' as well as the drug-induced haze of 'Clovers.': although in truth the album's best moment is when she returns to her roots both musically and lyrically on the stunningly autobiographical opener 'Music.' Fingers crossed that the next album won't be another decade away; but even if JoJo never releases another album again, it's satisfying to know that she's released the album of her dreams, and probably the album of her career, with Mad Love. Following the release of 2014's collaborative album with jazz legend Tony Bennett Cheek To Cheek, and a collection of well-received tributes to Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, David Bowie and The Sound of Music, Lady Gaga was primed for success with LG5, her mysterious album which was billed as a comeback from 2013's perceived critical failure ARTPOP. Promises were made of collaborations with the likes of Giorgio Moroder and Nile Rodgers, as well as an Elton John feature; the third the duo has recorded that would ultimately go unreleased. But when 'Perfect Illusion', the adrenaline-pumping disco-rock anthem first single was released to little fanfare, all hopes for a dance record were thrown out the window and fans were forced to reevaluate their hopes for the long-awaited record. Ever the shock artist, Gaga threw off Little Monsters even further with the release of promo singles 'Million Reasons' and 'A-Yo', both of which explored a new country vibe, and which would go on to reflect the albums folky atmosphere more accurately. Joanne is not without fault - the short track times and lazy (and frankly nonsensical) songwriting on lines such as "It's like that I've stopped breathing but completely aware" is a turn off, and Gaga's new acting role as a southern belle isn't always completely convincing ('Sinners Prayer''s opening line of "I came down the mountain" is slightly cringeworthy if we're being honest). But at it's greatest moments, such as the heartbreaking chords of 'Angel Down' or during the female empowerment anthem 'Hey Girl' with Florence Welch, it provides us with some of Gaga's best and most unique moments to date. Joanne successfully continues Gaga's tradition as one of music's greatest shapeshifters; now all that remains to be seen is what form she'll take for the next album. A year in music wouldn't be complete without an album from the Princess of Pop herself, and Britney Spears came through in 2016 with one of the best albums of her career. Long gone are the days of the lifeless Autotuneney we heard in 2011's Femme Fatale and the Confuseney (or Confuseyah Marie) we had to sit through in 2013's mess of genres and sounds Britney Jean. For the first time since Blackout, Britney's vocals are at the forefront: she giggles, gasps, moans, screams and shouts all over each track, making for an album which features some of the most interesting vocal performances of the year. She evokes the cold, detached robot persona of Femme Fatale in tracks like the "artsy fartsy" 'Coupure Electrique' (which, in Brit's most experimental move to date, is sung entirely in French): the repressed sex kitten of 'I'm A Slave 4 U' in 'Do You Wanna Come Over?'; the 90s teeny bopper of '...Baby One More Time' in 'Hard To Forget Ya'; and the high-pitched trumpetting of Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel in 'Private Show', a new sound for the reigning queen of Vegas. But the most impressive thing about Glory is Britney's own presence on the album. It's clear to fans that 2016 was the year that she came out of her shell - from swearing off relationships publicly to talking openly about her conservatorship and making more TV and festival appearances than she did for her last two albums combined - and her newfound independence is reflected all over this album. Glory might not be an album without missteps, but it's propelled forward through it's dullest moments by a quintessentially Britney energy: a tangible spark in the popstars eye which hasn't been harnessed since at least 2009's Circus. It might not have ignited the charts, but in the eyes of her fans, Glory has proved that Britney is officially back. We always knew that behind the sugar-coated R&B-pop veneer of perfection she displays in every strand of her ponytail, there was a rebel hiding inside Ariana Grande - and 2016 was the year she proved it. When she wasn't out licking donuts with her boyfriend or calling out Ryan Seacrest live on radio, Grande was promoting her latest effort, the aptly titled Dangerous Woman - and with three singles, six music videos and a plethora of live performances to consume, it's clear that this is the album that she, and her label, are most dedicated to. From the soulful and powerful belting in the title track to the chilled out hip-hop vibes of the Lil Wayne assisted 'Let Me Love You' to the reggae-styled beats of 'Side To Side', a song which is literally about being fucked so hard you can't walk straight, Ariana diversifies her sound here like never before, stepping away from the saccharine tones of her previous singles to explore a darker, more edgy sound. And even on the album's filler tracks, Ariana keeps the transformative tone consistent, making the inspired choice to work with R&B legend Macy Gray on 'Leave Me Lonely' before jumping into the realm of dark-pop with fan favourite 'Touch It'. The vocals and production may still be a little too pitch perfect to suggest any real rebellion, and the fake lashes may prevent us from seeing too deep into her eyes, but the tracks on Dangerous Woman mark a sorely needed step forward for Grande; and mark a solid, cohesive body of work from the most effortless popstar we've seen in years.

The Christmas season is upon us, which means that everytime you venture out in the cold to your local mall, workplace or church you'll be blasted with the hollow sounds of sanctimonious carols and tinny holiday tunes that have been covered by as many popstars as Taylor Swift in an average calendar year. If you're looking to escape the sounds of carolers at your door, look no further: PHF has the answer for you! We asked our most-loved members (and @trayertrash) for their absolute favourite holiday anthems, compiled them into a list, and checked it twice. Then we put a brand new bow on it and regifted it to you as an early Christmas gift! Browse through our offerings and make sure you let us know your own favourite Christmas song in the comments below. @Baby V Alex: Britney Spears - My Only Wish (This Year) @Countess: Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You @Cypher: Cascada - Last Christmas @High Princess: Lady Gaga - White Christmas @infidelity: Hilary Duff - What Christmas Should Be @Matilda Mantis: Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett - Winter Wonderland @roger: Meg & Dia - Joey Had A Smoke @trayertrash: Adam Sandler - The Chanukah Song

Britney Spears has been all over the news recently, despite - and perhaps because of - a conspicuous absence in the public eye. Whether it's news of her scrapped shows, talk of her father's illness or the leaking of her unreleased music video for 'Make Me', Britney fans have had a lot to talk about - and without Brit herself around to clear the air, rumours have started running wild and the #FreeBritney hashtag has officially gone viral. One particularly interesting story comes from the Britney's Gram podcast, who recently claimed to have been contacted by a lawyer with insider knowledge of Britney's current conservatorship, which apparently reaches as far as forcing her into taking specific drugs and admitting her into a rehab facility against her will. Of course, none of this information has been confirmed by anyone in Britney's team, but Britney's Gram claims to have confirmed their source's legitimacy and his story does seem to add up. This particular story begins on January 5th, when Britney announced that she was putting her Domination Vegas residency on hold for the foreseeable future while she put her "full focus and energy on her family". According to a press statement released by Britney's team, Britney's father Jamie had recently suffered from a spontaneous rupture of the colon and was admitted into surgery, staying in hospital for 28 days. While Jamie was apparently home and expected to make a full recovery, Britney had decided to postpone the tour while she cared for him. Several months later, on April 3rd, it was reported by TMZ that Britney had checked herself into a mental health facility approximately a week prior, and would spend a total of thirty days inside the facility. According to the outlet, Britney was "distraught" over her father's poor health, and needed to take time out to look after herself. Again, Britney alluded to the news in an Instagram post: a strange move considering that most rehab facilities ban personal mobile phones. Britney's alleged visit to a mental health facility became even more difficult to believe when, four days ago, she was spotted out in Los Angeles getting her hair done. While we didn't originally have any proof to confirm that she was out in public, a recent Instagram story from Hannah Kirkelie can officially confirm it. Now, an unnamed source has contacted Britney's Gram to provide the alleged truth behind this story. According to the unnamed source, who until recently worked as a paralegal at a large-scale legal firm dealing with Britney's conservatorship, the public has been lied to since January. According to the source, Britney was looking forward to starting the Domination residency in January, but was stopped short by Jamie when he discovered that she had not been taking her regular medication as prescribed. Britney was taken to her regular psychologist who suggested another type of medication; but when she refused this as well, Jamie gave her an ultimatum. Britney was told that she must either take the medication and continue the residency, or cancel the shows and live medication-free. Britney called his bluff, and the show was cancelled, with Jamie allegedly saying "Blame it on my illness". Several days later, Britney was spotted (for the last time in months) at an In-N-Out drivethrough with her boyfriend Sam Asghari. According to the source, this was significant as driving for Britney is not allowed and is considered a "no no" by her team. Jamie, allegedly colluding with Britney's manager Larry Rudolph, used this as an impetus to send Britney to a mental health facility, with no timeframe specified for when she'll leave. Britney had no influence in the decision, and allegedly told her father she did not want to go. She has been in the facility since January - several months before her team said she had entered. Allegedly, this move was so shocking that a key member of Britney's team resigned as a result of it. Since 2008, Britney's life has been meticulously handled by her conservators: her father Jamie, who makes $150 000 a year in the role, and a lawyer named Andrew Wallet, who apparently made $420 000. Upon learning of Britney's forced entry, Wallet apparently feared disbarment and was confirmed to have resigned as conservator on March 4th, leaving Jamie as the sole person in charge of Britney's mental health. What's even more interesting about Wallet's resignation is the fact that Britney herself filed a motion with the court on the same day: the first time she's done so in the eleven years of her conservatorship. Sadly, because the court records are sealed, we have no idea what was in them. If true, the story paints an incredibly sad picture for what life must be like as Britney Spears. The idea that Britney is being forced to take drugs against her will is tragic, and the fact that she is taken away from her work and family with forced visits to mental health facilities is even more horrible. Still, as someone who's dealt with family members and their mental illnesses before, there is a possibility that this really is all for the best. If Britney truly is totally uncontrollable and manic without her medication, it would make sense that she would be forced by the courts and her carer to take it. Hopefully this is something that will be resolved during the months that Britney has spent at the mental health facility - after all, she should be looked after by trained professionals who will surely know if she requires medication or not. Still, there's a lot we don't know about the case. For one thing, we still have no idea what's being kept in the sealed court documents that Britney herself submitted. For another, if Britney has really been locked up against her will for all this time, how did she sneak out to get her hair done? There's also been rumours she's been in the studio with Danja recording music, and snaps of a hand that many assumed to be hers feeding her boyfriend cake on Instagram for his birthday - how did she get to see him if she was trapped away? Regardless, the fact that this is quickly becoming a hot news story is only a positive thing. Even if this really is a con that the lawyers, judges and psychologists are all in on, they'll be treading a little more carefully now that the media is watching them more closely. Listen to the full episode of the Britney's Gram podcast below, and don't forget to tell us your thoughts in the comments!

2009 was only a decade ago, but it seems like the world back then was a very different place. The powers that be were still reeling after a surprise candidate beat out Hillary Clinton, kids would rush back home after school to catch the latest episode of Jersey Shore (yeah, Netflix wasn't a thing) and I was still recovering from a Christmas that left me ten pounds heavier and $500 more in debt. (Okay, so maybe things haven't changed so much after all.) But one thing that's definitely changed since then is the music we listen to. 2009 was the transitory space between the pop-rock that defined a lot of the early 2000s and the dance-pop that would blow up later on, and it led to some pretty interesting results. Spoiler alert: a good 70% of this list is totally unlistenable, and/or insanely annoying, but there are some real gems in there too. Are you excited yet? 10. Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say There may never have been a time in the history of civilisation where people actually wanted to listen to a Jason Derulo song, but in 2009 it seems as though people needed to if just to rid their head of this ridiculously catchy earworm. 'Whatcha Say' started out low on the charts, debuting at #54 in August of 2009, but it permeated people's brains to the extent that it managed to hit #1 three months later. It just goes to show that you don't need a song to be likeable for it to be a hit: all it needs to have is a killer chorus. 9. Jay Sean - Down (Feat. Lil Wayne) Continuing the trend of irritating douche-faces with passable bodies was the United Kingdom's answer to Jason Derulo, Jay Sean. His breakthrough hit 'Down' is basically the definition of manipulative, featuring the kinds of lyrics that only a needy teenage girl can fall in love with; and the music video, with it's endless lip licking and frat boy head nods, isn't much better. Still, the masses of 2009 must have enjoyed it, because it hit #1 on the 17th of October of that year. 8. Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You Kelly Clarkson is the queen of kiss-off anthems ('Since U Been Gone' and Ben & Jerry's are singularly responsible for getting me through my last breakup), and she proved that again in 2009 with the sassy 'My Life Would Suck Without You'. The song would never fly now - those beats are something straight off of Katy Perry's debut album and the music video features a relationship a little too tempestuous to be healthy - but at the time it was an instant hit. The track even broke the record for the biggest jump ever on the US charts when it bounced from #97 to #1 in the space of one week. #TeamKelly 7. Flo Rida - Right Round (Feat. Ke$ha) Like pretty much every Flo Rida song ever, 'Right Round' was the kind of guilty pleasure that you tapped your foot two even while shaking your head in dismay. Even Kesha (known back then by the very, very 2009 stage name Ke$ha) seemed to be a little embarrassed by the song - she refused to appear in the music video, being stood in for by a random black girl, and has never performed it live since it's release. Still, the song was likeable enough to hit #1 on the charts for six weeks straight, and even broke the record for first week sales when it sold 636 000 copies in January of 2009. 6. Kings of Leon - Use Somebody 'Use Somebody' wasn't quite big enough to hit #1, only managing to peak at #4 on the charts - but it sold enough copies to hit #14 on the end of year charts. A weird flash in the pan of a song, the track has a total classic rock vibe that would have equally suited a 1999 release, which means it's actually aged pretty well over the past ten years. That's more than can be said for Kings of Leon themselves, who have basically faded into complete obscurity at this point. 5. Britney Spears - Womanizer 2008 was a bad year for Britney Spears - think shaved head, umbrella bashing and crying in an English accent on the sidewalk - but she made the ultimate comeback in 2009 with 'Womanizer'. The track makes full use of Spears' - how should we say this? - distinctive voice and fun vocal stylings, and the music video is one of her best ever even if it is pretty much just a remake of 'Toxic'. The track paid off well for Spears commercially, too, becoming her first #1 on the charts since debut single '...Baby One More Time'. 4. Miley Cyrus - Party in the U.S.A She'd been building up to it for a while, but 'Party in the U.S.A.' was Miley Cyrus's first real "You're not even my real dad!" moment - and at the time it caused quite a stir. Hannah Montana was declared dead on arrival when Miley performed the song at the Teen Choice Awards by dancing around a pole in Daisy Dukes that were short enough for Disney to release an official statement, and Miley received her fair share of flack. Still, the song was popular enough to hit #2 on the charts in 2009, before climbing up the charts again in 2011 following the death of Osama Bin Laden. The reason? Murica! 3. Jay-Z - Empire State of Mind (Feat. Alicia Keys) It may be a total cheese-fest and a major misrepresentation of New York City's true gutter grime, but there's something so nostalgic and emotive about Jay and Alicia's 'Empire State of Mind' that you can't help but love it anyway. The song was a hit when it was first released too, becoming Jay-Z's first #1 on the charts over his thirteen year career and going on to win two Grammy's. I'm pretty sure this song and Gossip Girl were entirely responsible for giving every millennial ever the belief that they could make it in the city that never sleeps. 2. Lady Gaga - Poker Face If you're anywhere between the age of 18 and 25, you'll definitely remember that solid month back in 2009 where 'Poker Face' was literally the only thing being played on the radio (remember that thing you used to play in the car?). The song's popularity wasn't completely unfounded - it's still a little bit of a banger, if super dated at this stage - but it was definitely overplayed during it's ascension to the top ten, where it remained for 18 weeks with a week at #1. 1. The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling 'I Gotta Feeling' was by far the most overplayed song of 2009, and yet somehow people still wanted more. The track hit #1 in over 20 charts worldwide - including the US where it topped the charts for 14 weeks - and was the highest-selling song of the century until 2014 when Pharrell's 'Happy' robbed it of the title. Even though we can never imagine this kind of song working in a post-Trump era, it's nice to listen back to and remember when things were simpler. What's your favourite song from 2008? Let us know in the comments down below!