With the release of Britney Spears’ memoir, The Woman In Me, there has been no shortage of drama surrounding her personal life, but what about the music? Well, she covers that too.
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Aside from the details surrounding her upbringing, 13-year-conservatorship and public relationships, Spears also shares what was going through her mind during some of her biggest musical moments — like holding a python during her performance at the 2001 MTV VMAs.
“In my head, I was saying, 'just perform, just use your legs and perform.’” She writes in the memoir, revealing she was terrified of the snake. “What nobody knows is that as I was singing, the snake brought its head right around to my face, right up to me, and started hissing at me,” she writes. “You didn’t see that shot on the TV, but in real life? I was thinking, ‘Are you f***ing serious right now? The f***ing god***n snake’s tongue is flicking out at me. Right. Now.’ Finally, I got to the part where I handed it back, thank God.”
Another big VMA moment Spears opened up about was her Internet-breaking kiss with Madonna. Sharing the kiss was always rehearsed as an “air kiss,” but Spears revealed she wanted a “big moment” and decided to plant one on Madonna for real just moments before hitting the stage.
“About two minutes before the performance, I was sitting on the side of the stage and thinking about my biggest performance to date at the VMAs, when I pulled off a suit to reveal a sparkly outfit. I thought to myself, ‘I want a moment like that again this year. With the kiss, should I just go for it?'” she shared. “A lot was made of that kiss… The kiss was treated as a huge cultural moment — ‘Britney kissing Madonna!‘ — and it got both of us a lot of attention.”
While the majority of her VMA memories are fun for Spears to recall, she also addressed a more difficult one. In 2007, Spears took the VMA stage to perform "Gimme More,” which ended up getting negative attention and an unsolicited roast from comedian Sarah Silverman.
“Backstage at the VMAs that night, nothing was going right,” she shared of the 2007 show. “There was a problem with my costume and with my hair extensions. I hadn’t slept the night before. I was dizzy. It was less than a year since I had my second baby in two years, but everyone was acting like my not having six-pack abs was offensive. I couldn’t believe I was going to have to go out on stage feeling the way I felt.”
Despite all of it, Spears went on stage saying, “I did the best I could,” while also admitting it was far from her “best at other times” and seeing herself on the monitors “felt like looking in a fun house mirror.”
Making matters worse, comedian Sarah Silverman turned the low moment for Spears into a joke in front of a global audience. “She said that at the age of 25 I done everything worthwhile in my life I’d ever do,” Spears shared. “She called my two babies ‘the most adorable mistake you’ll ever see.’ I didn’t hear that until later, though. At the time I was backstage sobbing hysterically.”
The above are just some of the musical moments Britney shares about in her memoir. She also touches on the record she’s least proud of, the theme she almost went with for the “…Baby One More Time Video,” how she silently rebelled at her Vegas shows and more. To read about it all check out, The Woman In Me, now available for purchase.