Britney Spears announces she ‘will never return to the music industry’

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Britney Spears is insisting she “will never return to the music industry” and called speculation she is preparing to release a new album “trash.”

After Page Six published a story claiming Spears was eyeing collaborations with Charli XCX and writer Julia Michaels for a new record, the pop star slammed the report in an Instagram post, telling fans that she’s retiring from the music business.

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“Just so we’re clear most of the news is trash !!! They keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album … I will never return to the music industry,” Spears wrote in a message that was accompanied by the Italian Renaissance painting Salome Bearing the Head of St. John the Baptist.

“When I write, I write for fun or I write for other people !!! For those of you who have read my book, there’s loads that you don’t know about me,” she continued.

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Spears, 42, went on to add that she has enjoyed the freedom of writing music for other artists.

“I’ve written over 20 songs for other people the past two years !!! I’m a ghostwriter and I honestly enjoy it that way,” she wrote.

The Toxic singer also addressed claims that her recent memoir, The Woman in Me, was released against her wishes.

“That’s far from the truth,” Spears said, concluding her Instagram message. “Have you read the news these days ??? I’m so loved and blessed.”

Last year, Spears told fans she had “quit the business” after “not having a voice for 13 years.”

Prior to that, in July 2021, as she was still being governed by a conservatorship that controlled all aspects of her life for nearly 14 years, her longtime manager Larry Rudolph quit.

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“I was originally hired at Britney’s request to help manage and assist her with her career. And as her manager, I believe it is in Britney’s best interest for me to resign from her team as my professional services are no longer needed,” Rudolph wrote in a letter published by Deadline.

Later that year, after being released from the conservatorship, Spears took to social media to say she was afraid to return to the music business.

“I guess it seems odd to most why I don’t even do music anymore… People have no idea the awful things they have done to me personally and after what I’ve been through, I’m scared of people and the business!!!,” wrote Spears.

But in 2022, she released a duet with Elton John, Hold Me Closer, that spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Spears also collaborated with will.i.am on last year’s Mind Your Business.

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In 2019, Rudolph, who played no part in the “abusive” conservatorship that Spears lived under, told Variety that he supported the singer for putting her own interests first.

“She’s putting herself ahead of everyone else, and I’m proud of her for that. If she never works again, she never works again,” he said. “Personally, I want for her to just find a peaceful, happy place — whatever that means for her. It’s not about a career anymore — it’s about life.”

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X: @markhdaniell

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