An icon of pop culture and an American singer of many major pop hits like “Toxic” and “…Baby One More Time,” Britney Spears is often referred to as the “Princess of Pop.” Spears is accredited with the immense influence and rebirth of teen pop culture from the late 1990s to the 2000s. She has sold over one hundred and fifty records worldwide and is known as one of the world’s best-selling pop music artists. 

In her prime, Spear’s many smash hits had play after play, download after download, gaining massive popularity. Even myself, growing up in the late 2000s, I vividly remember hearing Britney Spears’s baby voice singing the chorus of “Oops! I did it again” on the radio.

After many controversies, she left the music industry in 2016 after her last album titled “Glory.” Yet rumors of her awaited return to music still arise and gain attention. Many sources gossip that Spears will drop a new album. Addressing these rumors with a now-deleted Instagram post shared on January 3rd, Spears disputes the rumors, clarifying that she will not be returning to music. 

Spear’s deleted post, a picture of a Guido Reni painting with the text “Just so we’re clear most of the news is trash,” and her further captioning of “they keep saying I’m turning to random people to do a new album … I will never return to the music industry!” She describes that when she write songs, she “[writes] for fun” or “for other songwriters.” In the past two year, Spears says that she has written over “twenty songs” for other artists as a ghostwriter.

After posting how she will “never return” to the music industry and how does not have an upcoming album, Spears deleted the post. Although Britney Spears’ return to the industry is unlikely, as an audience we still can witness her artistic music talents through her ghostwriting for other artists.