Earlier this month Britney Spears vociferously declared, in no uncertain terms, that she was done with the music industry. Following reports that she was working on a new record, Spears cleared it up on Instagram on January 3, writing “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 !!!”
Okay, that’s her prerogative (see what we did there?), but Spears once again took to Instagram, clad in a sheer bodysuit and dancing, to announce a new project with a compelling title: “SEX N DIAMONDS.” But if it’s not new music—what, pray tell, is it? (And is it, you know, “Sex in Diamonds,” or “Sex and Diamonds”? Both intriguing, but, you know, we ask the tough questions around here.)
Unfortunately, for now at least, Spears didn’t elaborate. Is it a part two of her record-breaking memoir, The Woman in Me? A tour? (Or does that count as a “return to the music industry”?) A reality show? A scripted show? Britney! We count on your honesty and transparency—and we need more details.
Page Six phrases it aptly when it describes Spears “gracefully prancing around in [a] sheer glittery ‘fit with floral designs covering her bosom,” adding that “her bodysuit, which she paired with brown platform heels, appeared to give fans hope she would be hitting the stage once again.” The caption, verbatim, read “Tease for new project coming up soon !!! SEX N DIAMONDS,” to which she also added an image with a bunch of flowers.
“She’s picking up that pen again,” a fan wrote on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter). Another wrote “Gotta drop it ASAP.” (Agreed.) A third added “Mother is coming y’all.”
Spears’ insistence that she had kicked the music industry to the curb for good upset many a fan of hers (read: all of ‘em), but maybe—and excuse the speculation—she just meant that she was done with the music industry unless it was on her own terms? After all, in that same January 3 Instagram, she also wrote “When I write [music], I write for fun or I write for other people !!!” adding that she is a “ghostwriter” who has “written over 20 songs for other people” over the past two years.
Spears herself hasn’t dropped solo tracks in a while, but she was featured on “Hold Me Closer,” a collaboration with Elton John, in 2022, and “Mind Your Business” with will.i.am last year. Of working with John following the end of her conservatorship battle (which was terminated in 2021), she wrote in her memoir “Recording ‘Hold Me Closer’ and putting it out into the world was a fantastic experience. It didn’t feel good—it felt great.” She reiterated that her priority isn’t pushing her music forward, but rather to “find” herself.
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“SEX N DIAMONDS.” Consider us intrigued, Britney.
Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.
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