Britney Spears is not focused on releasing music right now, but that doesn’t mean she’s not still present on the Billboard charts. This week, one of the singer’s most popular singles climbs to a new high, proving its popularity hasn’t waned in the years since it was first released.

“Toxic” lifts to No. 4 on this week’s edition of the Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs chart. The tune steps up from No. 12, breaking into the top 10 on the list of the most-streamed tracks labeled by Billboard as either dance or electronic in genre.

Amazingly, “Toxic” reaches a new high point on the Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs chart this week. The track may be surging in consumption thanks to Halloween’s arrival. It’s possible that the smash is returning to people’s playlists as the spooky holiday approaches. Halloween parties soundtracked by any cut that’s thematically relevant are popular, and tunes like “Toxic” can benefit from the season.

Helping highlight this theory is the sudden success of another track that, while not intended as a Halloween smash, may have also earned that distinction. Rihanna’s “Disturbia” soars on the Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs chart at the same time “Toxic” improves. The singer and entrepreneur’s former Hot 100 hit actually performs even better than Spears’, shooting from No. 15 to No. 2.

“Toxic” is one of Spears’ four top 10 hits on the Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs chart. Now that it’s reached No. 4, it ties “Scream & Shout,” a collaboration with Will.I.Am, as her third-highest-charting single on the tally. Only “Hold Me Closer” with Elton John and “Work Bitch” have appeared even higher. Those tunes reached Nos. 1 and 3, respectively.

Despite being released back in 2004, “Toxic” was late to the Dance/Electronic Streaming Songs chart. The single debuted on the list in October, perhaps in advance of Halloween’s impeding arrival.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2023/11/13/one-of-britney-spears-biggest-hits-keeps-climbing-the-billboard-charts/amp/

The singer spoke about Spears' difficult career journey in comparison to her own in a new interview

LeAnn Rimes is showing sympathy for Britney Spears.

Rimes, 41, spoke out against people “making money” off Spears, 41, in a new interview in which she discussed the singer’s difficult career journey being all-too similar to her own.

“I saw the Britney Spears documentary and was thinking, like, all these people that make money out of her and she has nothing to do with it,” Rimes told The Times. “It’s just soul-sucking. That poor girl. That poor woman, really.”

Like Spears, Rimes became a successful artist in her mid-teens and found herself battling for control of her career against her father, Wilbur C. Rimes, in the years that followed after her parents’ divorce.

Spears’ best-selling memoir, The Woman in Me, released in October, sheds light on the highs and brutal lows of the icon’s life, detailing her incredible journey from teen superstar to one of the bestselling female artists of all time, her past relationships and her fight to escape a conservatorship controlled by her father that she called "soul-crushing."

In 1998, the singer and actress filed a lawsuit against her father and Lyle Walker, who were her co-managers at the time, alleging that the pair had stolen $7 million of her earnings.

Rimes’ father countersued before the case was settled. The father and daughter later reconciled before Rimes’ wedding to husband Eddie Cibrian in 2011.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/leann-rimes-relates-soul-sucking-232244033.html

Tate McRae has big plans for 2024, so she’s taking cues from one of the world’s biggest pop stars. Shortly after announcing that her new album Think Later will arrive Dec. 8 followed by a world tour next year, the 20-year-old pop prodigy — who’s also Billboard‘s latest cover star — doubled down on her love for Britney Spears‘ performance style in a recent interview with Rolling Stone.

“I mean, obviously I watch Britney’s music videos all the time, because I think no one really did it like her,” McRae told the publication when asked where she finds inspiration for her choreography and stage presence. “She always crushed her music videos and the dancing.”

The “Greedy” singer’s Britney shoutout echos what she previously told Billboard in her newly unveiled Nov. 16 cover story. “When I look at my favorite icons or videos or performances, it’s always the biggest pop stars, so I think that’s always a goal,” she said. “I think what defines a pop star is how iconic [they are]: Madonna, Britney [Spears], Christina [Aguilera]; they would put on these shows and blow everybody away and make timeless art.”

“And that’s what I want to do: make timeless art and timeless performances — and strive to keep on doing that,” added McRae.

With production from Ryan Tedder, Think Later will feature McRae’s Billboard Hot 100 chart-climber “Greedy” as well as her splashy new single “Exes,” which dropped Friday (Nov. 17). The Canadian singer and dancer is a finalist at this year’s BBMAs for top dance/electronic song (“10:35”); she’ll also perform at the Nov. 19 ceremony, which you can watch on BBMAs.watch or via the Billboard and BBMAs social media channels.

“Crossroads” screenwriter turned mega-producer Shonda Rhimes is not among the producers looking to take on “The Woman in Me.” Spears starred in the 2002 film during which she said she Method acted. A spokesperson for Rhimes’ production company told Page Six that “Shondaland is not pursuing this project.”