Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake duet finally released after 25 years

Britney Spears has finally released a duet with her ex Justin Timberlake, more than 25 years after it was recorded. The song is called "She'll Never Be Me" and arrives to mark the 25th anniversary of her 2001 album Britney. A reissue of that album comes out on November 6 via RCA.

The track came out of the recording sessions for Britney and was never finished at the time. According to producer Alex Greggs, it didn't make the album simply because stronger material was available. In 2022 he explained on The Original Doll podcast that the label wasn't the problem: they did think the song was good. Greggs, also known as Riprock 'n' Alex G, made the track together with Bradley Daymond. The duo worked often with Timberlake and *NSYNC in the past.

Rolling Stone describes the sound as funky, quirky and unmistakably 2000s, very much a product of the pop world after "Oops!... I Did It Again." Timberlake sings backing vocals, and the song is built around the stacked vocals of the two of them. Greggs said people sometimes only notice Timberlake's voice once you point it out. He was sad the pair never worked together again, and said a proper "sweetheart duet" would have been cool. In his view the timing wasn't right back then, though he's sure it could have happened had they stayed together. Timberlake also wrote the album track "What It's Like to Be Me" and co produced it.

The release was remarkably quiet. According to Spin, Spears only posted a Reel on Facebook, with no announcement on her website or other social channels and no press release. That fits with her withdrawal from the music industry. Two years ago she said she would never return, and earlier this year she sold the rights to her music catalog to the independent music publisher Primary Wave for an undisclosed amount.

The duet is reportedly one of five previously unreleased songs on the anniversary edition. The other four are "Am I a Sinner," "When I Say So," "My Big Secret" and a full version of "Right Now (Taste the Victory)," which was originally used in a 2002 Pepsi commercial. It's the first new Spears recording since "Mind Your Business" from 2023, a collaboration with will.i.am that was also pieced together from older material.

Interest in Spears' story remains huge in the meantime. Liz Meriwether, creator of New Girl, is adapting Spears' memoir The Woman in Me into a feature film, directed by Jon M. Chu and produced by Marc Platt. For fans in the Netherlands, the reissue is a chance to discover a little known chapter from the pop star's peak, at a time when she herself is no longer making new music.