Britney Spears releases previously unreleased 2001 song — Rolling Stone

Britney Spears has released the previously unreleased track She’ll Never Be Me, recorded in 2001. She worked on the song with Justin Timberlake, who was one of its co-writers and performed backing vocals. Rolling Stone reports.

A song for the third album

Spears recorded She’ll Never Be Me for her third studio album, Britney, which turns 25 this year. However, the track remained unfinished and was not included in the album’s original tracklist, as other songs were selected for release.

Producer Alex Greggs said on The Original Doll podcast in 2022 that the label had not rejected the song. According to him, stronger tracks were available for the album. Britney included, among others, I’m a Slave 4 U, Overprotected, I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman and Lonely.

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Timberlake’s backing vocals

Greggs noted that Timberlake’s voice in She’ll Never Be Me may not be immediately recognizable, as his backing vocals are blended with Spears’ vocals. Timberlake also wrote and co-produced another song from the album, What It’s Like to Be Me.

Spears and Timberlake were in a relationship from 1999 to 2002. In her memoir The Woman in Me, published in 2023, the singer wrote that the breakup devastated her and that she considered leaving her music career. The anniversary edition of Britney will be released on November 6 and will include five additional songs, including She’ll Never Be Me.