Entertainment

Britney's Past VMAs Performances Are Iconic

by Kristie Rohwedder

May Britney Spears Weekend never end: On Thursday, the pop icon appeared on James Corden’s recurring Carpool Karaoke segment and belted along to “…Baby One More Time,” “Oops!… I Did It Again,” and “Womanizer”; on Friday, she dropped her terrific, almost-too-hot-to-listen-to-in-the-middle-of-the-workday ninth album, Glory; on Sunday, she will take the MTV Video Music Awards stage and perform her single “Make Me…” alongside G-Eazy. This will be the "Do You Wanna Come Over?" singer's first VMAs performance since 2007. Britney Spears's past VMAs performances are the stuff of legend, and I can't wait to watch her inevitably bring the fire to the stage Sunday evening.

"Finally," the Britney Army cried in unison, clutching their copies of the Crossroads DVD. "Our Queen will finally be back on the VMAs stage and everything will be as it should be."

Throughout the early '00s, Spears was a fixture of the MTV award show that hands out Moonman statues to recording artists. No, scratch that. She ruled that award show. No, wait. Scratch that one, too. She was that award show. Year after year, Godney brought the unforgettable pop hits and the unforgettable dance moves and the unforgettable stage setups and the unforgettable outfits, and the Video Music Awards just haven't been the same without her. (tl;dr: Spears's VMAs performances of yore are life-changing.)

Oh, you want to rewatch all of Brit Brit's VMAs performances? Right now? I thought you'd never ask!

“…Baby One More Time”/“Tearin’ Up My Heart” (1999)

How does one follow a performance with *NSYNC?

“Satisfaction”/“Oops!… I Did It Again” (2000)

One strips down to a nude, glittery two-piece costume, that’s how. And how does one follow a mid-performance ‘stume change?

“I’m A Slave 4 U” (2001)

One carries a python around her shoulders, that’s how. And how does one follow dancing around with an enormous snake on live television?

“Like A Virgin”/“Work It”/"Hollywood" (2003)

One performs with Madonna, Christina Aguilera, and Missy Elliott, that’s how. And how does one follow this quadrangle of popular music powerhouses?

“Gimme More” (2007)

Oof, this one is tough. I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Britney Stan, so please know that what I’m about to say comes from a place of love. “Gimme More” was not exactly Spears’s finest VMAs showing, to put it nicely. But hey, even at her not-best, she remains one of the most iconic VMA performers in the history of the VMAs.

And this Sunday night, The Legendary Ms. Britney Spears will rule the stage once again.

Praise the Holy Spearit.

Image: mtv/tumblr