The Queen of Pop is officially solidifying her comeback.
On Tuesday, Britney Spears announced via Twitter that she was hard at work on her ninth studio album -- one that could ring in a new era of Britney relevance. The artist had teased the announcement days earlier, when she tweeted that she was recording a song and used the hashtag #B9, aka Britney's 9th album.
While Spears' most recent studio album, 2013's "Britney Jean," was the artist's lowest American chart debut to date, B9 -- as we're now referring to the project -- will debut in a much-changed Britney landscape. Since the release of her eighth album (and even, to an extent, her seventh), the '90s and early aughts superstar has been performing her way into contemporary relevance with the success of her Las Vegas residency show "Britney: Piece of Me" at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino -- not that she was ever not relevant to the true fans among us.
The residency, which began in 2013 and covers songs from the span of Spears' career, has been received favorably by both critics and spectators.
"Spears stomped into town with a 21-hit salute to her 15 years of dance confections the artfully melded spectacle with stagecraft," Marco della Cava wrote in his 2013 USA Today review. According to the newspaper, today, "Piece of Me" shows frequently sell out and have been seen by over 400,000 fans. In September, Spears renewed her residency for another two years.
“When we first announced [the show] two years ago, we were certain that Britney’s residency would revolutionize the entertainment landscape in Las Vegas," David Hoenemeyer, regional president of Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino said in a statement after Spears' renewal announcement. "And (we) are thrilled at how successful the show has been."
With her 2015 collaboration "Pretty Girls" with recent (admittedly complicated) star Iggy Azalea and an upcoming appearance on zeitgeisty CW show "Jane the Virgin," Britney is feeling very "now." (Not that she ever doesn't, again, for the true fans among us.) Here's hoping B9 brings a full-on, top-of-the-charts comeback.
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