Britney Spears admits how ‘scared’ she was to perform with live snake at 2001 VMAs
Britney Spears has admitted she was ‘scared’ when she had to dance with a snake at the 2001 MTV VMAs. (Getty Images)
Britney Spears is looking back on one of her most iconic performances of all time – the 2001 VMAs performance of “I’m A Slave 4 U.”
The pop legend is building anticipation for her upcoming memoir, The Woman In Me, set to hit shelves this autumn. And with the MTV Video Music Awards set to air next week, it was only fitting that Britney teased fans with a tidbit from her own legendary VMAs slot.
Sharing video footage from the performance to Instagram, Spears confessed that, while it may have looked like she knew exactly what she was doing with that snake, she was absolutely petrified.
“One of my favorite performances was with an albino python,” she wrote.
“I still remember how scared I felt when I was handed this snake and took the stage !!!
“I talked more about this performance and other favorites in my book #TheWomanInMe … I can’t wait for you to read it on October 24th.”
Spears was just 19 years old when she took to the VMAs stage with a 25-pound python draped over her shoulders. The performance was so jaw-dropping that it helped shoot “I’m A Slave 4 U” up to No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
By this point, the triple-threat had already solidified her VMAs status with her 1999 debut alongside *NSYNC, and her 2000 mash-up of “Oops!… I Did It Again” and The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction”.
Brit eventually took a year off in 2002 – only to return in 2003 with one of the most shocking VMAs performances of all time alongside Christina Aguilera and Madonna. You know the one.
Britney’s tell-all memoir
Spears is promising behind-the-scenes details into career moments like this in her upcoming memoir, which is marketed by publishers Gallery Books as “a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.”
The publisher also states that The Woman In Me will reveal “for the first time her incredible journey [and] strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history” and “illuminates the enduring power of music and love – and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.”
The finer details of what will be included in the memoir haven’t been revealed as of yet, but with Spears finding her voice again after living under a strict and complex conservatorship for 14 years, people are expecting her to let it all out.
