Ahead of the release of her new single “Lucky,” Halsey has confirmed she received Britney Spears‘ “blessing” to interpolate Spears’ 2000 song of the same name.
The Columbia Records artist shared the news via X on Thursday morning in response to a fan’s question about Spears’ involvement in getting the sample cleared. “Yes of course!,” Halsey wrote, adding “I wouldn’t even dream of doing it without her blessing!”
The confirmation may come as a somewhat of a surprise to those following Spears on social media, which seems to be the only source for Spears’ public communication these days. In a now-deleted Instagram post denying rumors she was making music with Charli XCX, Spears announced “I’m never returning to the music industry.” It was later confirmed by Charli that she had actually written music for Spears, although it was never recorded.
Representatives for Halsey did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
Halsey’s “Lucky” will arrive on July 26 after first being introduced on July 1 with a teaser that revealed the interpolation of Spears’ song, which touches on the emotional rollercoaster that comes with fame. “She’s so lucky, she’s a star/ But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking/ If there’s nothing missing in my life/ Then why do these tears come at night?” Halsey sings in the chorus of her reimagined take.
Halsey added, “When I was five, it always felt like Britney was singing directly to me. 24 years later, these words hit different. love you forever.”
“Lucky” was preceded by the single “The End,” in which Halsey gets candid about her health struggles. In a series of Instagram posts, the singer-songwriter revealed she had been diagnosed with Lupus SLE (an autoimmune disease that can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, brain and other organs, per the National Library of Medicine) and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder in 2022.
“Long story short, I’m lucky to be alive,” Halsey wrote on June 4. “Short story short, I wrote an album. It beings with The End.”
“Lucky” is also expected to be a part of Halsey’s upcoming album. It is her fifth studio album, and her first since 2021’s Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross-produced “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.” The LP will be released under Columbia, with whom she signed last year after parting ways with her longtime label, Capitol Music Group.
Source Agencies
