The Princess of Pop is paying tribute to another member of pop royalty — although Britney Spears thinks that Janet Jackson is actually on an even higher level among the gods.
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In a reverent post on Instagram on Thursday (Oct. 15), Spears shared a photo of Miss Jackson and recalled how, at the age of 13, her “mouth dropped open” any time one of the “That’s The Way Love Goes” singer’s music videos came on TV. “I kept repeating in my head, ‘No, No … Please come back, I wanna see that again … Where the hell did that come from ???’” she wrote.
“It was her ability to be incredibly mysterious, so dark with a vibe that sucked you in immediately, and then this haunting simple angelic tone … The feeling she gives with her voice when she sings is so pure and genuine,” Spears continued. “She’s not trying to be sexy … She just is … She can’t help it … She has always been god to me.”
The superstar went on to say that Jackson isn’t just a singer, but “an entertainer in people’s eyes” who leaves adults “spellbound” just as much as she “captivate[s] the hearts of children.”
“I was so young, and she spoke to my heart and soul like no one else … I have no idea why I’m writing this, but I do believe people like her are here for a reason,” Spears added. “Just her smile alone changed the world forever … She’s my girl crush this month.”
In response, Jackson reshared the post on her Instagram Story and added a red heart emoji and kissy-face emoji.
Spears may be one of the iconic singer-actress’ most famous fans, but her praise echoes what countless others have loved about Jackson for decades. The singer, who is the younger sister of Michael Jackson, dominated the late ’80s and ’90s, scoring 10 No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 over the course of her career. (Only the King of Pop, The Beatles, Mariah Carey, Taylor Swift, Drake, Rihanna, Madonna, The Supremes and Whitney Houston have had more.)
Miss Jackson would eventually pass the baton to Spears, whose music was inescapable in the late ’90s and 2000s, earning her the nickname of Princess of Pop, with five No. 1s on the Hot 100 to date.
Something the “Toxic” singer probably didn’t expect back when she was a teenager worshipping Jackson, however, was that they’d someday be linked through their respective connections to Justin Timberlake, who in 2021 apologized to both women at the same time after facing very belated backlash for the way he treated them in the past.
“I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right,” he wrote at the time in reference to his disrespectful comments about Spears following their 2002 breakup and his lack of support for Jackson after he exposed her breast at the 2004 Super Bowl. “I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism. I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed.”
It doesn’t seem as though Spears harbors any ill will toward JT, however, as the star has had kind things to say about him in the past couple of years. She also surprised fans Oct. 9 by releasing a song they wrote together more than two decades ago titled “She’ll Never Be Me.”
