Spears recorded “She’ll Never Be Me” for Britney, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, but the track was left unfinished and scrapped from the record to prioritize other songs

Britney Spears during “Spankin New Music Week” on MTV’s “TRL,” Nov. 6, 2001

Two years ago, Britney Spears declared she would “never return to the music industry,” and so far she’s stuck to her guns. She even started her year selling off the rights to her music catalog to independent music publisher Primary Wave for an unspecified amount. But anyone hungry for new music from the pop icon can feast on the crumbs of “She’ll Never Be Me,” a newly released song originally written and recorded in 2001 with co-writer Justin Timberlake.

Spears originally recorded “She’ll Never Be Me” for her third studio album, Britney, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, but the track was left unfinished and ultimately scrapped from the record to prioritize other songs. The record, produced by Alex Greggs, or Riprock ‘n’ Alex G, is funky, erratic, and distinctly 2001 in the sense that it was clearly created in a post-“Oops! … I Did It Again” pop world.

In 2022, Greggs detailed the backstory of the song on The Original Doll podcast. “The song didn’t go on the album not because the label didn’t like it. There was just way better stuff to go with,” he said. Britney‘s big hit was “I’m a Slave 4 U,” though the album also featured classics like “Overprotected,” “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,” and “Lonely.” The deep cut “What It’s Like to Be Me” was also written (and co-produced) by Timberlake.

Timberlake performed background vocals for “She’ll Never Be Me,” which builds around their stacked vocals. “Sometimes people don’t hear Justin’s voice until I tell them. I said, ‘You don’t hear that Justin’s in the back?’” Greggs said. “They blend in there very well together. It’s kind of a shame that they never really got to do more. It would have been cool to have that kind of sweetheart duet.” At the time, ’NSync still had some gas in the tank. “It wasn’t the right time,” Greggs said. “But if they continued to be together, I’m sure it would have happened and it would have been a really cool thing.”

Spears detailed the dissolution of her relationship with Timberlake in her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me. She wrote that the breakup left her “devastated,” and said she thought about leaving her music career behind altogether. The couple were together from 1999 until 2002. The actual catalyst that led to Spears stepping away from the music industry had nothing to do with Timberlake, however.

In 2021, Spears was released from a 14-year conservatorship under which multiple sectors of her life — from her finances to her career — were out of her control. Following the end of the court-supervised arrangement, the pop star said, “Not doing my music anymore is my way of saying ‘Fuck You,’ in a sense when it only actually benefits my family by ignoring my real work.”

The 25th anniversary edition of Britney will be released on Nov. 6 with five additional songs including “She’ll Never Be Me.”

Slayyyter in "I Think He's Got a Girl" video.

It looks like Slayyyter’s Wor$t Man in America is a cheater, as the musician conveys in the accompanying video for the upcoming album’s latest single, “I Think He’s Got a Girl.”

In her self-directed new visual for the ballad, Slayyyter is seen in a luxe home, appearing in an array of vintage outfits, striking gorgeous pinup poses, all alone. From lounging in the pool, to barbecuing and hanging out in different rooms, she laments a relationship that’s unraveling as she comes to the realization that the object of her affection has moved on with another.

“You’re too quick on the draw, lie every time you talk/It makes me feel so crazy, like I got everything wrong,” she sings. “You’re quiet on the phone, what time you coming home?/I hope it doesn’t mean what I know it means” before coming to the realization on the belted chorus: “I think he’s got a girl.”

The counterpart album to Wor$t Girl in America, Wor$t Man in America arrives on Dec. 4 via Columbia, and includes nine tracks. In addition to “I Think He’s Got a Girl,” which appears to be the inverse of Wor$t Girl’s “Unknown Loverz,” she’s also already released LP tracks “Crank 2” and “Beat Up Chanel$,” which offered fresh takes on Wor$t Girl tracks “Crank” and “Brand New Chanel$,” respectively.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Slayyyter explained the impetus for Wor$t Man in America, saying, “I want to live here for a little longer, so I’m kind of making an inverse album, if you will. I just want the core of everything to feel like me, because it finally feels that.”

Alanis Morissette is bringing an unexpected collection of collaborators to Good Weather for Immaculate Conception, her first full-length holiday album. Arriving on Nov. 6, it features Brandi Carlile, Steve Martin, Martin Short and several other guests across 14 tracks.

The Canadian singer today shared its first single, “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem,” featuring Carlile and Martin. The album's tracklist includes traditional Christmas standards, previously released covers and two original songs.

Among the other guests, Short appears on the album’s closing track, “Merry Christmas.” Joy Oladokun joins Morissette for “Silent Night,” while Amythyst Kiah contributes to “Momma Mary.” The record also features Trans Voices, the U.K.’s first professional vocal ensemble of trans and nonbinary singers, on “O Tannenbaum.”

Speaking to Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast in September, before officially announcing the album, she described the record as “this labor of Christmas love for me.”

The release brings several of Morissette’s seasonal recordings together on one album. She has previously released “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” her take on the John Lennon and Yoko Ono classic, in 2020, followed by “Little Drummer Boy” in 2022, “Last Christmas” in 2023 and “O Holy Night” in 2024.

Those recordings join selections including “What Child Is This?,” “Ave Maria” and Joni Mitchell’s “River” on the new album.

Troye Sivan at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards held at Peacock Theater on September 27, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

Welcome to our weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. This week, Troye Sivan makes a sultry request to his lover on a house track, Dawn Richard pivots to 2-step garage on a hypnotic banger, and Remi Wolf turns up the heat on a jangly highlight from her new album. Plus new tunes from Cameron Winter, Daddy Yankee, Joyce Wrice, Grimes, and Star Moles.

Troye Sivan, “Canada Dry” (YouTube)

Remi Wolf, “Burn Me Blue” (YouTube)

Dawn Richard, “Only Fans” (YouTube)

Cameron Winter, “It All Fell In the River” (YouTube)

Slayyyter, “I Think He’s Got a Girl” (YouTube)

Offset, Don Toliver, “Every Night” (YouTube)

Daddy Yankee, “BOTZ (Besame Otra Vez)” (YouTube)

Gunna, “Pop It” (YouTube)

Joyce Wrice, “Dangerous” (YouTube)

Carly Rae Jepsen, “Yes” (YouTube)

Sheryl Crow, “I’ve Got Your Number” (YouTube)

Judeline, “La Falda” (YouTube)

Grimes, Vadakin, “Accelerando” (YouTube)

Pitbull, “In the Bahamas” (YouTube)

Ralphie Choo, “Amarillo Nena” (YouTube)

David Byrne, Daniel Pemberton, “Let Me Sell You a Dream” (YouTube)

Ovrkast, “Home” (YouTube)

Star Moles, “Born Again” (YouTube)

Jess Williamson, “Hum of the City” (YouTube)

Greta Van Fleet, “Into the Beginning” (YouTube)

Baby Wave, “The Scene Is Changing” (YouTube)

Cece Natalie, “Flood Whole Towns” (YouTube)

Zo Trapalot, “You Betta” (YouTube)

Twentythree, “Crack” (YouTube)

Earthsignchels, “Crazy?” (YouTube)

John Glacier, “Lights” (YouTube)

Marina Herlop, “Flor De Los Precipicios” (YouTube)

Thao feat. Adrian Quesada, “Nguyen Nguyen Lose Lose” (YouTube)

Anish Kumar, DJ GTi, Sofia Kourtesis, “Radio Nacional” (YouTube)

Unflirt, “Air Turns Blue” (YouTube)

Zsela, “Kinda Guy” (YouTube)

Bankrollmaiya, “Pull Up Stunnin” (YouTube)

Argentine musician Piero sings during a show at Newell's Olds Boys Stadium on April, 1983 in Rosario, Argentina.

Piero, the artist who defined a generation of Latin American songwriting with classics like “Mi Viejo” and “Soy Pan, Soy Paz, Soy Más,” died on Oct. 7 at Hospital Italiano in Buenos Aires. He was 81.

His family confirmed the news via their Instagram account: “It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved Piero at the age of 81. His voice, his songs, and his message of peace will remain with us forever. His light will continue to shine in every corner where his music is heard. His family and friends thank you for your condolences. Farewell, dear Piero,” they wrote.

Piero Antonio Franco De Benedictis was born in Gallipoli, Apulia, Italy, in 1945. His family emigrated to Argentina when he was three. By the early 1970s, Piero was already a celebrity. He co-starred in the film El Profesor Patagónico alongside Luis Sandrini, directed by Fernando Ayala.

As he released albums — especially the trilogy Pedro Nadie (1970), Coplas De Mi País (1972), and Para El Pueblo Lo Que Es Del Pueblo (1974) — he became a political figure. A committed singer-songwriter who spoke out on social issues, he found an inseparable songwriting partner in José Tcherkasky, the Argentine journalist and poet.

Associated with protest songs, Piero and Tcherkasky painted social portraits and crafted short stories with universal appeal, often accompanied by the great Jorge López Ruiz orchestrations. Songs such as “Valdemar, El Brasilero” and “Los Americanos,” featuring the musical group Cuarteto Zupay, were part of that seminal repertoire that influenced, for example, the Panamanian salsa singer Rubén Blades.

Para El Pueblo Lo Que Es Del Pueblo, he collaborated with Marilina Ross (“Canción De Una Para Despertar Un Hijo”), depicted the hardships of urban life (“Así Es La Ciudad”), and covered “Te Recuerdo, Amanda” by the Chilean Víctor Jara, who was assassinated by Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile in September of the previous year.

Following the coup d’état of March 24, he went into exile in 1976 and lived in Italy and Spain, where he settled near Madrid, and worked on a farm. He maintained strong ties to Colombia. His children’s album, Sinfonía Inconclusa En La Mar (1975), is an iconic album for several generations of Colombians.

In 1981, with the end of the civil-military dictatorship on the near horizon, Piero planned his return to Argentina, stopping in Uruguay first. Alongside musicians he’d met during his exile in Spain — including guitarists Amadeo Álvarez and Daniel Manzini — he began to shape his new band, Prema. Over the next five years, Prema’s lineup included, among others, pianist Babu Cerviño (a member of the band Tantor), drummer Juan Carlos “El Negro” Tordó (who had played in the band Raíces with Uruguayan musician Beto Satragni and a very young Andrés Calamaro), and more.

Piero reached his peak of popularity during those years. He performed in several plays and formed a deep bond with Mercedes Sosa, participating in the legendary concerts at the Ópera Theater. These popularized her cry of gratitude, “¡Gracias, Piero!” He took part in the historic concerts by Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés in Buenos Aires. In the mid-1980s, he moved away from protest music. He founded an organic farm in Campana alongside teenagers from vulnerable families. From then on, during the mid-1990s, he built a network of 200 organic farms, and his social activism went hand in hand with an artistic career that included a collaborative album with Milanés.

Music became a family legacy. His son Juan led the band Mulan and currently plays guitar for the Uruguayan singer Ana Prada. In 2022, his daughter Fiorel released an EP featuring Piero himself, with covers of classic Argentine folk songs.

Nickelback will hit arenas across Canada next year on their newly announced global tour supporting the band's upcoming album, Everything Under the Sun.

The Everything Under the Sun 2027 Tour will span North America, Europe and Australia, with British rock band Don Broco joining the Canadian group as direct support. The North American leg begins February 6 in Pittsburgh and runs through May 1 in San Antonio, Texas, before the tour moves overseas.

The Canadian dates begin March 12 at Montréal's Centre Bell, before heading to Hamilton's TD Coliseum and Toronto's Scotiabank Arena the following week. The band will return to Canada in April for concerts in Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

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Nickelback's 11th studio album will mark the band's first full-length release since 2022's Get Rollin'. The band has released three singles so far, “Rattle the Cage,” featuring former Marilyn Manson guitarist John 5, “Leave Me Behind” and “Make Me Love You.” The Hana, Alberta band has described the record as being characterized by more experimental material and introspective songwriting.

Tickets go on sale to the general public October 16 at 10 a.m. local time, following presales beginning October 13.

Everything Under the Sun arrives October 30.