Britney Spears Revealed Why Performing ‘I’m a Slave 4 U’ With a Snake Was Terrifying

Long before Miley Cyrus twerked, Britney Spears shocked everyone at the MTV Video Music Awards by performing “I’m a Slave 4 U” with a snake on her shoulders. The performance was not as simple as it appeared. There was part of the show that the viewing public didn’t get to see that as downright terrifying. Interestingly, “I’m a Slave 4 U” had a huge impact on popular culture even though it wasn’t much of a hit.

Britney Spears felt she was too small to use the snake for ‘I’m a Slave 4 U’

In her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, Spears discussed performing “I’m a Slave 4 U” with a snake. “At the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards that September, the plan was for me to sing ‘I’m a Slave 4 U,’ and we decided I would use a snake as a prop,” she recalled. “It’s become an iconic moment in VMAs history, but it was even more terrifying than it appeared.”

Spears felt ill-equipped to handle the snake because she was so small. In her opinion, the serpent was hideous and gigantic. She didn’t want to let that affect her performance. Spears’ attitude is that when she is onstage, everything else about her life should become irrelevant. In addition, she couldn’t focus too much on the snake, because if she looked at it, it would bite her and kill her.

Britney Spears said the snake started hissing at her

Spears revealed her internal monologue while holding that ominous serpent. “In my head, I was saying, ‘Just perform, just use your legs and perform,'” she recalled. “But what nobody knows is that as I was singing, the snake brought its head right around to my face, right up to me, and started hissing at me. 

“You didn’t see that shot on the TV, but in real life?” she added. “I was thinking, Are you f****** serious right now? The f******goddamn snake’s tongue is flicking out at me. Right. Now. Finally, I got to the part where I handed it back, thank God.” Regardless of how threatening the snake was, the performance became iconic, inspiring many parodies, including one on the animated sitcom Drawn Together.

‘I’m a Slave 4 U’ inspired an important music video

“I’m a Slave 4 U” reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for 14 weeks. While the tune didn’t chart highly, its music video became iconic and set the bar for former Disney stars who transitioned into adults. Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and Sabrina Carpenter all owe a lot to “I’m a Slave 4 U.”

“I’m a Slave 4 U” appeared on the record Britney. That record topped the Billboard 200 for one week, staying on the chart for 58 weeks. Britney might be as beloved as other Spears albums like Blackout or Femme Fatale, but it includes some of the “Womanizer” singer’s best songs. Britney exemplifies the pop/R&B hybrid sound that ruled music in the 2000s and it’s essential listening for anyone who wants to understand that era.

“I’m a Slave 4 U” is a catchy song on its own but that snake and that music video made it a part of pop music history.