Britney Spears was 16 years old when Oops! Baby One More Time, her first single. A song that to this day continues to play wherever you go, and it is difficult to find someone in the world who cannot recognize it. Almost 3 decades have passed since then, in fact, the singer is one of the last throes of the boomers (generation X), and her legacy continues to be part of music beyond her creation since she has not published anything new for seven.

The interpreter of Lucky left the Disney factory, but she was not the last of her: after she was other girl artists such as Hilary Duff, Miley Cyrus, Zendaya, or, the last, Olivia Rodrigo. Although they are all writing their own story, the inspiration in the pop princess, the true icon, the indirect protagonist of one of the first memes in history ( Leave Britney alone! ), is still present today, also outside the audiovisual giant.

If anyone has followed in Britney’s footsteps, literally and figuratively, it has been Miley Cyrus. The singer began her acting career in Hannah Montana and shed the good-girl image with her first post-Disney post, titled Can’t Be Tamed. From the album cover, where she appeared showing her navel in a total black leather outfit, to attitude and, of course, her staging, everything could be found on Britney’s journey.

The prison used by the young performer in her video clip of the song that gives her album its name had been used by her predecessor a year before her during her Circus tour. Some disqualified this transformation and the actress and singer herself, even though in her record work there were also applauded versions such as Every Rose has its Thorn.

They even released a song together in 2013, SMS, as part of the Bangerz album, where Billy Ray Cyrus’s daughter broke everything again with controversial performances like Can’t Stop/Blurred Lines at the Video Music Awards.

“I think it reminded her of what she was doing when she was 20, that desire to set yourself free and represent so many girls […] I don’t think there’s another pop idol I care about as much as Britney, it was the first album I bought “, revealed the interpreter about Britney Spears. In 2019, for her video clip De Ella Mother’s Daughter De Ella, Miley once again paid tribute to her with a red latex bodysuit that reminded her of the one the princess of pop used in her toxic.

Two years later, in 2021, Britney showed her immense humility and affection for the young woman, 11 years younger, and assured her that the protagonist of Hannah Montana was “an inspiration” for her.

But in the same generation, Demi Lovato has also been able to get inspiration and advice from Britney in the first person. Both shared a jury table at X-Factor where, according to what they said, they found many common points in everything they had experienced as child artists: ” Without a doubt we connect, I think because we’ve been through the same thing,” explained the protagonist of Sonny with a Chance to The Sun in 2013. “We’ve stayed in touch, our moms have become super friends, which is super funny,” he added.

Two years ago, when Demi premiered her song De Ella I’m Ready with Sam Smith, the artist assured that the inspiration for the song had been precisely the princess of pop and, particularly, Femme Fatale (published in 2011).

More recently, with the release of Demi’s new single, Skin of my teeth, the video resonates a lot every time, the song by Britney Spears in which she talks about how fame got the worst of her and made her live some of the worst moments of his life. In the case of this new Lovato topic, the topic is his mental health and his near-fatal incident in 2018 when he overdosed that nearly cost him his life.

The last of the stars that the Disney factory has created, Olivia Rodrigo, has publicly spoken of stars like Avril Lavigne or Taylor Swift as direct inspirations for her music.

However, in the Brutal video clip, the song that opens her album and one of her latest singles, she speaks precisely about the difficulties of growing up in front of the cameras: “I’m trapped by the news of who likes me and who hates you, and I’m so tired that I might quit my job and start a new life. Everyone will be so disappointed because who am I if I’m not exploited?

Taking this into account, it seems impossible that her choice of wardrobe, a dress exactly like the one worn by Britney Spears at the 2003 American Music Awards (the same year the interpreter herself was born), is a coincidence.

Outside of the audiovisual giant that is Disney and that has served as the cradle of all these artists, there are many more who claim to have been inspired by Britney Spears more than once. One of the latest is Ava Max, author of one of the most viral songs of recent months Sweet but Psycho, who assured that Britney Spears was one of her main inspirations and references for her when creating music.

The most obvious reference to Britney Spears in current pop culture is that we have been able to see through fashion. Some of the most iconic looks of the princess of pop have served as inspiration for a multitude of artists, but other details such as the hair tied with the ends up, the low-rise skirts and the bare navel, the platform sandals or the nearly transparent, rimless sunglasses are right on-trend.

Also, some symbols, such as the butterfly, that Olivia Rodrigo and Dua Lipa have made their own through their outfits. Sydney Sweeney wore her most Brit look of hers at the latest MTV awards. Gen Z loves Britney Spears as an icon, who doesn’t?