Britney Spears charts a new bestseller hit with a song that’s more than a decade old

Even now that Britney Spears is still not in the mood for anything related to music, the singer still manages to find a way to score a new hit on charts around the world. The pop icon, who once claimed she would ‘never returning to the music industry’ debuts a years-old cut on multiple rankings in the United Kingdom. In light of what appears to be a complete lack of interest on the musician’s part to record new material, her record label has been doling out long-forgotten songs from her back catalog – some of which have been known to die-hard fans for years, while more casual listeners may be hearing them for the first time as they are reintroduced.

Britney Spears’ latest bestseller is ‘scary’

Spears’ latest bestseller is “Scary,” which debuts on two charts in Britain and becomes a milestone hit for the Grammy-winning artist. “Scary” launches this week on two similarly compiled rankings on the other side of the Atlantic. The song starts at number 57 on the Official Singles Download chart and two places lower, at number 59 on the Official Singles Sales chart.

The first of these two charts only looks at the top performers on platforms like iTunes and Amazon, while the official Singles Sales chart also includes purchases on CD, vinyl and cassette, as well as digital downloads.

Britney Spears last made her debut with ‘Selfish’

‘Scary’ gives Spears her first new hit in Great Britain since last year. In February 2024, ‘Selfish’, which was released in the same era as ‘Scary’, just missed the top 10 on the two rankings, peaking at number 12 on the Official Singles Downloads chart and number 13 on the Official Singles Sales chart.

Britney Spears’ last “new” song was “Hold Me Closer” featuring Elton John

It’s been several years since Spears last appeared on either ranking with new material. In early fall 2022, the singer joined Elton John on his song “Hold Me Closer,” which followed the successful path established shortly before by “Cold Heart,” a collaboration with Dua Lipa. ‘Hold me closer’ combines lyrics from several of John’s famous songs with updated dance-pop production, and fans around the world ate it up, grateful for a new, stylistically appropriate version of Spears.

How many best-selling songs has Britney Spears released?

The singer has now achieved 26 placements on the Official Singles Downloads chart in her years as a household name. “Scary” marks her tenth milestone on the Official Singles Sales chart.

Spears first appeared on the download-only list in November 2004 with “My Prerogative”, and shortly after with “Toxic”. It would take more than a decade for her to enter the official Singles Sales rankings. “Everytime” first landed Spears on that list in March 2015.

Which album was Britney Spears’ ‘Scary’ originally on?

“Scary” was originally only shared on the Japanese deluxe edition of Spears’ album Woman Fatale. That project disappeared in the spring of 2011 and propelled songs like ‘Hold It Against Me’, ‘Till the World Ends’ and ‘I Wanna Go’ to the top of the charts worldwide. Just in time for Halloween, “Scary” was finally released as a standalone version so listeners around the world could stream and purchase it whenever they wanted. Released last year, ‘Selfish’ was also originally a deluxe edition that later earned its own moment in the spotlight.

The Singles Collection Climbs thanks to Britney Spears’ new bestseller

Although “Scary” does not appear on Spears’ compilation The Singles Collectionthat album climbs onto the only two UK charts in which it can be found, probably thanks to the rapid success of the newly released song. The Singles Collection rises five spots to No. 53 on the Official Album Streaming Chart and just one spot higher on the main list of the most consumed projects in the country, where it lands at No. 70.