The Ultimate Guide to Apple Music Festival 10

Since 2007, Apple Music Festival has made it its mission to bring massive artists to an intimate and iconic corner of London – and the line-up for its 10th anniversary, at the Roundhouse in Camden, is the best yet…

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BRITNEY SPEARS

The defining pop artist of her generation is playing the UK for the first time in five years. Nick Levine talks Beyoncé and doppelgangers with the star

BRITNEY SPEARS DOESN’T have a squad like Taylor Swift. Or a name for her fans like Ariana Grande (‘Arianators’) and Katy Perry (‘KatyCats’). Or a history of complaining about doing meet-and-greets with fans, like Justin Bieber. Or a list of beefs she’s had, even though she broke up with fellow pop superstar Justin Timberlake in 2002. It’s hard, too, to imagine anyone doing a Kim and Kanye style ‘takedown’ of her, because it’s just not how she goes about her business.

The 34-year-old is a pop star from another era, but still the biggest of them all. And in 2016, 18 years since her debut single, still so famous that even if you’ve never heard a Britney album you’ll know her lyrics – “Oh baby baby, how was I supposed to know?”; “I’m not that innocent” – and remember her best looks. Everyone recalls her as an air hostess in 2003’s ‘Toxic’ video, draping a snake over her shoulders at the 2001 VMAs or dressing up as a schoolgirl in the video for ‘...Baby One More Time’.

As Lana Del Rey put it in 2012: “I’m not interested in a ton of female musicians, but something about Britney compels me – the way she sings and just the way she looks.”