Britney Spears’s 2001 MTV Video Music Awards performance remains one of the ceremony’s most memorable moments, 25 years after the singer took to the stage with a giant yellow snake.
Spears was 19 and at the height of her early career when she appeared at the event in New York City. Before the performance, she drew attention in a revealing sheer dress, a look that was considered particularly daring at the time.
She also posed for behind-the-scenes photographs with Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Lopez, as anticipation built around her appearance at the awards.
Spears then emerged from a lion’s cage as “I’m a Slave 4 U” played inside the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. The performance featured an elaborate dance routine before its defining image: a large yellow snake wrapped around her body.
The striking combination of barely-there sparkle, choreography and live wildlife turned the Britney Spears 2001 MTV VMAs performance into an enduring pop-culture image.
