Shelly Peiken might not be a household name, but the songs she's written very much are. In the mid-'90s, she and alt-pop singer Meredith Brooks reclaimed one of the more cutting slurs assigned to women with their 1997 GRAMMY-nominated anthem "Bitch." A few years later, Peiken co-wrote one of Christina Aguilera's earliest pop gems, "What A Girl Wants" with producer/songwriter Guy Roche. And that's just the beginning: Among her other recognizable co-writes are songs like Aguilera's "Come On Over Baby," Brandy's "Almost Doesn't Count," Mandy Moore's "I Wanna Be WIth You" and "Who You Are" by Jessie J.

In 2018, Peiken wrote a book, Confessions of a Serial Songwriter, that chronicled her years in the industry, and now, she's at last releasing a set of solo material in a debut album, 2.0, which was released in late August and comprises reimaginings of "Bitch" and a handful of brand-new originals.

"Sometimes I wonder if that song loosened the lid for more risqué language [in pop music]," Peiken, who is also a founding member of SONA (Songwriters of North America), wonders out loud about her and Brooks' smash hit. "Once that was accepted, I think a lot of songwriters felt like they could get away with more."

Below, Peiken shares her memories from the "Bitch" era with GRAMMY.com, and looks back on writing songs for Aguilera and the significant ways songwriting has changed over the last few decades.

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How are you doing with everything?

I'm doing okay. I'm counting my blessings. In the beginning it was sort of freaky because I waited my whole life to make this one album and I drop it like as soon as I could quarantine. So you can't really get out there and enjoy it.

Everybody's had a heartbreak and everybody's had a kid not be able to graduate. Everybody's had something. So, I'm trying to have perspective. A friend of mine said to me the other day, "Shelly, we're all in the same storm, but we're all in it in different boats. There are people who are alone in tiny little boats and it's a whole different experience."

That's a lovely way of putting it. In regards to the timing, you've been writing songs for years. Why did this feel like the right time put out something of your own?

Well, I started out many years ago. I'm going to date myself now. In the '80s, I got out of college, I put a band together and I thought I would be an artist myself. I loved performing, I loved writing songs, and I thought I'll sing my own songs. Labels started coming and I didn't get signed, but they started recording the songs I had to sing. I thought to myself, that's a really nice alternative avenue. I was in New York City. I loved being there. I didn't need to travel and promote. At the time, you could make a decent living as a songwriter, even if you didn't have big hits because physical albums were selling. For every physical album that's sold, even if you had an album cut on it, you could make 9 cents. So if an album went gold or platinum and you had one or two of them a year, even if nobody ever heard your song as a single, you could pay your rent.

So, I thought, this is okay. That lasted a really long time—up until when we switched over to digital delivery and physical albums stopped selling and songwriters could not sustain a livelihood anymore because digital royalties didn't pay. To add to that, I was getting older in a very youth-oriented industry. I had had a handful of hits in the gold rush, so I was okay financially. But my spirit was like, do you write if you're not going to make any money?

Yes, you do, but it was harder to get in rooms. Technology made it possible for a person to be a songwriter without actually being a musician. So, there were hundreds of thousands more of us, and I got into this big funk. So, I started writing and blogging and posting about it, and those musings took on a life of their own and were published as a book called Confessions of a Serial Songwriter. I felt like, wow, that was a magical moment. That came out of, what am I going to do now? I followed my truth and I narrated the book and it was nominated for a GRAMMY in Best Spoken Word.

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It's not how-to book—it's about the emotional journey of all this stuff changing. But the reason why I made my record is because I toured the country with my book for a couple years, and it was a really fun ride. I went to the high schools and colleges and music students. Then I was like, "Now what?" Now I'm even older than I was three years ago.

Mind you, there are a lot of really young kids who would do anything to be in the room, writing a song with me every day. But most of them would prefer to be with people their own age, in their own culture, and I don't blame them. I mean, I'm not writing about going to clubs and going to parties and hooking up, and that's what you think about when you're young. So, I thought, maybe I'll make that record now—the one that I never made in the beginning.

I could see students being enthralled by your presence when you visited music schools—your "gold rush" era’s aesthetics are so on trend right now. I’m talking about the late ‘90s and the early ‘00s.

Shortly after I wrote “What A Girl Wants” and “Bitch,” women would come up to me and say, "Oh my God, that song is my jam." But now I'll be out and about, and some young person will come up to me and they'll say, "Oh my God, ‘What A Girl Wants’ and 'Bitch,’ those songs were my mother’s jam." I'm like, "Oh, my god."

But you know what? [Those songs] are still recognized. They are still in the zeitgeist. I have to tell you: Those two songs have really saved my life. I talk about them all the time. They are still are being licensed and used, and contestants use them on TV shows. Just a few months ago, “Bitch” was rerecorded by Ruby Amanfu and used in “Little Fires Everywhere.” It was a huge scene. I just feel like there's so much content out there. A lot of it is great, but there's so much of it, and it gets recent. It's here today, gone tomorrow. Songs used to stay hits for 30 weeks.

"Bitch" did such great work to showcase women as complex beings, especially in popular culture, which tends to present women as being two-dimensional. How do you feel “Bitch” has aged—or not—in the time since its release?

Women who love that song and relate to that song—they don't think of it as aging at all. The message is still the same. The version I cut from my album is way darker, more cinematic, but it doesn't have to be that. I mean, I love Meredith Brooks’ version too, but as far as the use of the word at the time, Meredith and I looked at each other, we didn't assess it as we wrote it because while we were writing it, we were just in the zone. This is what we want to say. This is how we want to say it. But after we were done, we looked at each other and said, "Will anybody ever put this on the radio, with the word?"

And the truth is, The Stones did it, Elton John did it. Nobody ever kept their songs off the radio. But two women calling themselves a bitch—that they were going to stop. But when you think about it, that song coming out now would be beige. When you think about the language in pop that gets by and the things that are spoken of, it's pornographic.

Sometimes I wonder if that song loosened the lid for more risqué language. Once that was accepted, I think a lot of songwriters felt like they could get away with more. I mean, there are explicit versions on Taylor Swift's album. She uses, I think the word S-H-I-T in the first or second song.

Women are complicated. We're not two-dimensional, and men who would be worthy of being with us realize that and they embrace it. In fact, they love it. We're not boring. That was sort of a nod to... You wouldn't want it any other way. The people who love us as we are.

Can you expand on your memories surrounding the release of "What A Girl Wants"? What was the process like, writing that? Did it at all resemble the collaboration between you and Meredith Brooks?

Yeah. I did not write that song with [Christina Aguilera]. That was from an era where you could get together or go to a co-writer, write a song and pitch it because labels solicited outside songs. They wanted material. Now it's like they see a song coming in and they're like, "No, don't pitch me any songs."

And really, no one’s doing A&R at labels anymore. The artists have a posse around them and that posse is really writing all their [songs] with them. Once in a while, an outside song will slip in, but it's very unusual.

So, [“What A Girl Wants”] was a song that Guy Roche and I had written and pitched a number of times with a lot of acts passing on it. And finally, Ron Fair, who was making this record with Christina, heard it and thought it would be a good fit, but when I think about the passes we got on it, and then Ron taking it to number one… It was the right song at the right time.

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Right. Well, also if you're lucky you get a movie named after one of your songs.

Yeah. That was funny, right? So, I have to tell you about that movie. You're talking about “What A Girl Wants?”

I am. Seminal early 2000s content!

With that movie, they had requested “What A Girl Wants” and said, "We want this song so badly for a spot in this film that we will pay you way more than the everyday license fee in order to have an exclusive on this song for six months. You can't give it to anybody else to put in any ad or any other movie." At first, we were like, "What! This is a big hit. People are going to call and we don't want to give you this license for this little amount of money, because we want to put it in other things as well if we get called." And they said, "We don't want you to do that." It was called an exclusive and they upped it to this exorbitant number I can't even repeat. We said, "Okay, deal."

Sounds like they really made it worth your while.

On the night of the movie premiere—I wrote about this in my book Confessions of a Serial Songwriter—Guy and I get together and we go to the film and we're so excited, [saying], "Oh my God, we're going to have the best placement ever." The opening scene comes and there's no “What A Girls Wants.” And we're quarter of the way through the movie, and there's no “What A Girl Wants.” Then the montage comes through like, "Oh, here it is. Here it comes," and there's no “What A Girls Wants,” and then the closing credits, and there's no “What A Girls Wants.” We're like, "Okay, well, they always do two songs back-to-back in the credits." They never played it.

So, the movie, which is named after your song, doesn’t actually include your song in the soundtrack?!

It was not in it. We left the theater just looking at each other embarrassed because we had gone to the premiere. We were bragging to everybody. "Oh yeah, we're the writers of ‘What A Girl Wants.’" It wasn't in the film.

I thought for some reason it was in the montage where Amanda Bynes is running around London, shopping with Colin Firth.

No. Right. You remember it wasn't. After we got over the embarrassment and the mortification of it not being in there and I was bragging about it, we looked at each other. We said, "Oh my God, what about that exclusive fee?" We turned down all these other requests and then they didn't even use it. What about the fee? So, we went to the afterparty and we drank many cocktails. Then in the morning, the first thing I did was I called my publisher and they said, "Oh, if somebody offers you an exclusive and you agree to take your song off of the market, they have to pay you whether they use it or not," which I didn't know. But I always think about it as the biggest fee I was ever paid for nothing.

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At least they kept the movie title the same! Though now that I think of it, sometimes I hear a song prominently in a film trailer and then it never shows up in the film itself. Did it not even appear in the trailer?

They didn't even play it in the trailer. But you know what? It gives everybody the illusion when they see that title, they think of my song and it keeps it in the zeitgeist.

I have a big movie poster in my office, framed with Guy and I standing in front of it with our thumbs up before we saw the movie thinking, “This is because of us.”

Moving a little later in the decade, you wrote a song for Britney Spears—“Out From Under,” which appeared on 2008’s Circus. Were you aware of what she was going through at the time?

I was sent a piece of music. I write all different kinds of ways, Rachel. Sometimes I sit down at the piano by myself, I put my hands on the keys and words come at the same time as the music comes. And other times—like this time—I was sent a whole piece of music, the whole backing track. I was asked to try to write something for Britney, and very often backing tracks don't inspire me at all. They don't make me feel anything. This one did. It was really easy to write to. I didn't think of what she was going through legally. It felt like it was an unrequited kind of love song, and I knew she had broken up with Justin Timberlake recently, was it?

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Actually, it was Kevin Federline at the time.

Yeah. It was somebody. She had had a big breakup and I put myself in her shoes. We've all had a big breakup and I just channeled that emotion, and those words seem to marry and her label loved it. Teresa LaBarbera Whites, who was in the mix, really loved it too. And there was all talk of it being a single for her. I was really excited about that because I truly loved that song. But when push came to shove and I don't know if they just told me this, it was a lovely thing to say. They said, Britney decided against it because it made her seem too vulnerable. And I thought, "Well, I'm glad the song works that it made her feel that way or made her feel period." My other thought was, "Yeah, but what's wrong with that?" I think recently there's been a surge of songs that did make us appear more emotional or victims, but at the time that it wasn't who put that out there. Now it's like what people want.

Yeah. That's all that Selena Gomez puts out!

Right. Exactly. In fact, I heard Selena on the radio recently and I feel like every artist that's coming out with another record after not having done one—they always have the story about "this journey I've been on." I was on top and I crashed because of the guy or drugs or fame or something. They always have to have this arc in order to almost have an excuse to come back. [But] you don't have to have [an arc]. It's just how you feel.

Dua Lipa Talks 'Club Future Nostalgia,' Working With Madonna And How She's Navigating The Music Industry In The COVID-19 Era

Updated Friday, Feb. 2, to add Kacey Musgraves as a presenter.

Presenters for the 2024 GRAMMYs have been announced: Christina Aguilera, Lenny Kravitz, Lionel Richie, Mark Ronson, Maluma, Kacey Musgraves, Meryl Streep, Samara Joy, Taylor Tomlinson, and Oprah Winfrey are all confirmed to take the GRAMMY stage on Music's Biggest Night this weekend, Sunday, Feb. 4. Of course, it wouldn't be a proper GRAMMY night without a few surprise guests, so make sure to tune in to find out who you'll see on GRAMMY Sunday.

In addition to the star-studded presenter lineup, the 2024 GRAMMYs will feature breathtaking performances from the leading artists in music today. Performers at the 2024 GRAMMYs include Billie Eilish, Billy Joel, Burna Boy, Dua Lipa, Joni Mitchell, Luke Combs, Olivia Rodrigo, SZA, Travis Scott, and U2. Several confirmed GRAMMY performers will make GRAMMY history at the 2024 GRAMMYs this weekend: Mitchell will make her GRAMMY performance debut, while U2 will deliver the first-ever broadcast performance from Sphere in Las Vegas. Additional performers will be announced in the coming days. See the full list of performers, presenters and host at the 2024 GRAMMYs to date.

Learn More: 2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Full Nominees List

The 2024 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 66th GRAMMY Awards, will broadcast live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on the CBS Television Network and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.^ Prior to the Telecast, the 2024 GRAMMYs Premiere Ceremony will broadcast live from the Peacock Theater at 12:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on live.GRAMMY.com. On GRAMMY Sunday, fans can access exclusive behind-the-scenes GRAMMY Awards content, including performances, acceptance speeches, interviews from the GRAMMY Live red-carpet special, and more via the Recording Academy's digital experience on live.GRAMMY.com.

Trevor Noah, the two-time GRAMMY-nominated comedian, actor, author, podcast host, and former "The Daily Show" host, returns to host the 2024 GRAMMYs for the fourth consecutive year; he is currently nominated at the 2024 GRAMMYs in the Best Comedy Album Category for his 2022 Netflix comedy special, I Wish You Would.

The 66th GRAMMY Awards are produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy for the fourth consecutive year. Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins are executive producers.

^Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers will have access to stream live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service, as well as on demand in the United States. Paramount+ Essential subscribers will not have the option to stream live but will have access to on-demand the day after the special airs in the U.S. only.

Stay tuned for more updates as we approach Music's Biggest Night!

How To Watch The 2024 GRAMMYs Live: GRAMMY Nominations Announcement, Air Date, Red Carpet, Streaming Channel & More

Britney Spears recently posted a message on Instagram that asserted she'd never return to the music business. She later deleted it, which could be taken as a sign that she hasn't made this big decision with such finality. But it was certainly an alarming statement to her diehard fans eagerly awaiting new music.

It's fair to hold out hope that Spears will want to be a public entertainer and recording artist again in some ways — after all, she did just release a memoir, The Woman in Me, in October, and the book reveals a healing woman. And, of course, she scored a worldwide hit in 2022 with Elton John in "Hold Me Closer." 

Even if she never releases another piece of music, Spears already has quite the legacy. Between five No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, six No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, and a GRAMMY win, her mark on pop music is undeniable. Part of that impact is courtesy of "Toxic," the danceable smash that was released as a single in January 2004 (and won Spears her GRAMMY in 2005).

In honor of the 20th anniversary of "Toxic," GRAMMY.com surveyed the pop superstar's hits and deep cuts from 1998 to the present in order to break down some of the most essential tracks in Spears' catalog. Between beautiful ballads and brazen bops, let the reminiscing commence.

"...Baby, One More Time," ...Baby One More Time (1998)

Written and co-produced by powerhouse Swedish pop producer Max Martin — a frequent collaborator throughout Spears' career — the singer's debut single was rewarded with some of the highest honors of the music industry when she was just 17 years old.

"...Baby, One More Time" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 42nd GRAMMY Awards. It has since sold over 10 million copies, and to this day remains one of her defining hits. (And to think it almost wasn't hers: According to Yahoo! News Australia, the song was reportedly originally offered to the Backstreet Boys.)

The song's instantly meteoric success was undoubtedly catapulted by its memorable video, which sees Spears dance her way through private school halls in a (now iconic) skimpy uniform. Seeing it performed visually cemented her image as a young, belly-baring flirt with girl-next-door looks, approachable style and enviable dancing skills, an archetype that little girls everywhere wanted to emulate.

"Oops!... I Did It Again," Oops!... I Did It Again (2000)

Spears further played with her innocent image on "Oops!... I Did It Again," a sassy song that suggests suitors aren't exactly safe with their heart in her hands. It was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 43rd GRAMMYs.

"I think I did it again," she sings at the top of the track. "I made you believe we're more than just friends." Spawning another classic video and another trademark look (this time, a red catsuit), "Oops" emphasized Spears' further pivot into naughtiness and had thousands learning her choreography in a pre-YouTube era. 

Another Max Martin and Rami Yacoub production, "Oops" stuck at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, but the album of the same name debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and set first-week records for sales by a woman artist at the time with 1,319,913 copies sold.

"Lucky," Oops!... I Did It Again (2000)

"Lucky" is a peppy song with a sprinkle of sadness on top. Its titular character is a Hollywood girl who seems to have it all, but there's no one to share her success with, so she is lonely and cries at night. It was a poignant sentiment, given her fame at the time, and was re-examined by fans in recent years as she fought for freedom from her conservatorship overseen by her father, Jamie Spears.

While it didn't manage to break the top 20 of the Hot 100, "Lucky" has always been a fan favorite. The song did break through internationally, though, becoming a No. 1 hit in three European countries as well as on Europe's overall pop chart.

"Dear Diary," Oops!... I Did It Again (2000)

Spears has worked with a global roster of songwriters and producers over the years, but the Oops! ballad "Dear Diary" marked a special moment for the star: it was the first album cut that she co-wrote.

While Oops!... I Did It Again largely showed a maturing Spears, the innocence and sweetness of "Dear Diary" served as a reminder that she was still just a teenager in the beginning of her stardom. The track also seemingly gave her the confidence to co-write more of her songs, as she had a hand in writing almost half of 2001's Britney and almost all of 2003's In the Zone.

"I'm a Slave 4 U," Britney (2001)

Spears went rather gritty on the lead single to her third, self-titled album. While earlier singles may have had a sexy wink within their words, the lyrics of "I'm a Slave 4 U" took a deeper plunge into the erotic zone. "All you people look at me like I'm a little girl," she sings defensively. "Well, did you ever think it'd be okay for me to step into this world?"

Along with the racy lyrics, Spears' visual performances of the song — a music video depiction of a steamy basement club night and a VMA performance that included dancing with an Albino Burmese python around her neck — added more cultural moments to her repertoire. 

"Overprotected," Britney (2001)

Spears' massive fame made her an early paparazzi magnet and led her to be sheltered by her management, record label and family. These topics are addressed head-on over the soaring notes of "Overprotected."

"Say hello to the girl that I am/ You're gonna have to see through my perspective," she declares on the opening verse. "I need to make mistakes just to learn who I am/ And I don't wanna be so damn protected."

The anthem foreshadowed her future hit "Piece of Me" — and the struggle for independence she'd later fight for during her conservatorship — but ultimately showed that she isn't afraid to speak her mind and fight for what's hers.

"I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," Britney (2001)

After two bold statements with Britney's first two singles ("I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Overprotected"), Spears pumped the brakes on the notion of her growing up too fast in the ballad "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman." The song appeared on her third album, Britney, and in the soundtrack for the road trip dramedy Crossroads.

"There is no need to protect me," she sings powerfully on the track, which appears to mirror her experience in real life at that moment in time. "It's time that I/ Learn to face up to this on my own/ I've seen so much more than you know now/ So don't tell me to shut my eyes." 

"Toxic," In the Zone (2003)

"Toxic" is an uptempo whirlwind of sampled Bollywood strings and Swedish pop drama crafted by the popular dance pop producers Bloodshy & Avant. Another single that took on a life of its own visually, the video served up another set of iconic looks: the deadly assassin, the sparkly nude bodysuit and the perky flight attendant.

"Toxic" remains Spears' biggest hit as of press time, now certified six-times platinum by the RIAA and the only song with more than one billion streams on Spotify. It also won Spears her one GRAMMY, for Best Dance Recording at the 47th GRAMMY Awards.

And 20 years after its release as a single, "Toxic" has had remarkable staying power on the pop charts. As of 2023, the song appeared on the Hot 100 in three different incarnations: the original track and the mash-ups "Toxic Pony" by Altégo and "Toxic Las Vegas" by Jamieson Shaw. 

"Everytime," In the Zone (2003)

By this era of Spears' discography, fans were more than used to autotune and other processed treatments on her singing — but "Everytime" is Spears in a more vulnerable and unplugged state. Co-written by Spears, the slow, melancholic ballad hit even harder because it was released after her public breakup with Justin Timberlake.

Fans hadn't heard anything quite as sad from Spears in her career as the pining lyrics of the chorus on "Everytime": "And every time I try to fly I fall/ Without my wings/ I feel so small/ I guess I need you, baby." The song became a fan favorite for the rawness of her vocal delivery, and was also a personal favorite for Spears during her Las Vegas concert residency.

"Womanizer," Circus (2008)

Spears' father began his role as her conservator in February 2008. Seven months later, she released "Womanizer," the lead single to her sixth album, Circus — which proved that no one was going to hold her down.

"You say I'm crazy," she sneers on the chorus of the engine-roaring uptempo track, which pokes fun at recent troubles with her ex-husband Kevin Federline. "I got your crazy!" she adds, sarcastically.

While the song's message focused on telling off a, well, womanizer, its commercial success showed Spears' new conservatorship meant nothing for her staying power. "Womanizer" was her first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 since "...Baby, One More Time" topped the chart in January 1999; it also earned Spears her seventh GRAMMY nomination, for Best Dance Recording at the 2010 GRAMMYs.

"If You Seek Amy," Circus (2008)

If the title to the sing-songy "If You Seek Amy" is said out loud, it sounds like a sexual proposition. And that's exactly what makes this Max Martin-produced track so enjoyable.

Despite everything she was experiencing in her personal life, it offered evidence that Spears still knew how to poke fun at her staying at the center of attention. It's a perfect time capsule to an era when she was most wanted by the paparazzi.

"Hold It Against Me," Femme Fatale (2011)

Spears' "Hold It Against Me" flips an old chauvinistic joke into girl power — another clever piece added to the singer's puzzle. After being objectified so much over the course of her career, this song was her bid to put an end to it.

"Hold It Against Me" continued Spears' late 2000s hot streak into the 2010s. It earned the singer her fourth No. 1 on the Hot 100, following the chart-topping success of "3," her cheeky ode to threesomes, in 2009. 

"Work B—," Britney Jean (2013)

Spears assumes a faux British accent for "Work B—," a bossy cut made for gyms or the club. "You want a hot body? You want a Bugatti? You want a Maserati?" she asks over an insistent beat. "You better work, b—… now get to work, b—!"

Shortly after the track was released in 2013, Spears told English talk show host Alan Carr that the song is a tribute to her gay male friends, with whom she uses the word b— playfully and affectionately as a term of endearment. It became both a gay club anthem and a top 20 hit on the Hot 100 chart, and the video revived interest in Spears' dancing chops.

"Slumber Party (feat. Tinashe), Glory (2016)

A slightly different sound for Spears compared to her pop and dance productions, "Slumber Party" features Tinashe with a lyrical cadence that is more in the R&B singer's realm. It's perhaps the Spears song with the most urban radio feel since "I'm a Slave 4 U."

Fans may also remember "Slumber Party" fondly for what was once a romantic reason: Spears' now ex-husband Sam Asghari was cast as the leading man in the lingerie-heavy music video; it's how they first met each other.

"Hold Me Closer" with Elton John, The Lockdown Sessions (2022)

What better way to celebrate a big feat than with a massive collaboration? Nine months after Spears' long-fought conservatorship was terminated, she dropped a team-up with none other than Sir Elton John.

The unexpected duo released "Hold Me Closer," a soaring duet that interpolates parts of John's beloved hits "Tiny Dancer," "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and "The One" into a singular modern mix. And though Spears is more of a background vocalist, her first release in six years marked quite the comeback: "Hold Me Closer" topped the Billboard Adult Top 40 and the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs charts, and reached No. 6 on the Hot 100.

As of press time, "Hold Me Closer" is the last song that Spears has released to date. While it's possible that there may not be any more recordings to follow, it's also safe to say she has surprised the world more than once before.

How Many GRAMMYs Has Britney Spears Won? 10 Questions About The "Hold Me Closer" Singer Answered

A quick Google search of "top 2004 songs" can be summarized simply: What a time to be alive.

While it was arguably the year of Usher — who scored four Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers in 2004, including the year's biggest song, the Lil Jon- and Ludacris-assisted "Yeah!" — there were countless hits that have aged impeccably. Even 20 years later, there isn't a dance floor or karaoke bar that wouldn't go wild for J-Kwon's "Tipsy" or Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone."

Whether you were jamming to them on your iPod Mini or ripping them off of Limewire, revisit 24 tracks that made an impact — and still serve up the vibes 20 years later.

Listen on Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Music below.

Julia Michaels landed her first major songwriting gig at just 18 years old. 

Fresh out of school, she’d cold pitched a little company named Walt Disney with a song she thought would suit an upcoming series. That song went on to soundtrack a popular Disney Channel show called "Austin & Ally."

Michaels quickly developed a reputation for her quick work and therapeutic approach to songwriting, and, in her early 20s, was transforming pop music via her confessional and slightly quirky perspective. The L.A.-based artist was soon writing with pop’s A-listers — from Britney Spears to Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran, producing songs that gave the world insight into the contours of the biggest star’s internal worlds. 

"I'm grateful that I've been able to work with artists that allow the space for vulnerability and for authenticity, and for us to be able to speak openly and honestly about things we're going through," Michaels tells GRAMMY.com.

With a knack for emotional precision and complexity, Michaels has been trusted to transmute icons' revelatory moments into song: post-divorce comeback anthems, breakup bangers, even apologies. You’d be hard-pressed to find a songwriter better able to spin pain into a punchline than Michaels.

It’s one of many reasons Disney tapped her to score Wish, a recently-released mega musical feature that’s been chosen by the Studio to celebrate their 100th anniversary. Her idiosyncratic and confessional style lends a fresh perspective to protagonist Asha, while the songs remain rose-colored, dreamy, heart-lurching and classically Disney.

At age 30, Michaels is the youngest ever songwriter to score an entire Disney feature. But that's not her only major accolade: Michaels has been nominated for three GRAMMY Awards, most recently for Marren Morris' "Circles Around This Town" — which was given the nod for Best Country Song at the 2023 GRAMMYs. At the 60th GRAMMY Awards, Michaels was nominated for Best New Artist.

The phenom spoke with GRAMMY.com about some of the hits that made her one of the industry's most in-demand writers — and led to her biggest gig yet.  

"Sorry" - Justin Bieber (2015)

I had met a producer named Josh Goodwin, and he had asked for us to write some songs and see what we could come up with.  We had written two songs, and one of them I don't think ever saw the light of day. The other was "Sorry." 

"Used To Love You" - Gwen Stefani (2016)

I was asked to do some sessions with Gwen and my friend Justin Tranter. It was my first session with her but not his, so they had already known each other.

I wasn't entirely sure what I was gonna walk into or what she would feel comfortable talking to me about. And she was just so open and so lovely and vulnerable. She had these journal entries; in the midst of all of these thoughts and feelings she’d written down she had said: “I don't know why I cried, but I think it's because I remembered for the first time since I hated you that I used to love you.” She kept on reading from her journal and I stopped her and said "No, no, no, that’s a song." So we wrote it and it was just beautiful, she was very happy with it.

Every session is different, every artist is different, everybody writes differently. So sometimes I'm not sure what role I need to take that day. Gwen was very much in control of her narrative and vision, and what she wanted to talk about, so I just followed her footsteps.

I'm not really one for small talk. I think that's why I am still here. I like to get down to the heart of somebody and I know that takes a lot of trust. I'm grateful that I've been able to work with artists that allow the space for vulnerability and for authenticity, and for us to be able to speak openly and honestly about things we're going through.

I don't really have any qualms with walking in a room and being like, "Okay, but how are you really doing?" Not the L.A. version of how are you doing. Like no, how are you actually doing?

"Slumber Party" feat. Tinashe - Britney Spears (2016)

I met her [Britney] after writing a song that she liked, and then we started writing together. 

That was pretty surreal. I don't really fangirl a lot; I've been in enough rooms with people to know that we all laugh the same and cry the same and bleed the same. But then I remember hearing Britney sing this into the microphone for the first time and I just began melting into the floor, in shock and awe. 

I’d done something like eight songs for the album, and writing with her was so special. She has pop melodies wholly ingrained in who she is, so everything that she's saying just sounds like the perfect pop song. She also had her own narratives and she knew what she wanted to write about. We would literally just pull the microphone up to her face so she could sing melodies and we would write songs according to all the melodies and just go from there.

I remember just writing all the time and trying to find a sound that she felt suited her best. A I knew she wanted to do things that still had some vulnerability, but she's Britney Spears — she wanted to have a really fun pop record also. So we tried to cater to that as much as we could.

"This Wish" (2023)

This was the first song I wrote for Wish and it was the first song to come out for the movie. I was called in 2020 by [Walt Disney Music President] Tom McDougall and he asked me if I would like to try to write a song for a new movie, but didn't tell me that it was for the 100th anniversary of Disney's animation movies. Off of this little sort of blurb that he had sent me, I wrote this song about hope and being courageous, and taking a chance and being brave. I thought that was just such a beautiful message.

If he had told me that it was the 100th anniversary, I probably would have been really stressed out. I'm a Disney fan. I've been a Disney fan since I was a kid; I love Disney songs. And so there was already that added pressure to make something that's going to stand the test of time. But I also think that because I grew up with [Disney] it is probably in my psyche more than I even know. And so I wanted to make a song that felt really classic and really powerful and really beautiful, but also still sounded like something that I would write.

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