Britney Spears’ Hiatus Delays Her New Album, Too (EXCLUSIVE)
By Shirley Halperin
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Britney Spears’ recent announcement that she was undertaking an “indefinite work hiatus” following her father Jamie Spears’ recent life-threatening health crisis (he suffered a ruptured colon late last year and spent much of December hospitalized) has resulted in the postponement of her Las Vegas residency, “Britney: Domination.” Slated to run for 32 performances at the Park Theatre at Park MGM, the show is on hold for the foreseeable future and so, it appears, is a new album that was pegged to the launch.
Variety has learned that hitmaker Justin Tranter (Imagine Dragons, Selena Gomez) serves as executive producer on Spears’ next full-length release for RCA Records, her tenth studio effort over a career that spans two decades (her last album was “Glory” in 2016, on which Tranter had four writing credits). Tranter acknowledges that he is working on the album, telling Variety, “I’m beyond excited to be involved,” but declines to speculate on a possible release date or whether it will come out in 2019.
Spears’ manager, Larry Rudolph, says, “Everything is on hold right now until Jamie is better. But once he is, she will resume working on the album with Justin. Right now, she’s taking some time off to deal with these family issues.”
Spears herself described the decision to put off Domination as heartbreaking. “However, it’s important to always put your family first,” she wrote on Jan. 4. Of her father, she added in a statement, “We have a very special relationship and I want to be with my family at this time just like they have always been there for me.”
As for how long this time-out could take? Spears’ creative directors for Domination, Napoleon and Tabitha (known as Nappy Tabs) anticipate a delay of six months to a year, they revealed on social media. The two also answered a fan’s question about the show’s return with an appropriate quip: “If we come back, STRONGER would be a fitting name right?”
Domination was due to kick off on February 17. In December 2017, Spears wrapped a four-year run at Planet Hollywood’s Axis Theater, a show that helped rebrand Las Vegas as a music destination and opened the door to successful residencies by such artists as Jennifer Lopez and Lady Gaga.
