Britney Spears is a pop icon, but her role in the VMAs may be larger than any other artist. While MTV’s staple awards show has hosted the biggest artists in the world, among them Prince, Michael Jackson, Beyonce, and Madonna, Spears was the dominating figure at a time when music videos were a mainstay in people’s homes. Her performances from the early 2000s can be namechecked by any millennial, from her 2001 performance of “I’m a Slave For U,” where she carried a yellow albino python snake on her back, to her performance with Madonna and Christina Aguilera in 2003, where they shared one of the most infamous kisses ever put onscreen.
Spears’ influence was all over yesterday’s show, where artists paid tribute to her onstage and on the red carpet. Scroll down to have a look at some of last night’s Spears’ tributes:
Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion served as last night’s host and tributed Spears by recreating her iconic “I’m a Slave 4 U” outfit, including the albino python snake. As she stood still and Britney’s song played in the background. “Okay! Okay! Stop the music. I’m just playing come get this snake!” said Stallion, screaming as the snake handlers came to her aid. “I don’t know this snake, this snake don’t know me.”
“I had to hold it down for Britney!” she said, prompting applause from the audience.
Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter had one of the most awaited performances of the evening, singing a medley of some of this year’s biggest songs, “Espresso,” “Taste” and “Please, Please, Please.” At the start of her show, Carpenter sampled some of Spears’ iconic “Oops!… I Did It Again,” where Spears is gifted the iconic diamond from “Titanic” by a lovesick astronaut.
Carpenter’s dancers dressed up as moon men, a reference to the VMA statuette and the protagonist of Spears’ video. To cap things off, Carpenter kissed her alien backup dancer, a nod to Madonna and Britney’s infamous VMAs kiss.
Tate McRae
Lastly, Tate McRae wore a sheer lace Roberto Cavalli dress, memorably worn by Spears at the 2001 VMAs.