Britney Spears - Toxic (CD Maxi Single) (2004)

"Toxic" is a song recorded by American singer Britney Spears for her fourth studio album "In the Zone" (2003). It was written and produced by Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg (known collectively as Bloodshy & Avant), with additional writing from Cathy Dennis and Henrik Jonback. The song released on January 13, 2004, by Jive Records, as the second single from "In the Zone". The song was originally offered to Kylie Minogue for her ninth studio album "Body Language" (2003), but she rejected it. After trying to choose between "(I Got That) Boom Boom" and "Outrageous" to be the second single from In the Zone, Spears selected "Toxic" instead. A dance song with elements of bhangra music, "Toxic" features varied instrumentation, such as drums, synthesizers and surf guitar. It is accompanied by high-pitched Bollywood strings, sampled from Lata Mangeshkar and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam's "Tere Mere Beech Mein" (1981), and breathy vocals. Its lyrics draw an extended metaphor of a lover as a dangerous yet addictive drug. The song has received acclaim from music critics, deeming it the strongest track of In the Zone, and praised its hook and chorus. "Toxic" won Spears her first and only Grammy Award at the 2005 ceremony in the category of Best Dance Recording. "Toxic" attained worldwide success, reaching the top-five in 15 countries, while topping the charts in Australia, Canada, Hungary, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it became her fourth top-ten single, peaking at #9. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Joseph Kahn and features references to Blade Runner, The Seven Year Itch and the films of John Woo. It portrays Spears as a secret agent in the search of a vial of green liquid. After she steals it, she enters an apartment and poisons her unfaithful boyfriend. The video also includes interspersed scenes of Spears naked with diamonds on her body. After Janet Jackson's Super Bowl incident, the video was considered too racy for MTV and was moved to late-night programming. Spears has performed "Toxic" in a number of live appearances, including the 2004 NRJ Music Awards and in three of her concert tours. It was the opening number of The Onyx Hotel Tour (2004), where she sang atop of a bus wearing a black catsuit; Spears also performed remixed versions of the song at The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009), the Femme Fatale Tour (2011) and Britney: Piece of Me (2013). "Toxic" has been covered by artists such as Mark Ronson, A Static Lullaby, Reece Mastin and Ingrid Michaelson, and in television series Glee. The song has also appeared in feature films such as Knocked Up, You Again and television series Doctor Who. The song has been included in lists by Pitchfork, NME and Rolling Stone as one of the best songs of the decade. In June 2017, a demo for "Toxic", containing Spears' unedited vocals was leaked to YouTube.