Britney Spears has opened the vault for a song connected to both her pop career and her former relationship with Justin Timberlake. The singer released the previously unavailable “She’ll Never Be Me” on Friday, bringing the 2001 recording to listeners more than two decades after it was created.

The track was written for Britney, Spears’ third studio album, which was originally released on Nov. 6, 2001. Timberlake, who was dating Spears at the time, helped write the song with her.

“She’ll Never Be Me” arrives as part of the rollout for Britney (25th Anniversary Edition). The anniversary release is scheduled to come out on Nov. 6, matching the date of the original album’s release.

Spears has not offered extensive comments about the anniversary project or the newly released track. However, her official Facebook page promised that “more surprises are coming every week until then.”

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The song is not the only piece of music from Britney that involved Timberlake. He also helped write “What It’s Like to Be Me” and contributed background vocals to that recording.

Spears and Timberlake first met in 1992 on the set of The Mickey Mouse Club. They later dated from 1999 until 2002, placing their musical collaboration during the period when they were together.

Working with Timberlake initially made Spears uneasy, even though the two were already in a relationship. She discussed that experience with MTV at the time, according to PEOPLE.

“I have to say I was a little nervous at first,” Spears said. “But then I just totally forgot that he was my boyfriend, and I just said, 'Britney, just do the vocals, don't be nervous' ... But it ended up being fine, actually.”

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Their relationship ended by March 2002, and the breakup was followed by several highly public moments. In November of that year, Timberlake featured a Spears lookalike in the music video for his song “Cry Me a River.”

Timberlake later addressed the creation of “Cry Me a River” in his 2018 memoir, Hindsight: & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me. He described writing the song quickly while dealing with intense emotions.

“I've been pissed off,” Timberlake wrote. “I wrote 'Cry Me a River' in two hours. I didn't plan on writing it. The feelings I had were so strong that I had to write it, and I translated my feelings into a form where people could listen and, hopefully, relate to it.”

Spears revisited the aftermath of their breakup from her perspective in her 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me. She wrote that she believed the public had sided with the NSYNC alum and that she could not explain her own experience at the time.

“I felt there was no way at the time to tell my side of the story,” Spears wrote. “I couldn't explain, because I knew no one would take my side once Justin had convinced the world of his version. I don't think Justin realized the power he had in shaming me. I don't think he understands to this day.”

The release of “She’ll Never Be Me” returns attention to a period when Spears and Timberlake were both romantic partners and musical collaborators. Its arrival also adds another song involving Timberlake to the material associated with Spears’ third studio album.

For listeners, the recording is no longer confined to the vault. “She’ll Never Be Me” is now available across all streaming platforms, while Britney (25th Anniversary Edition) is scheduled for release on Nov. 6.

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