The hit song Toxic by American pop singer Britney Spears was originally written in Sweden for Janet Jackson before being turned down by Kylie Minogue.
Song co-writer Cathy Dennis told Rolling Stone magazine that she focused specifically on Janet Jackson while writing the track in Sweden. However, Jackson, the American singer and performer, never recorded the composition.
Following Jackson's decision, the track was offered to Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, according to a report by Parade. Minogue later admitted that she heard only a brief snippet of the song in a record company office and chose not to record it.
After the song turned into a worldwide hit for Spears, Minogue described her decision as one of those missed opportunities that she came to regret. Minogue is an Australian singer who achieved global stardom across several decades of pop music.
Chart Success and Grammy Victory
The song eventually went to Britney Spears and was featured on her fourth studio album, In the Zone, which was released in 2003. Issued as the second single from the album, the track climbed to number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and topped national music charts in several countries. The Billboard Hot 100 is the main weekly music popularity chart in the United States.
The track achieved critical acclaim alongside its commercial success. In 2005, Toxic earned Spears her first and to date only Grammy Award, winning in the Best Dance Recording category. The Grammy Awards are presented annually by the Recording Academy to honor outstanding achievements in the music industry. Rolling Stone magazine later ranked the track at number 114 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Music Video and Legacy
An integral part of the success of the song was its accompanying music video, directed by Joseph Kahn. In the video, Spears appears in several distinct roles, including a flight attendant, a spy heroine, and a woman covered in diamonds. She shot one of the scenes alongside model Tyson Beckford.
Toxic subsequently became a permanent fixture in concert setlists for Spears, while also appearing in various feature films and television series. Multiple other musical artists have since recorded their own cover versions of the track. Spears is an American pop singer who became an international pop icon after rising to fame in the late 1990s.
