Britney Spears Revealed What It Was Like Performing 'The Way You Make Me Feel' With Michel Jackson

Music

Britney Spears has worked with countless legends, like when she performed "The Way You Make Me Feel" with Michael Jackson. The song was part of a record-breaking album.

Published on June 30, 2024

Britney Spears has worked with countless legends, like when she performed “The Way You Make Me Feel” with Michael Jackson. Here’s a look at what Spears thought about the experience and how “The Way You Make Me Feel” impacted pop culture. The song was part of a record-breaking album.

A crowd went wild when Britney Spears sang Michael Jackson’s ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’

In her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, Spears discussed one of her most iconic moments. “The next night at Madison Square Garden in New York City, just days before September 11, I performed a duet of ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ with Michael Jackson to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of his solo career,” she wrote. “In my heels, I prowled all over that stage. The audience went crazy. At one point it felt like the whole crowd of 20,000 was singing along with us.”

Spears said the performance was part of a time in her life when everything was going great. She was incredibly famous and the world was deeply interested in her. Spears performing with the King of Pop felt like a passing of the torch. While Jackson ruled pop music for decades, Spears and her contemporaries such as Justin Timberlake, the Backstreet Boys, and Christina Aguilera were going to define the genre for the 2000s. The new generation of stars kept Jackson’s influence alive and well with their carefully crafted beats and choreographed music videos.

Britney Spears was far from the only reason the song is iconic

“The Way You Make Me Feel” might not be as flashy as “Thriller,” as emotional as “Human Nature,” or as singular as “Billie Jean,” but it’s still a classic. The tune blends the old and the new to become one of Jackson’s best love songs. The track will still sound fresh in 50 years. 

During a 2017 interview with Billboard, drummer John Robinson explained what he thought about “The Way You Make Me Feel.” “I definitely knew that ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ was going to be a hit. I think when you — and it’s something that I’ve always done, since I’ve played on thousands of hit records — if you can get a little kid whistling the melody as they’re skipping down the street, that’s what you want. Everyone can sing this melody. It’s a happy-go-lucky song, it feels good, it’s still got a bit of that modern electronic thing.”

How Michael Jackson’s ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ conquered the world

“The Way You Make Me Feel” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week. The song lasted on the chart for 18 weeks. The tune appeared on Bad, which many fans consider the King of Pop’s best record. Bad was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for six weeks, staying on the chart for 171 weeks in total.

Bad gave the world four other No. 1 hits: “Bad,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Dirty Diana,” and “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.” It’s incredible that Jackson’s album gave us five No. 1 hits. Even today, that record has only been equalled by Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream.

“The Way You Make Me Feel” was always a great song and Spears added to its cultural impact with an incredible performance.

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