The Singles Collection, perhaps the biggest hits compilation by Britney Spears, reaches career-first milestones on multiple U.K. charts this week. LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 22: Singer Britney Spears attends the 2016 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 22, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Lester Cohen/BBMA2016/Getty Images for dcp)
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Later this summer, Britney Spears’s album Glory will turn 10. The project arrived in late August 2016 and still stands as her most recent full-length. Since then, Spears has lived her life, fought her conservatorship and helped raise her children, while choosing not to return to the studio for another album — something she has stated she’s not interested in doing.
She has released several one-off tunes with artists including Elton John and will.i.am, but nearly a decade has passed without a new collection. This week in the United Kingdom, it once again becomes clear that listeners in that nation have never stopped consuming the pop icon’s catalog. One of her most successful compilations brings Spears to career milestones on two rankings, reaching a different figure on the two.
Britney Spears Has Seen Two Albums Chart for 100 Weeks or More
The Singles Collection is one of only two titles among Spears’s 11 charting projects to score a triple-digit stay on the Official Albums ranking. Her debut set …Baby One More Time is the only other release in her discography to reach that threshold. The introductory set managed 103 weeks — just under two years — on the tally.
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 26: Britney Spears visits The SiriusXM Studios on August 26, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
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Britney Spears Has Charted Three Streaming Albums
Spears has pushed only three projects onto the Official Albums Streaming chart throughout her career. She debuted on the ranking in September 2016 with Glory. That album nearly gave the superstar what would be her sole top 10 success on the roster, but it missed the region by one space.
The Singles Collection followed two years later and has become by far her longest-running entry. It has outperformed another Spears compilation, The Essential, which features many of the same songs. The Essential spent one week on the Official Albums Streaming chart in June 2020, where it launched at No. 94. The project has not been seen on the tally since its lowly arrival more than five years ago.
Britney Spears Added One New Hit to the Collection
The Singles Collection is largely remembered for “3,” the one new single included on the project. The catchy dance-pop cut became another major success for Spears when the compilation was released.
“3” climbed inside the top 10 on the Official Singles chart, where it peaked at No. 7. The track performed even better in the United States, hitting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Spears another leader on the country’s most competitive songs ranking.