Song · Britney Spears
“Toxic” by Britney Spears
From the album In the Zone (2003)
“Toxic” by Britney Spears appears on 6 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 2022 and 2025. It was first released in 2003 on the album In the Zone. Its best result is #30 on the 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,238 indie & aaa song of all time and #469 of the '00s.
Watch
Video from YouTube (BritneySpearsVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Toxic" was the second single from In the Zone, Britney Spears' fourth album, from 2003: a spy thriller for the dance floor. Bloodshy & Avant wrote and produced it, with Cathy Dennis and Henrik Jonback helping write, and they stack it high: drums, synthesizers, surf guitar, a thread of South Asian music and needling high strings sampled from Laxmikant–Pyarelal's 1981 Bollywood number "Tere Mere Beech Mein". Spears keeps her vocal breathy on top, singing about a lover she can't quit, as addictive and dangerous as any drug.
At the 47th Annual Grammy Awards it took Best Dance Recording, the only Grammy of her career, and Joseph Khan's video cast her as an undercover agent who slips her boyfriend poison. It settled in as one of her signature songs; in 2021 Rolling Stone counted it among the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 30 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s | 907 |
| 2023 | 748 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time | 909 |
| 2024 | 821 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2024 | 211 | WXPN | WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) | 885 |
| 2025 | 159 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
| 2025 | 541 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs | 800 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Toxic" by Britney Spears.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.