2007: Return to music

Spears recorded her latest album with producers such as Sean Garrett, J. R. Rotem and Nate Danja Hills throughout 2006 and 2007. In May 2007, she also produced a mini-tour for the House of Blues under the name The M+M's, including live performances across San Diego, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Orlando, and Miami. Those in attendance reported that Spears did not perform the songs live in the 15-minute show, but danced and lip synced to recorded accompaniment of five previous hit songs.

Spears's fifth album entitled Blackout, was scheduled to be released on November 13, 2007. However, due to online leaks, the album was pushed up for release on October 30. Blackout opened at #2 on the US Billboard 200 charts, selling 290,000 copies. The album fell to #7 in its second week. The track Gimme More, her first single produced by Danja, debuted worldwide on August 30. It peaked at number three on Billboard's Hot 100 on October 3, becoming Spears's most successful single in the United States since her debut, ...Baby One More Time.

Spears's performance at 2007 MTV Video Music Awards received much media attention and was lauded as her comeback. She performed Gimme More, the lead single from her upcoming album. Reviews of the performance were unfavorable; BBC's David Willis stated that her performance would go down in the history books as being one of the worst to grace the MTV Awards, and Times Online noted that Spears was out of synch as she lip-synched and at times just stopped singing altogether. Despite the VMA backlash, the single has reached Position No. 2 at the World Charts.