Britney Spears - I Love Rock 'N' Roll

What this video is

Released May 2002 as the fourth single from Britney Spears' third album Britney (2001), this cover of the Arrows/Joan Jett classic arrived during peak Britney cultural saturation, simultaneously timed to her crossover film Crossroads in which her character performs the song. The video typifies the early-2000s trend of pop stars adopting rock signifiers — bar settings, live band staging, guitar iconography — as a…

Why it matters

Represents a defining example of early-2000s pop-rock genre appropriation, wherein major-label teen pop acts adopted classic rock source material and visual language to signal maturation and expand audience reach. The video's bar-stage performance format directly contrasts Spears' earlier…

The director

Born 1970 in Los Angeles, CA; studied film at Hampshire College, Amherst, MA. Became youngest director signed to Satellite Films (Propaganda division) at age 21; directed 250+ music videos. Six-time Grammy nominee, multiple MTV VMA winner including 2007…