Taylor Swift and Britney Spears are rarely two names you see together. It's obvious that Taylor, a country sweetie who loves to sing about boys, post videos with her cat, and wear conservative dresses, has never been labeled "The Next Britney Spears," the way Miley Cyrus was pegged when she got into older, riskier music.
And while 23-year-old Taylor's career (plus increasing parent approval) has been quite different than 31-year-old Britney's, there are still surprising similarities that we've noticed between the two singers.
The comparisons aren't completely out of left field either -- even Taylor has admitted in the past that she's a fan of Brit Brit, writing in a 2009 MySpace entry about a time when her mom moved her beloved Britney poster, sending Tay to a near freak-out.
"My mom reorganized my bathroom, but then I turned around and was startled by something ... Where was my Britney Spears poster?" Tay wrote. "No, this can't be right... WHERE is it?!? I searched the room frantically for a few seconds before finding it's new spot. My Britney Spears poster (from 6th grade) had been relocated to my bedroom, which is another AMAZING upgrade. This way, I see it more often and it more proudly displays my unwavering devotion to Britney Spears."
Besides being a self-admitted big fan of Britney, Tay has a few things in common with the girl she used to have a poster of in her bathroom. Here, we take look at their surprising similarities.
1. They both love playing "The Ringmaster"
Before Taylor donned a ringleader outfit for her Grammy performance of "I Knew You Were Trouble" and incorporated a circus-themed segment on her Red tour, there was one ringmaster in town: Britney Spears. Brit had her own Big Top-themed tour while promoting her Circus album in 2008.
2. They both sing about the perils of Hollywood
While fans believe Taylor penned her latest hit, "The Lucky One," about Joni Mitchell or Marilyn Monroe, Britney's own song "Lucky" may have served as some type of inspiration for Tay's topic. Both songs not only have the word "Lucky" in the title, but the lyrics revolve around the downside of fame and how lonely it can be. In a black-and-white film that plays before Taylor sings "The Lucky One" on her Red tour, Taylor is seen dressed as a starlet, combing her hair in front of a mirror. In Brit's 2001 video for her song "Lucky" she's seen as a similar type of starlet, combing her hair in front of a mirror as well. Plus, we already know that Taylor's a fan of Brit's "Lucky" song -- she covered it during her 2011 tour stop in Louisiana.
3. Both were born in December
Tay and Brit are both Sagittarius girls -- Brit's birthday is December 2 and Tay's is December 13. Can we say soul sisters?
4. Their perfumes look similar
Both singers have succeeded in the fragrance world, and their perfume bottles look oddly similar! Tay's Wonderstruck bottle and Brit's Midnight Fantasy bare a striking resemblance, as do their own commercials, with the "forbidden love" theme they've both got going on.
5. Both dated boy banders
Back in 2001, Britney found love with NSYNC's Justin Timberlake. She's not the only one to fall for a boy bander -- Taylor dated Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers in 2008, and most recently dated One Direction's Harry Styles. Looks like they both have a thing for curly, wavy-haired guys!
6. Both have rocked the "school girl" look
So Taylor's preppy school girl look in her "The Story of Us" music video is pretty G-rated compared to Brit's outfit in her "Baby One More" time outfit, but the similarities are still there. Tay and Brit are both seen looking bored at school, dancing in a white button-up with a black skirt, and they both sport braids with a loose ribbon tying it together.
7. They both have this fear of ending their careers alone in a bathtub
In Taylor's recent InStyle cover story, she talked about her worst fear. "I don't wanna end up being awful and intolerable," she says. "Alone. Laying in a marble bathtub by myself, sad, with a glass of wine just complaining that my life ended up alone because I pushed everyone away because I thought I was too good to hang out with anybody ... [I want to avoid the] Hollywood sad cliché of the poor lonely starlet with no one because she put up all these walls and didn't trust anyone." Perhaps Britney can relate. Many may remembering the intense 2004 video for "Everytime" in which Brit is featured in a bathtub alone, where she presumably has committed suicide. In the end of the video though, Brit's seen emerging from the water, smiling and breathing.
8. Both were scared of growing up
On Britney's 2002 song "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," Brit sings about growing pains, with lyrics like "I used to think/I had the answers to everything/But now I know/Life doesn't always go my way." In Taylor's "Never Grow Up" song off her Speak Now album, Tay sings about her own struggle with becoming an adult, crooning "Wish I'd never grown up/Could still be little/It could still be simple." Both have struggled with growing up in the limelight.
9. Both have taken on bullies
Forget playing victim -- Britney and Taylor have both addressed haters and bullies who try to bring them down. In Brit's song "Piece of Me," she sings about the harsh tabloid world that is out to get her. "I'm Mrs. Lifestyles of the rich and famous/I'm Mrs. Oh my God that Britney's Shameless/I'm Mrs. Extra! Extra! this just in/I'm Mrs. she's too big now she's too thin," she sings. Taylor can also relate to feeling humiliated in the media, and sung about her own pain in her song "Mean," with these key lyrics -- "Your words like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me/You have knocked me off my feet again got me feeling like I'm nothing." Go, girls!
10. They're open about their heartache in their music
We bet Taylor and Brit could swap similar breakup stories one day -- after all, they've both seemed to have the rug ripped out from underneath them pretty quickly. In Britney's 1999 song "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart," she sings about her struggles to move forward after a split, singing "How was I to know I'd miss you so?/Loneliness up ahead, emptiness behind/Where do I go?" Tay expresses a similar sentiment on her song "Last Kiss," with lyrics like "All that I know is I don't know how to be something you miss/Never thought we'd have a last kiss/Never imagined we'd end like this." Sounds like Brit and Taylor would have an EPIC writing session one day!
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