INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’ Gets New Life Courtesy Of A Dog Named Riley

By Patricia Grannum
Published on: 02:31 PST, Jul 22, 2018

Britney Spears may have a fan in the animal world in the form of a tiny pup named Riley. His owner, Matt, who goes by the handle @matthardn on Twitter, uploaded a video of the dog howling and it sounds like the iconic string section in Britney Spears’ song “Toxic.”

“Is it just me or does Riley sound like he’s singing toxic by Britney Spears?” he asked.

The video currently has close to 1.5 million views on Twitter. Many people have expressed amazement by how much the dog mimics the distinctive tune.

“I can’t stop thinking about the dog singing toxic by Britney Spears,” one person tweeted. “Shouldn’t come on twitter when I need to sleep because I’m wide awake and all I can think about is the dog singing Britney Spears,” another wrote.

One person even spliced Riley’s howling into “Toxic’s” music video. Scott Hoying from the Grammy-nominated acapella group Pentatonix retweeted the video and wrote, “OMG!!!!”

Matt subsequently revealed that Riley is a full-blooded heeler. Given his newfound viral fame, the dog now has his very own Instagram account under the handle, @rileyhardn. The bio describes the canine as “the iconic Britney Spears dog.” The account only has 78 followers right now but that number could go up as more people see the video. Riley is currently following three accounts, one of which belongs to Britney Spears herself.

People have been tweeting the video to Spears in an effort to get her to respond to it. But the singer hasn’t acknowledged it as yet.

“Toxic” was released in 2003 and appeared on Spears’ album In The Zone. According to Songfacts, the final version of the song was co-written by Spears and songwriter Cathy Dennis. The song gave Britney her first Grammy. It got the award for Best Dance Recording. The track was originally meant for Kylie Minogue but she rejected it.

Britney Spears is currently on a North American tour called, “Pieces of Me,” named after her successful Vegas residency. Billboard describes the current tour as very reminiscent of that series of concerts which garnered big positive and positive critical reception for Spears. The Vegas residency earned her close to $140 million.

In its review of her first appearance on the new tour, Billboard reports that Britney looks “invested, comfortable and even happy,” on stage. As the article notes Spears had been under the weather recently and had complained of a high fever. But they say there was no evidence of that on stage. Spears has retained moments that made fans swoon during the Vegas shows and has added some new elements to keep things fresh, Billboard reports.

Maybe, she can fly in Riley to be her backup singer for one of the shows. Now that’s something that will definitely go viral.

Share this article: Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’ Gets New Life Courtesy Of A Dog Named Riley
More from Inquisitr