Wikipedia

Follow Me (Zoey 101)

"Follow Me (Zoey 101)" is an unreleased song that served as the theme song for Zoey 101. With Jamie Lynn Spears on vocals, she and her older sister Britney Spears wrote and recorded the song in 2004. Spears and American DJ Chantel Jeffries re-recorded and remixed the theme song, releasing it on October 22, 2020. A Gigi Gorgeous-directed music video for the re-recorded theme song was released a few days later on October 27, 2020, and featured JoJo Siwa, Dixie D'Amelio, Noah Beck, and Sofia Reyes.

"Follow Me"
Song by Jamie Lynn Spears
ReleasedUnreleased
Recorded2004
Songwriter(s)
"Follow Me (Zoey 101)"
Single by Jamie Lynn Spears and Chantel Jeffries
ReleasedOctober 22, 2020
Genre
Length3:14
LabelRepublic Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Chantel Jeffries
  • Josh Cumbee

Background and release

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"Follow Me (Zoey 101)" was first written and recorded in 2004 by Jamie Lynn Spears and her older sister Britney Spears.[1] Spears was originally too nervous to record the song, but after encouragement from her older sister, she felt comfortable singing.[2][3] It served as the theme song to Zoey 101, with Spears then playing the lead character from 2005 to 2008.[4] Despite the song being very popular among fans, it was never commercially released.[5][6] An instrumental version of the song was released on the shows soundtrack album Zoey 101: Music Mix on March 7, 2006.[7]

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people had started re-watching their childhood shows, inspiring Spears to re-record the song as fans waited for the reboot of the show she had begun working on.[6] Spears had wanted to rewrite the lyrics of "Follow Me (Zoey 101)" due to writing the original as a young child.[8] Spears recorded a new version of "Follow Me (Zoey 101)" with American DJ Chantel Jeffries over Zoom during the Spring of 2020. They finished remixing the song in a recording studio in Louisiana.[3] The song was later released on October 22, 2020, by Republic Records, and credits Spears and Jeffries as the artists.[5][9][10] The song was produced by Jeffries along with American musician Josh Cumbee.[5]

Music and promotion

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The re-recording of "Follow Me (Zoey 101)" is an electropop and pop song.[5][11] According to Heran Mamo of Billboard, the re-recorded "Follow Me (Zoey 101)" had the original theme songs "nostalgic piano keys" and stated it "reassures Spears will always be our girl."[5] The original theme song featured the lyrics, "I'm just another kinda girl/And you wanna see my world/So come and run away", while the re-recorded version had, "You know I'll always be your girl/Together we can see the world/Come on let's run away".[8]

A music video for the re-recorded version of "Follow Me (Zoey 101)", which was directed by Gigi Gorgeous, was released on October 27, 2020.[8] The video was filmed on September 29, 2020, and features parts of the original show with new footage featuring Spears, her daughter, and the original Zoey 101 cast consisting of Erin Sanders, Christopher Massey, Matthew Underwood, and Sean Flynn.[5][8][12] The video also features JoJo Siwa, Dixie D'Amelio, Noah Beck, and Sofia Reyes auditioning to be characters in the reboot of Zoey 101.[5][12][13][14] It ends with them dancing at a party with confetti falling while D'Amelio and Beck kiss.[8]

Reception

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Dylan Kickham for Elite Daily wrote that the original theme song was an "iconic tune" that "holds a special place in the hearts of millennials".[15] MTV News editor Crystal Bell ranked the original theme song at number three on her The 17 Best Nickelodeon Theme Songs, Ranked list, mentioning that having Britney Spears as a co-writer in the song "automatically put "Follow Me" in the top three".[16] Carolyn Twersky, writing for Seventeen magazine, called the re-recorded version of "Follow Me (Zoey 101)" a "low key bop" and opined it was an "iconic new theme song".[17]

Credits and personnel

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October 2020 remix credits adapted from Tidal.[18]

References

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  1. ^ Todisco, Eric (October 27, 2020). "Jamie Lynn Spears Says Sister Britney Helped Her Come Up with Zoey 101 Theme Song". People. Archived from the original on April 24, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  2. ^ Seemayer, Zach (October 26, 2020). "Jamie Lynn Spears Says Britney Helped Her Create The Beloved 'Zoey 101' Theme Song (Exclusive)". Entertainment Tonight. Archived from the original on April 1, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  3. ^ a b McCarthy, Lauren (October 19, 2020). "Reintroducing Jamie Lynn Spears". Nylon. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Tuccillo, Andrea; Long, Danielle; Blackwelder, Carson (October 26, 2020). "Jamie Lynn Spears announces new version of 'Zoey 101' theme song, cast reunion". Good Morning America. Archived from the original on April 24, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Mamo, Heran (October 28, 2020). "Jamie Lynn Spears Releases Reimagined 'Zoey 101' Theme Song: Watch the Star-Studded Video". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Lipshutz, Jason (October 26, 2020). "20 Questions With Jamie Lynn Spears: Recapturing the 'Zoey 101' Magic & How Britney Helped Her Record Its Theme". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 30, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  7. ^ "Zoey 101 Music Mix Various Artists". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e Weinberg, Lindsay (October 27, 2020). "Watch Jamie Lynn Spears and Her Zoey 101 Co-Stars Revive Their Iconic Theme Song". E!. Archived from the original on August 11, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  9. ^ Oganesyan, Natalie (October 19, 2020). "Jamie Lynn Spears Reimagines 'Zoey 101' Theme Song". Variety. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  10. ^ Day, Nate (October 22, 2020). "Jamie Lynn Spears releases updated version of 'Zoey 101' theme song 'Follow Me'". Fox News. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Haylock, Zoe (October 22, 2020). "Are You Ready? Jamie Lynn Spears Updated the Zoey 101 Theme Song". Vulture. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  12. ^ a b Todisco, Eric (October 28, 2020). "Jamie Lynn Spears Drops Music Video for Reimagined Zoey 101 Theme Song with Cameos from Cast". People. Archived from the original on April 24, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  13. ^ Jones, Marcus (October 27, 2020). "Jamie Lynn Spears reunites with Zoey 101 cast in 'Follow Me' video". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  14. ^ Kickham, Dylan (October 28, 2020). "We Need To Talk About This Chaotic, TikToker-Packed 'Zoey 101' Music Video". Elite Daily. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  15. ^ Kickham, Dylan (October 19, 2020). "Jamie Lynn Spears Is Releasing A New 'Zoey 101' Theme Song & Music Video". Elite Daily. Archived from the original on September 30, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  16. ^ Bell, Crystal (February 18, 2015). "The 17 Best Nickelodeon Theme Songs, Ranked". MTV News. Archived from the original on July 23, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  17. ^ Twersky, Carolyn (October 22, 2020). "Jamie Lynn Spears Just Gave the 'Zoey 101' Theme Song a Major Update". Seventeen. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  18. ^ "Credits/Follow Me (Zoey 101)/Jamie Lynn Spears and Chantel Jeffries". Tidal. Archived from the original on April 24, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
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