Spears 'comeback' for MTV awards

Spears will release her new album in November

Britney Spears is to give her first major performance in three years at an MTV awards ceremony in what the channel has billed "her long-awaited comeback".

The 25-year-old will be the opening act at the event in Las Vegas on Sunday, performing her new single Gimme More.

Her appearance follows a troubled 12 months for the star.

In February she was admitted to rehab after being photographed shaving her head, following the collapse of her marriage to Kevin Federline.

Low-key return

The star's new song is a dance track produced by Danja, a protege of hip-hop producer Timbaland.

It was premiered on the website of New York radio station Z100 earlier this month.

Her last single, Do Somethin', was released in 2005. It reached 100 in the Billboard charts in the US and number six in the UK.

In May, the singer made a low-key return to the stage, playing a series of Southern Californian venues under a pseudonym, The M&Ms.

Spears put her music career on hold in 2004 when she married Federline and gave birth to two children.

Last month the pair completed their divorce, but are still facing in a battle for custody of their sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, who turn two and one respectively next week.