Spears's three-year relationship with singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake ended in 2002 after months of speculation. In November 2002, Timberlake released the song "Cry Me a River" as the second single from his debut solo album "Justified". The song's music video featured a Spears lookalike and fueled the rumors that she had been unfaithful to him. "Cry Me a River" is often credited as being the song that propelled "Justified" into the charts. In September 2001, Annet Artani accepted to become a backing vocalist for Spears's 2001–02 Dream Within a Dream Tour. Her interactions with Spears during most of the tour were limited to small conversations at the gym and vocal warm ups. Artani had begun a relationship with the show's musical director during 2002; however, it was not working out well by the end of the tour. Before the final date in Mexico City, Spears called her and asked about the relationship. Artani told her they were going to break up, to which Spears responded, "Don't worry about it, you're going to hang out with me." Concluded the tour, Spears and Artani began to forge a friendship. Spears invited Artani to her house in Los Angeles. According to Artani, their relationship grew out of their shared romantic experiences at the time. She explained, "Basically, we commiserated because she, at that time, had broken up with Justin . Maybe like nine months before, but of course it was really fresh in the media. I was just breaking up with this guy, so we kind of like—I think we kind of needed each other." Artani stayed at Spears's house for a few weeks, in which they started writing songs at the piano. Shortly after, they traveled to Lake Como in Lombardy, Italy. Artani added, "It was me and her, her stylist and Felicia, and we had this humongous house to ourselves, and they had a piano there as well."