The song received critical acclaim and peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Spears' second highest-peaking single at the time.
The video received mixed to negative reviews from critics, who panned Spears's pole dancing as well as the lack of storyline.
Spears first performed "Gimme More" at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards on September 9, 2007, wearing a black, jewel-encrusted bikini.
The performance was panned by many critics, who commented extensively on her singing, dancing and wardrobe, with one deeming it as "one of the worst to grace the MTV Awards".
On September 10, 2007, Cara Cunningham (then known as Chris Crocker) uploaded a video on YouTube in response to the criticism titled "Leave Britney Alone!
"[3] Spears began recording the track in Las Vegas in August 2006, while she was seven months pregnant with her second child, Jayden James.
"[3] In an interview with Rhapsody, Danja commented that he added a speak-sing outro to "stake [his] claim", since "Gimme More" was one of his first solo productions.
[1] "Gimme More" was released as the album's lead single and premiered on New York City-based radio station Z100's web site.
[Danja] melds tack-sharp beats and a deliciously scuzzy bassline to create a dancefloor throb that feels devilishly sexy".
[14] Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times said the track set the mood for Blackout, adding that "the electronic beats and bass lines are as thick as Ms. Spears's voice is thin...she delivers almost nothing but slithery come-ons and defiant invitations to nightclub decadence".
[17] Eric R. Danton of The Hartford Courant wrote, "The comedy starts right away, when she plays the role of your drunk friend calling at 3 a.m., slurring, 'It's Britney, bitch'".
[12] Mike Schiller of PopMatters called the opening line "real value...kind of hilarious" and added that the "inserted "more" syllables in the chorus only add to the feel that this is a genetically engineered sort of dancefloor banger".
[36] Despite this, according to Mikal Sky, who worked as the makeup artist for the video, Spears "sabotaged the director by refusing to perform and follow the script" for unknown reasons.
Throughout the video, she continues to dance and flip her hair while special effects lights flash around her as the camera moves slightly in and out of focus to the beat of the song.
[42] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine said the lighting effects and digital body enhancement of the video "indicate a predilection toward maintaining an image that no longer reflects reality.
"[11] IGN writer Sketch Longwood called it one of Spears' hottest videos, adding that she "proves to be quite skilled in the art of teasingly slinking around.
[46] An alternative version of the video leaked online on July 18, 2011, and included new scenes, which featured Spears strutting down the street in a black outfit and laying down in a zebra-print bed with a cat.
"[44] Kicking off the show Sunday night with her new single, 'Gimme More,' Spears looked bleary and unprepared – much like her recent tabloid exploits on the streets of Los Angeles.
The backdrop videos featured images of chandeliers floating and silhouettes of women, which were compared by Gil Kaufman of MTV to the gun barrel and the title sequence of the James Bond series.
Jeff Leeds of The New York Times said that "no one was prepared for Sunday night's fiasco, in which a listless Ms. Spears teetered through her dance steps and mouthed only occasional words in a wan attempt to lip-synch her new single".
She was wearing the expression of somebody who had been deposited at the Palms Casino Resort by a tornado, one that promptly twisted away, taking her clothing and sense of purpose...[She was] lumbering, in slow motion, as if somebody had poured cement into her streetwalker boots".
[53] The day after the performance, American blogger Cara Cunningham (formerly Chris Crocker) posted a video on YouTube titled "Leave Britney alone!
", in which she cried and defended Spears's performance, explaining that she did not want her to spiral out of control like Anna Nicole Smith, who had died in February 2007.
The setlist of the show consisted of three songs from her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale, including "Hold It Against Me", "Big Fat Bass" and "Till the World Ends".
Spears returned to the stage wearing a golden bikini and made her entrance in a boat whose individual parts were wheeled by dancers in Egyptian costumes.
[62] Matt Kivel of Variety said, "the crowd reacted wildly to all of it: screaming out the chorus to 'I'm a Slave 4 U,' pulsating along to the twitch of 'Gimme More' and going absolutely ballistic for the brief, two-verse rendition of '...Baby One More Time.
'"[63] Craig S. Semon of Telegram & Gazette called it the most over the top number of the show, adding "She delivered the banal, brain-numbing chorus...while her dancers (looking like extras from 'Stargate') paraded around in Egyptian garb and basked in the glow of pyrotechnic sparks.
Matthieu De Ronde of Archaic Magazine commented "[it is] one of the most unexpected covers of all time...this track has been given a somewhat comical but enjoyable makeover, but who said that metal couldn't be fun?".
[72] "Gimme More" has been sampled in many songs, including Girl Talk's "Give Me a Beat" (2008) and Charles Hamilton's "Devil in a Light Pink Dress" (2009).
[75] During an episode of the television series Kath & Kim, the character of Brett Craig screams the catch phrase before starting a fight in a bar.