Singer/songwriter Tori Amos has spoken out in support of troubled star Britney Spears - by penning a musical tribute to her. The Big Wheel singer was performing in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday - a day after Spears' much-criticized live comeback at the MTV Video Music Awards when she performed new track Gimme More.

But Amos has proved an unlikely source of support for Spears, telling the audience the singer "needed a mother to pick her up" - a comment on the star's tempestuous relationship with her mother, Lynne.

Amos improvised, "Britney, they set you up/...This is what it looks like when a star falls/You're a mother but you need a mother to pick you up/I'm a mother but I need a mother to pick me up."

Spears' performance at the Las Vegas awards ceremony on Sunday night was panned by critics and celebrities alike.

-Tori Amos Pictures
- Britney Spears Pictures

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)