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Artist News Releases
Britney Spears and Elton John release Hold Me Closer
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 26 August 2022
Britney Spears and Elton John have released their much anticipated single together – ‘Hold Me Closer’ – a rework of John’s 1971 song ‘Tiny Dancer’.
In a statement, Spears says: “I was so honoured when the incredible Sir Elton John asked me to join him on one his most iconic songs. We are so excited for the fans to hear it! Thank you, Elton, for having me! I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to work with you and your legendary mind”.
Speaking to The Guardian about the recording, John says: “She sang fantastically. Everyone was saying they don’t think she can sing any more. But I said, she was brilliant when she started so I think she can. And she did it, and I was so THRILLED with what she did”.
Despite everyone being happy with the outcome of their studio session, he admits that it did take some effort to convince Spears that they should release the track. “She’s been away so long – there’s a lot of fear there because she’s been betrayed so many times and she hasn’t really been in the public eye officially for so long”, he explains. “We’ve been holding her hand through the whole process, reassuring her that everything’s gonna be alright”.
As for why he wanted to be the first to work with Spears after she was released from the conservatorship that controlled her life for more than thirteen years – an arrangement that led to Spears announcing in 2019 that she would no longer work as an act of protest – he says: “I’m so excited to be able to do it with her because if it is a big hit, and I think it may be, it will give her so much more confidence than she’s got already and she will realise that people actually love her and care for her and want her to be happy. That’s all anybody in their right mind would want after she went through such a traumatic time”.
“It’s hard when you’re young”, he adds. “Britney was broken. I was broken when I got sober. I was in a terrible place. I’ve been through that broken feeling and it’s horrible. And luckily enough, I’ve been sober for 32 years and it’s the happiest I’ve ever been. Now I’ve got the experience to be able to advise people and help them because I don’t want to see any artists in a dark place. A lot of artists, you’d think they’d have a lot of self-esteem but they don’t, and that’s why we go onstage and we get the applause, and then we come offstage and we’re back to square one”.
Listen to ‘Hold Me Closer’ here:
