Britney Spears is OFFICIALLY back. After the two artists teased a team-up song earlier this month, Spears and Elton John have finally released the track "Hold Me Closer."
“Hold Me Closer” is a spin on John’s 1971 classic “Tiny Dancer.” The updated track was produced by Andrew Watt. John announced the single’s release date in an Instagram post that featured a split image of Spears and himself as kids (Britney in a frilly pink dress, Elton seated at a piano). Spears then responded to John with her own Instagram post:
“You can bet your bottom dollar that THIS collaboration will heighten my year by joining your brilliant hands of play,” she wrote in the caption. “Thank you for your generosity and just thinking of me to join you on such a brilliant song! How cool is it to be a background voice ON YOUR song! Sir Elton I did it thanks to your genius, creative, and legendary mind!”
In 2020, Spears released a handful of singles recorded around her 2016 album, Glory, but “Hold Me Closer” marks her real return to the studio and official comeback after her fight for freedom from a conservatorship overseen by her father, James “Jamie” Spears, since 2008. That battle was chronicled in a series of documentaries set off by The New York Times’ Framing Britney Spears, as well as extensive reporting in The Times and The New Yorker. Those journalistic efforts, as well as the efforts by Spears’ diligent fan base, resulted in a highly publicized court case that culminated in late 2021, when a Los Angeles judge granted Spears control of her life.
As for Sir Elton John, the legend has participated in several collaborations in recent years - part of a prolific streak following his 2019 biopic, Rocket Man. Among them are a track with the British post-punks Yard Act, a live collaboration with Years & Years at last year’s BRIT Awards, features with Rina Sawayama, Teyana Taylor, and Gorillaz, and songs with Nicki Minaj, Young Thug, Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, Stevie Wonder, and Stevie Nicks on his 2021 album, The Lockdown Sessions.
Listen to "Hold Me Closer" below.
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Article Image: Britney Spears gives a goofy smile at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, Elton John poses for photos while wearing dark sunglasses at an event in 2012. (everett225 and s_bukley via DepositPhotos.)
