Elton John on His Collaboration with Britney Spears

Elton John has been through and seen it all in his legendary career. That’s partly why it was so important to him to reach out to Britney Spears for his latest collaboration “Hold Me Closer,” a reworking of his classic song “Tiny Dancer.”

Sir Elton details his thoughts in a new interview with The Guardian where he touches on working with Spears on his first new single in six years and her first new piece of music since the very public dissolving of her 13-year conservatorship.

“It’s hard when you’re young. Britney was broken,” said John. “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.”

John credits his husband, David Furnish, for coming up with reaching out to Spears for “Hold Me Closer,” which can be heard in its entirety below. The track is similar to “Cold Heart,” John’s recent collaboration with Dua Lipa which combined and remixed a number of his previous songs into a new single.

“I want to do one every year for a fun, happy summer record,” John said of the remixes. “…[David] said it would be wonderful for Britney Spears to do [‘Hold Me Closer’.] I said, that’s a pretty amazing idea. She hadn’t done anything for so long. I’d been following what’s been happening to her for a long time.”

For her part, Spears is very excited about the release of “Hold Me Closer.” She wrote on Twitter, “Okie dokie … my first song in 6 years!!!! It’s pretty damn cool that I’m singing with one of the most classic men of our time … @eltonofficial!!!! I’m kinda overwhelmed… it’s a big deal to me!!! I’m meditating more and learning my space is valuable and precious.”

“Hold Me Closer” is available for streaming and download here.

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