Elton John and Britney Spears‘ highly anticipated duet, “Hold Me Closer,” arrived at the stroke of midnight on Friday.
Similar to “Cold Heart,” Elton’s 2021 duet with Dua Lipa, “Hold Me Closer” mashes up several past Elton hits: 1992’s “The One” and 1972’s “Tiny Dancer,” with the “woo hoos” from 1976’s “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” — his number-one duet with Kiki Dee — thrown in for good measure.
The two first met in 2014 at Elton John’s annual Oscar viewing party. In 2015, Britney tweeted about how much she loves “Tiny Dancer,” which sparked the idea of some kind of collaboration. The track finally came together this summer: Elton reached out to Britney directly, she said yes and the rest is pop music history.
“I am absolutely thrilled to have had the chance to work with Britney Spears; She truly is an icon, one of the all-time great pop stars and she sounds amazing on this record,” Elton says in a statement. “I love her dearly and am delighted with what we’ve created together.”
Britney adds, ““I was so honored 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.”
This is the first new music Britney’s released since 2016’s Glory. While she did put out three tracks in 2020, they were all songs that were recorded for the original Glory album but didn’t make the final cut. They were included on the deluxe reissue version.
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