Britney Spears has released a duet with Elton John, making it her first music to be made public since 2016.
The track Hold Me Closer was released on August 26, nine months after a conservatorship which controlled every aspect of her life was ended in a Los Angeles court.
The song mixes three of Elton John’s classic hits - Tiny Dancer, The One, and Don’t Go Breaking My Heart - in a club beat with Spears’ voice across it.
It is expected to reintroduce John’s music to younger fans, similar to the collaboration with Dua Lipa- a track called Cold Heart.
While John has been releasing new music in the past few years — including the 16-track 2021 album ‘The Lockdown Sessions’ — the song represents Spears’ first new music since her 2016 album ‘Glory’ and her first offering since the ending of her contentious conservatorship.
“She truly is an icon, one of the all-time great pop stars and she sounds amazing on this record. I love her dearly and am delighted with what we’ve created together,” John said in a statement.
Spears, in her statement, told John it was an honour to be asked: “I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to work with you and your legendary mind.”
She later tweeted: “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. I’m kinda overwhelmed… it’s a big deal to me.”
The track is produced by Andrew Watt, who has worked with such acts as Ed Sheeran, Eddie Vedder, Ozzy Osbourne, Justin Bieber, Post Malone and Miley Cyrus.
The song begins with both stars singing the opening lyrics of The One — “I saw you dancing out the ocean/Running fast along the sand/A spirit born of earth and water/Fire flying from your hands.”
It then seamlessly moves to Tiny Dancer: “Hold me closer, tiny dancer/Count the headlights on the highway/Lay me down in sheets of linen/You had a busy day today.”
The track calls to mind last year’s hit “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix),” which melded John’s songs Kiss the Bride, Rocket Man, Where’s the Shoorah? and Sacrifice into a dance bop featuring vocals by Dua Lipa.
John and Spears first met in 2014 at an Oscar viewing party and she later tweeted her love of Tiny Dancer.
J ohn is in the midst of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.
