Sir Elton John celebrates Britney Spears after Hold Me Closer collaboration tops poll-Mel Evans-Entertainment – Metro

Sir Elton John has celebrated his song with Britney Spears landing a fan-led poll (Picture: by Alexi Rosenfeld/ Getty Images)

Sir Elton John has praised Britney Spears after their collaboration Hold Me Closer was voted 2022 Billboard fan favourite.

And rightly so!

The Rocket Man singer thanked pop queen Britney for her ‘talent and collaboration’ after their hit song topped the reader poll.

The track marked the US pop megastar’s return to music for the first time in six years, following the ending of her 13-year conservatorship, and proved popular on both sides of the pond after its release in August last year.

According to Billboard, the song, which peaked at number six on its Hot 100 chart, received 45% of the total votes, ‘likely thanks to fans’ voracious appetite for a much-deserved Britney comeback’.

Reacting to the news with a post on Instagram, Sir Elton wrote: ‘An enormous thank you to @billboard, it’s readers and all the fans of ‘Hold Me Closer’ who voted it their favourite song of 2022!!

‘And thank you @britneyspears for your talent and collaboration in making this happen and the incredible @thisiswatt who shares this success!

‘What an incredible way to kick off the year.’

Hold Me Closer, which also went on to reach number three in the UK charts, is a mighty mashup, as it mixes Sir Elton’s 1971 hit Tiny Dancer with his 1992 song The One, while parts of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart from 1976 also feature in the song.

Britney and Sir Elton came together for the banger (Picture: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for EJAF)

Sir Elton previously said he wanted the collaboration to ‘enlighten everybody’ that Britney, 41, is ‘one of the great pop stars of the world’.

Speaking to Zoe Ball on Radio 2’s Breakfast Show, Sir Elton said: ‘If anyone needs to have an arm put round her and to get back to what she does, it’s Britney.’

The veteran musician, 75, added: ‘What I wanted to do when she completed (the song) was to enlighten everybody that this is one of the great pop stars of the world, one of the biggest stars in the world.

‘She needs to get back to that. She’s had a horrific time that no one really should go through.

‘So if this is the way to getting her back to making another record – a Britney Spears record – then that’s what I wanted (the song) to turn out to be.’

It comes as Sir Elton prepares to stage the final UK performance of his last tour at Glastonbury festival in June; in November 2021 he finished his final run of North America tour shows, with a three-concert run at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles.

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