This past July, Britney Spears relaunched her music career in a modest Beverly Hills basement studio surrounded by candles, bright lights, keyboards, and a new spouse. Six years after her last album and nine months after, she was freed from the teaching that had ruled her life for 13 years. She was in producer Andrew Watt’s home studio, recording parts for Hold Me Closer, a duet with Elton John. This arguably mixes his defining 1971 hit Tiny Dancer with his 1992 song The One (and a touch from 1976’s Don’t Go Breaking My Heart).
Britney went through a lot
With our current knowledge, it’s hard to believe that many people witnessed Spears in person. At her June 2021 custody hearing, Spears gave chilling testimony in which she claimed that she had been punished with lithium for refusing new choreography during her residency, compared herself to an enslaved person, and revealed that she had earned millions for arrangement controllers like her father, Jamie Spears while receiving only a $2,000 weekly allowance.
John’s statement about her singing
Spears arrived with warm vocals and firm ideas for her part and performed the performance in less than two hours. “She sang fantastically,” says John from his home in the south of France. “Everyone stated they felt she couldn’t sing anymore. But I thought she was terrific when she started, so I think she can. And she accomplished it and I was very excited about what she did.”
She talks about her phenomenal performances
After he and Watt prepared a fresh remix of Tiny Dancer, they didn’t know who to invite as a guest vocalist. Then John’s husband, David Furnish, had an idea. “He suggested it would be fantastic for Britney Spears,” John adds as the duo sits side by side the day after he startled guests at a Cannes restaurant with an impromptu rendition of the song. “I said that was a fairly wonderful idea. She hasn’t done anything in such a long time. I’ve kept tabs on her for a while.
John has always been her supporter
From the very beginning, John has been a devoted supporter. She recently dropped some outstanding albums, he exclaims. Her singing and dancing were breathtaking. He and she had a “wonderful – delightful” first encounter at the 2013 Academy Awards celebration hosted by his AIDS Foundation. They both lived in Las Vegas in different hotels (she at Planet Hollywood, he at Caesars Palace). “We didn’t really see each other,” John explains, although they frequently shared an apartment complex.
