Elton John thanks Britney Spears for collaboration as ‘Hold Me Closer’ tops reader poll

Elton John expressed gratitude to Britney Spears for her collaboration as their song Hold Me Closer ranks number 1 on the Billboard reader poll.

Taking to Instagram, the Sacrifice singer thanked the Toxic hitmaker and the Billboard fans for voting for their song, which marks the comeback of Spears to music after conservatorship.

The outlet claimed that the track, which is an updated version of the Rocket Man singer’s 1971 hit number Tiny Dancer, received 45% of the total votes.

“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!!” John penned.

“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,” he added.

Previously, John talked about collaborating with Spears as he wanted to “enlighten everybody” that she still is “one of the great pop stars of the world.”

“If anyone needs to have an arm put round her and to get back to what she does, it’s Britney,” he said while speaking to Zoe Ball on Radio 2’s Breakfast Show.

“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,” he added.

“She needs to get back to that. She’s had a horrific time that no one really should go through,” John continued.

“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.”