Image Source: Interscope Records
Britney Spears is officially making a musical comeback — and we’ll soon be able to hear it. On Aug. 8, Variety reported it received a press release confirming the singer is collaborating with Elton John on a new version of “Tiny Dancer.” Fans can presave the single, which is called “Hold Me Closer.” The same day, John posted an Instagram photo of the title “Hold Me Closer” with emoji of a rose and a rocket ship underneath it.
On Aug. 19, Interscope Records revealed that the single will be released on Aug. 26, in a press release received by POPSUGAR. The accompanying track art features childhood photos of both Spears and John, with the former appropriately dressed in a dance costume.
The duet’s existence was confirmed on Aug. 2 by one of Spears’s friends, Paris Hilton. In an interview with Paul Barewijk for his show “Paul Voor Je Neus,” Hilton said she’d heard the song already. “It’s gonna be iconic,” Hilton said. “I just heard it a couple days ago in Ibiza, and it is, it’s insane.”
The official confirmation comes several weeks after Spears shared a homemade video of herself singing a new version of “. . . Baby One More Time,” expressing that she had been asking “for what I wanted for 14 years . . . a different version of ‘Baby.'” On Nov. 17, 2021, a source informed People that Spears “wants to give her fans a new album,” so the possibility of new music has been on the table for a little while.
However, the musician, who married Sam Asghari on June 9 and whose 13-year-long conservatorship ended on Nov. 12, 2021, has also been vocal on social media over the past year about her fears about returning to the recording industry. “After what I’ve been through, I’m scared of people and the business !!!! They really hurt me !!!!!!!” she wrote in an Instagram post shared on Jan. 3.
But now, she’s finally re-entering that world — and maybe the official new version of “. . . Baby One More Time” is next.