Elton John shares official music video for 'Hold Me Closer'

After releasing the re-recorded version of his classic track 'Tiny Dancer' on 26th August, Sir Elton John has now shared the official music video for 'Hold Me Closer'. The song was created with 90s pop icon Britney Spears, and was shared with a visualiser video, with an animation of a rocket taking off from a field of roses.

The official music video was created by director Tanu Muino and was filmed in Mexico City. The video shows various dancers coming together and embracing in different ways. Speaking about the video, he said: "Going into this video, I knew there would be a lot of emotional expectations the audience and fans would have. With this responsibility, I had to do something different and unexpected. The visuals had to be different. The dance had to be forward-thinking to raise eyebrows and make Elton and Britney proud."

Sharing a clip of the music video when it was released on 27th September, Elton wrote: 'Check out the stunning dance video for ‘Hold Me Closer’, shot in Mexico City by the award-winning director @tanumuino beautifully capturing an immeasurable feeling of intimacy so missing from the world through the turmoil and chaos of recent times.'

Watch the official music video for 'Hold Me Closer' by Elton John and Britney Spears:

When was 'Hold Me Closer' announced?

On 8th August Elton confirmed that the song would get its official release on 26th August, after clips of it had previously been leaked.

Along with the audio, which features parts of the beloved song 'Tiny Dancer' as well as new elements like Britney Spears' easily recognisable vocals, an accompanying animation of a rocket taking off from a field of roses was released.

Watch the 'Hold Me Closer' visualiser video:

Elton said of the new track: "I am absolutely thrilled to have had the chance to work with Britney Spears; 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."

Britney added: "I was so honoured when the incredible Sir Elton John asked me to join him on one his most iconic songs. We are so excited for the fans to hear it! Thank you, Elton, for having me! I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to work with you and your legendary mind."

Has Elton John performed 'Hold Me Closer'?

Ahead of the song's official release, Elton surprised fans with a performance of the song while at a restaurant in Cannes. While the DJ played the track, Elton sang along to his parts of the song and the crowd gathered around to watch the sneak preview.

In the lead up to the song coming out, the 'Rocket Man' singer also took to Instagram to share two photos, one is a side-by-side photo of Britney and Elton as kids, with the second a photo of the pair now.

He simply captioned the photos with the release date and song's name: 'August 26 #HoldMeCloser 🌹🚀'.

Following Elton's post, fans of the singers, including several celebrities commented. Kylie Minogue wrote: 'Beyond!!! 💖', and a fan wrote: 'COMING FOR #1'.

How did the Elton John and Britney Spears collaboration come about?

Opening up to Fleur East on our sister station Hits Radio, Elton told how it was ultimately his manager and husband David Furnish who had the idea, although he had worked with producer Andrew Watt on the idea of combining two of his classic songs 'Tiny Dancer' and 'The One'."

"We had the idea for the song, Andy Watt (producer) had the idea of doing ‘Tiny Dancer’ and then I put ‘The One’ in front of ’Tiny Dancer’, so we had two songs going into each other, bit like 'Cold Heart' with Dua," Elton explained.

"And then, it was David, my manager and husband, who said ‘how about Britney Spears doing it?’ and I went ‘you know what, that’s one of the most brilliant ideas ever!’ No one would have thought of Britney and you know, we’ve been kind of in a Britney bubble, because we’ve watched the documentary, and been following what’s happened to her.

"I said, I’d love her to do it, because a) I’d love to sing with her and b) I think it would be good for her, you know, it would be tremendously good for her. So, we approached her, and I think she was a little nervous, but she went into the studio in LA with Andrew, and she sang brilliantly, and the result is ‘Hold Me Closer’, so it all worked out, and I’m happy because she’s gotten back to… this is about music, it’s not personal life, it’s music."

Take a look through some of Elton John's best collaborations:

Although Elton John is best-known for his hits throughout the last five decades, he has had recent success with his 'The Lockdown Sessions' album. The record included the song 'Cold Heart (Pnau remix)' which became Elton's first Number 1 in 16 years and was nominated for a BRIT Award, but lost out to Adele's 'Easy On Me'.

The iconic singer is also on his 'Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour', having already performed in the UK this year, he will be returning next year for his final dates.

You can hear songs by Elton John on Greatest Hits Radio.

Now read:

Elton John: The man who gave us 'Sacrifice' and 'Your Song'

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Elton John 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' documentary announced

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• britney spears
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