Elton John was 'thrilled' to have 'brilliant' Britney Spears on board for duet

Elton John opened up about working with Britney Spears on their newly released duet titled, Hold Me Closer.

Speaking to The Guardian, the Tiny Dancer singer revealed the pop star was a bit reluctant to get back on the field. However, he and his team reassured her and were there for her every step of the way.

“She’s been away so long — there’s a lot of fear there because she’s been betrayed so many times and she hasn’t really been in the public eye officially for so long,” John shared. “We’ve been holding her hand through the whole process, reassuring her that everything’s gonna be all right.”

The pair’s duet is the rendition of John’s 1971 hit, Tiny Dancer.

The 75-year-old artist hoped that the success of their song gives Spears “much more confidence than she’s already got” with the dawn of realization that she is admired by people.

“I’m so excited to be able to do it with her because if it is a big hit, and I think it may be, it will give her so much more confidence than she’s got already and she will realize that people actually love her and care for her and want her to be happy,” the Sacrifice singer said.

“That’s all anybody in their right mind would want after she went through such a traumatic time,” he added.

John also gushed about the 41-year-old songstress’ voice, saying she was “brilliant” with the song.

“She sang fantastically,” he said. “Everyone was saying they don’t think she can sing anymore. But I said, she was brilliant when she started so I think she can. And she did it, and I was so thrilled with what she did.”