Britney Spears Celebrates "Hold Me Closer" Reaching No. 1
Her duet with Elton John has topped the charts in dozens of countries.
Britney Spears has officially made her chart-topping comeback.
Her first song in six years, the Elton John duet "Hold Me Closer," immediately topped the iTunes charts in the U.S. and dozens of countries upon its release yesterday. To celebrate, the "Stronger" singer posted a since-deleted selfie video on Instagram, breaking out her best British accent to deliver a message to the "Tiny Dancer" singer.
"Hello Sir Elton John we are like No. 1 in 40 countries," she says. "Holy s—! I'm in the tub right now and I'm about to go have the best day ever and I hope you're well."
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The British singer responded to the clip, giving his thanks and saying that Spears "made his day." He later posted his own video, a snippet of the official visualizer where a spaceship that ejects flower petals.
"I'm thrilled with the response to #HoldMeCloser I wanted to do a fun, happy summer track so was ecstatic when @britneyspears agreed to be a part of it!" he wrote. "She truly is an icon, one of the all-time great pop stars & I love her dearly. I hope you all love it!"
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Spears celebrated the single's release on Twitter yesterday, after she abruptly deleted her Instagram account last Thursday after sharing a teaser of the song with an emotional caption. As of Saturday, her account is still inactive, and it remains unclear why she deleted her Instagram.
In an interview with The Guardian, the "Your Song" singer revealed that Spears recorded her part for "Hold Me Closer" last July, nailing the performance in "less than two hours."
"She sang fantastically," John told the outlet. "Everyone was saying they don’t think she can sing any more. 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."
This article originally appeared on Harper's BAZAAR US.
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