Hold Me Closer, the duet sang by Elton John and Britney Spears, has been released to huge acclaim from fans. The Rocket Man singer, 75, has now opened up about getting Spears to sing after her traumatic period of conservatorship under her father. Notably, this was the first time after six years that Spears, 40, has recorded a new song.

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John opened up about his new collaboration with the Princess of Pop in an interview with the Guardian. He said that the entire team behind the project was guiding Spears by saying that the collaboration will be fruitful, “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. We’ve been holding her hand through the whole process, reassuring her that everything’s gonna be all right”. You can listen to the duo’s song right here:

The legendary English musician also stated that he wants the song to be a hit because that will end up giving Spears the confidence she requires. He said, “she will realize that people actually love her and care for her and want her to be happy. That’s all anybody in their right mind would want after she went through such a traumatic time.”

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John was also impressed with how Spears sang. He said in the interview that many people had doubts about Spears’ vocal prowess on grounds of her not having sung for so long. However, John told them, “…she was brilliant when she started so I think she can. And she did it, and I was so thrilled with what she did.” John has also shared on Instagram a video Spears had sent him about the success of their collaboration:

Spears was recently in the news when her former husband stated that their two sons have decided to stay away from their mother for the time being because of the kind of pictures she posts on social media. Spears is one of the best-selling artists in music history, having already sold over 200 million albums.