Elton John Thanks Billboard Readers for Picking His Britney Spears Duet ‘Hold Me Closer’ as Their Favorite Song of 2022
Written by djfrosty on January 5, 2023
Elton John took to social media to celebrate “Hold Me Closer,” his duet with Britney Spears, being named Billboard readers’ favorite song of 2022.
“An enormous thank you to @billboard, its readers and all the fans of ‘Hold Me Closer’ who voted it their favourite song of 2022!!” he wrote in a heartfelt Instagram post. “And thank you @britneyspears for your talent and collaboration in making this happen and the incredible @thisiswatt [producer Watt] who shares this success! What an incredible way to kick off the year.”
In the official results of the poll, Sir Elton’s disco-flecked collab with Spears dominated by earning nearly 45% of the vote, followed by Wizkid’s “Bad to Me” at 25% and both Anitta’s “Envolver” and BLACKPINK’s “Shut Down” with 8% each.
“Hold Me Closer” earned the superstar his second top 10 hit of 2022 when it debuted at No. 6 on the Hot 100 back in September, and also became the highest-charting single of his career since “Candle in the Wind 1997” after Princess Diana’s death. Earlier last year, John’s “Cold Heart” duet with Dua Lipa also broke through to the top 10.
Sir Elton finished out the calendar year by raking in a whopping $60 million gross on the eight final dates of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour and releasing his hotly anticipated concert film Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium on Disney+. For his very last U.S. concert, the icon was joined onstage by Lipa, as well as Brandi Carlile and Kiki Dee. His final U.K. bow is slated to blast off this June on the last night of Glastonbury 2023.
See Elton’s reaction to coming out on top in Billboard’s songs of 2022 poll below.