Sir Elton John says Britney Spears was "broken" after her "traumatic" conservatorship.
Sir Elton John: Britney Spears was 'broken' after conservatorship
Britney, 40, was finally freed from her conservatorship in 2021 after almost 14 years, and Elton, 75, who invited her to collaborate with him on 'Hold Me Closer', revealed Britney was initially hesitant to get involved because she has been "betrayed so many times".
He told The Guardian newspaper: "It’s hard when you’re young. Britney was broken. I was broken when I got sober. I was in a terrible place. I’ve been through that broken feeling and it’s horrible. And luckily enough, I’ve been sober for 32 years and it’s the happiest I’ve ever been. Now I’ve got the experience to be able to advise people and help them because I don’t want to see any artists in a dark place. A lot of artists, you’d think they’d have a lot of self-esteem but they don’t, and that’s why we go onstage and we get the applause, and then we come offstage and we’re back to square one."
And, Elton revealed his hopes that the single - an updated version of Elton's 'Tiny Dancer' - will help to restore Britney's confidence.
He said: "Rehabilitation is such a wonderful thing for anybody. And I’m just crossing my fingers that this will restore her confidence in herself to get back into the studio, make more records, and realise that she is bloody good.
“We had to get her to approve what she did. 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 alright.
“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 realise 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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