The Official UK Charts have confirmed this week’s highest new entry, “Hold Me Closer” by Sir Elton John and Britney Spears, has entered the UK singles chart at number three. Earlier in the summer, it was reported that Sir John had expressed interest in working with Spears; since news hinting at the two meeting and working within a studio began to surface, the world has been on edge waiting for their collaboration. After weeks of excitement, Sir John and the original princess of pop released the top-selling single on 26th August 2022.
As #HoldMeCloser becomes his fourth Top 5 in a year, Sir @EltonOfficial‘s Diamonds album crosses the 1 million sales mark in the UK
Full story https://t.co/OvezYV6fxe pic.twitter.com/XOb41skTs3
— Official Charts (@officialcharts) September 2, 2022
After debuting on the UK singles chart at number three, “Hold Me Closer” has also secured the title of the UK’s best-selling single of the week. The hotly anticipated single’s high chart position marks Sir John’s fourth consecutive top 5 hits within a year. The “Daniel” singer has also broken the top 5 with “Cold Heart“, his duet with British singer-songwriter Dua Lipa. Last winter marked a successful festive season for Sir John; he found chart success with “Merry Christmas“, his collaboration with Ed Sheeran and 2021’s Christmas number one single “Sausage Rolls For Everyone” with Sheeran and LadBaby.
Sir John and Spears’ new release sees the two pioneering artists utilise three of Sir John’s hits to construct the song, elements from “Tiny Dancer“, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart“, and the 1992 single “The One” can be heard within the smooth mix. Speaking exclusively to Official Charts, Sir John has said, “It’s such a thrill to see how well Hold Me Closer is connecting with fans” Elton John exclusively told OfficialCharts.com, “scoring my first Official Number 1 in over a decade with Cold Heart was a wonderful feeling – I thought my days of having hit singles were behind me.”
Thank you to my fans for making my song number one for a week now !!! @eltonofficial : @monalisaney81 pic.twitter.com/Nanm02d7F4 — Britney Spears (@britneyspears) September 2, 2022
The beloved pianist continues, “But to see how much Hold Me Closer means, not only to my fans but Britney and her fans, is beyond words. She’s a wonderful person and artist, and hopefully the reaction to our song has made her feel how loved she is, and she’ll have the confidence to begin the next chapter of her career.“
The new data released from the Official Charts has confirmed further success for Sir John; his 2017 greatest hits, Diamonds, has placed at number 5 on the UK album charts and reached a landmark sales figure. The album has acquired an overall total of 1 million chart units within the UK; the data reveals that within just this week, the album has sold over 332k units both digitally and on physical formats. The newly released data also confirmed that such platforms as Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music are mainly responsible for Diamonds’ high figures, the triple platinum selling album has acquired two-thirds of its total from streaming services.
Sir John has also spoken to Official Charts concerning the exciting news, “Seeing Diamonds reach a million sales in the UK is also beyond words – everything we’ve achieved in the last five years – the book, the film, my tour- has kept my songs out there for younger fans to discover and people returning to it time and time again is really humbling.“
Chief Executive of Official Charts Company, Martin Talbot, has also spoken on Diamonds’ colossal success, “The huge success of Diamonds once again highlights the massive impact that Sir Elton John continues to have on the British music market, and the love that music lovers in the UK have for him. There is no doubt that Sir Elton will forever be the nation’s Captain Fantastic.”
