Hold Me Closer director: Sir Elton John and Britney Spears collab was emotional

Tanu Muino said she had been inspired to become a director after seeing one of Spears’ videos and had ‘grown up’ with Sir Elton’s music.
Director: Video for Sir Elton John and Britney Spears’ collab was ’emotional’ (Alamy/PA)
Mike Bedigan28 September 2022
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The director of the music video for Sir Elton John and Britney Spears’ collaborative track Hold Me Closer says the experience was “an emotional one”.

Tanu Muino said she had been inspired to become a director after seeing one of Spears’ videos and had “grown up” listening to the work of Sir Elton.

Hold Me Closer mixes Sir Elton’s 1971 hit Tiny Dancer with his 1992 song The One, while parts of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart from 1976 also feature in the track.

The official video, released on Tuesday, shows pairs of dancers performing intimate routines and embracing in various, vibrantly coloured settings.

Muino, who is also known for directing music videos for artists including Harry Styles, Lil Nas X, Cardi B and Lizzo, said she had wanted to create something that would “raise eyebrows” and make Sir Elton and Spears “proud”.

“This was an emotional one for me as I grew up with Britney,” she said.

“After seeing Slave For You, I decided that I wanted to become a video director (and) Elton John is an icon that I and the world grew up listening to.”

She continued: “Going into this video, I knew there would be a lot of emotional expectations the audience and fans would have.

“With this responsibility, I had to do something different and unexpected. The visuals had to be different.

“The dance had to be forward-thinking to raise eyebrows and make Elton and Britney proud.

“Getting the best dancers, crew, and access to some of the most private locations in the world was simple as everyone wanted to work with Elton John and be part of his legacy.”

Hold Me Closer marks Spears’ first new music in six years and her first release since the end of a controversial 13-year conservatorship.

Sir Elton previously said he wanted the collaboration to “enlighten everybody” that Spears is “one of the great pop stars of the world”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in