Elton John Previews New Britney Spears Collab, 'Hold Me Closer'

Elton John is pulling back the curtain early -- giving fans a sneak peek of his new collab with Britney Spears -- and judging by the crowd listening, it's a hit.

The rock icon was recently at a restaurant in Cannes, called La Guérite, where patrons were dancing up a storm. EJ got up on the DJ booth to preview his forthcoming single, "Hold Me Closer," by playing the entire song and posting it to his Instagram account.

At times, Elton was singing along to the song which plays like a dance track, heavily incorporating his original lyrics from "Tiny Dancer" as well as lyrics from his song "The One" ... and of course, Brit's added vocals.

As we've reported, Brit and Elton didn't actually meet in person to work on the tune -- but it sounds seamless. She met with producer Andrew Watt to lay down her portion of the record, which only took her a few hours to do ... as Elton beamed in via Zoom for direction.