US pop star Britney Spears has namedropped Sir Elton John and Paris Hilton in her new memoir published on Tuesday.
The Woman In Me, billed as a “brave and astonishingly moving” story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith and hope, offers insight into her stage career and controversial 13-year conservatorship.
It also recalls her friendships with a host of Hollywood faces including British superstar John, who she described as having “incredible compassion” having been through so much himself publicly – which she likened to her own experience.
The 41-year-old, who announced “an indefinite work hiatus” in 2019, said she changed her stance on recording music when Sir Elton invited her to collaborate on Hold Me Closer, a duet version of his 1971 hit Tiny Dancer.
“I was so honoured… he’s one of my all-time favourite performers,” she wrote, having met the music veteran at an Oscars party a decade ago.
“Sir Elton was kind and made me feel so comfortable… I was nervous because it would be the first time the world had heard my singing voice on something new in six years, but I believed in the song and in myself, so I went for it.”
In the book, Spears also refers to her friendship with socialite-turned-entrepreneur Hilton.
She wrote: “One of the people who was kindest to me when I really needed kindness was Paris Hilton. So much of America dismissed her as a party girl, but I found her elegant.
“…She saw that I had babies and that I was suffering from the breakup, and I think she felt sorry for me. She came over to my house, and she helped me out so much.
“She was just so sweet to me.”
The book’s publication comes months after her husband Sam Asghari filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences” – just over a year after they tied the knot at a star-studded ceremony at the US singer’s home in Los Angeles.
In the book, Spears said she had “an appreciation for how stable” Asghari was.
Spears voices the introduction to The Woman In Me audiobook while five-time Oscar-nominated actress Michelle Williams narrates the full audio edition of the memoir.
The Woman In Me has been published by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
