Ed Sheeran's Christmas song with Elton John is out now
The song and music video have been released
Last updated 3rd Dec 2021
Ed Sheeran has certainly been busy this year, from releasing brand new hit singles such as 'Bad Habits' and 'Shivers', to releasing his fifth album '=' and even announcing a huge tour for 2022. So what better way to round off the year than an EPIC Christmas collab with none other than Sir Elton John himself?!
After teasing fans for a couple months, Ed and Elton have FINALLY released their song titled 'Merry Christmas' today (Friday 3rd December). Ed took to Twitter this morning to announce that the song is out and the profits would go to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
The suitably festive music video was also released today, and you can watch it below!
Watch 'Merry Christmas' by Ed Sheeran and Elton John:
Ed had teased the video on Instagram before its release, sharing a Love Actually inspired video with the caption: 'Our song “Merry Christmas” is out this Friday. Link in bio to pre-order it or pre-save it. All UK proceeds from this year’s Christmas period will go to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation (www.essmf.com) and the Elton John AIDS Foundation (@ejaf ).'
The pair had been building the excitement for their collaboration in recent weeks. Earlier in November Ed shared a snap of himself and Elton on set for the video for the festive hit and Ed has gone full Mrs Claus.
He simply captioned the snap: 'Coming soon'.
Ed recently admitted to Jimmy Fallon that Elton had been keen to get Ed on board for new Christmas song for 2021.
Chatting to Jimmy on the The Tonight Show, Ed admitted: "I've always been quite against...not that I don't like Christmas. I love Christmas. But in terms of doing a Christmas song, you need to chuck the kitchen sink at it."
For those of you who are left scratching their head at Ed's choice of metaphor, the singer is referring to the need to go all out if he was to create a Christmas song. He continued: "I was like, 'I don't really want to do a Christmas song unless we're going in. Unless it's like sleigh bells, ding-dong. It needs to be a proper Christmas song.'
"So I wrote a chorus and then I went to go and stay with him and we wrote three and one of them was this one called 'Merry Christmas'."
The 30-year-old then went on to reveal that despite thinking the title of the song may have to be revisited, due to its common name, no other songs with the simple title of 'Merry Christmas' actually appear on Spotify or YouTube - much to the singer's (and our) surprise!
The 'Shape Of You' singer joked: "It baffled me. It's kind of like this glitch in a video game!"
So there we have it, Christmas song titans Mariah Carey and Michael Bublé may have some competition on their hands, as we officially have an Ed Sheeran and Elton John Christmas collaboration in the form of a track called 'Merry Christmas' - what more could we want?!
Ed Sheeran and Elton John's 'Merry Christmas' was released on Friday 3rd December.
Check out some of Ed Sheeran's biggest and best collaborations:
‘If I Could’ with Wiley
Released in 2011, this R&B grime tune cruised its way into the UK Charts. English rapper Wiley is no stranger to a chart hit, known for big tunes such as 'Wearing My Rolex' and 'Heatwave'.
‘Everything Has Changed’ and 'End Game' with Taylor Swift
Hitting the UK Top 10, 'Everything Has Changed' was certainly a collab to remember back in 2013. Teaming up with mega-star Taylor Swift again in 2017 with 'End Game', these two showed us they really know how to make a banger!
‘Lay It All on Me’ and ‘Bloodstream’ with Rudimental
Ed has joined forces with Rudimental several times, providing us with big hits including 'Lay It All On Me' and 'Bloodstream'. Both songs made it to the UK Top 20, with 'Bloodstream' hitting the impressive Number 2 spot.
‘Perfect Duet’ with Beyoncé
In 2017, Beyoncé and Ed went straight to the top of the charts with this gorgeous duet. The song was an acoustic version of Ed's smash-hit 'Perfect'.
‘Perfect Symphony’ and ‘This Is the Only Time’ with Andrea Bocelli
The re-imaginations of Ed's 'Perfect' didn't stop there! Teaming up with Italian singer-songwriter Andrea Bocelli, the pair released the 'Perfect Symphony', featuring stunning Italian vocals from both Andrea and Ed.
‘River’ with Eminem
In 2017, Ed joined forces with music giant Eminem with 'River'. The song was, undeniably, a HUGE hit, gliding its way to the Number 1 spot in the UK Charts.
‘I Don't Care’ with Justin Bieber
And who can forget this iconic collaboration between Ed and Justin Bieber? 2019 saw the pair team up to bring us the playful 'I Don't Care', which cruised to Number 1 in several countries, including the UK.
‘Best Part of Me’ with Yebba
Pairing up with American singer YEBBA, we were all gifted with the gorgeous song 'Best Part Of Me' in 2019. Abbey Smith, better known as YEBBA, has teamed up with other huge names in the past such as Mark Ronson, Sam Smith and Rudimental.
‘Antisocial’ with Travis Scott
This lively bop was the product of an incredible collaboration between Ed and Travis Scott. Travis, known for hits like 'SICKO MODE' and 'BUTTERFLY EFFECT', has worked with other huge names such as Quavo, The Weeknd, Kanye West and The 1975.
‘South of the Border’ with Camila Cabello and Cardi B
Later in 2019 the singer joined forces with Camila Cabello and Cardi B to bring us 'South of the Border'. The spicy collab was incredibly popular with fans, hitting Number 4 in the UK Singles Chart.
'Take Me Back to London' and 'Own It' with Stormzy
'Take Me Back to London' saw the pair reach Number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, following the release of its remix. Fans went wild for the collaboration between the two, buzzing over Stormzy's vibrant energy mixing with Ed's melodic talents. They teamed up once again for Stormzy's track 'Own It'.
'Merry Christmas' with Elton John
In 2021, Ed and Elton teamed up to create a Christmas track called 'Merry Christmas'. They also released a music video which includes scenes from different famous festive films.
The pair went on to work with social media influencer LadBaby to create a charity Christmas single called 'Sausage Rolls For Everyone'.
'The Joker and The Queen' with Taylor Swift
Ed Sheeran revealed in February 2022 that he was going to release a version of this song 'The Joker and The Queen' with Taylor Swift. The music video was released later that week.
The video sees Ava Ames and Jack Lewis reprise their roles nearly a decade after they first appeared in Taylor Swift's song 'Everything Has Changed' with Ed Sheeran.
'Bam Bam' with Camila Cabello
Camila teamed up with Ed again in 2022 on 'Bam Bam'. The catchy tune reached Number 7 in the UK Singles Chart.
'2Step' with Lil Baby
Lil Baby featured on a new version of Ed's album track '2Step'. The song's music video was recorded in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine before the war started.
Ed announced throughout May he would be sharing some 'incredible remixes' of the song, starting with one by the Ukrainian band Antytila.
'My G' with Aitch
Ed teamed up with Aitch on 'My G', which was released in August 2022. The song is dedicated to Aitch's younger sister, Gracie, with Aitch describing Ed as his sister's favourite artist.
Now read:
Ed Sheeran's The Mathematics Tour 2022
Ed Sheeran: Get to know more about the 'Bad Habits' singer
Ed Sheeran's career journey: From street busker to global superstar