Elton John and Ed Sheeran team up on new festive track ‘Merry Christmas’
The track's festive video also features cameos from Mr Blobby, Jonathan Ross, Big Narstie, Michael McIntyre and The Darkness
Elton John and Ed Sheeran are ringing in the holidays with their upbeat new song “Merry Christmas,” with an accompanying video directed by Jason Koenig.
In the festive video, the pair pay homage to scenes from legacy No. 1 Christmas music videos and iconic Christmas films. They’re joined by British personalities like Mr Blobby, Jonathan Ross, Big Narstie, Michael McIntyre and The Darkness, who all cameo throughout, as they reinvent scenes from Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” the Snowman’s “Walking in the Air,” and more. At one point, Sheeran even dances around in a sexy Santa suit.
“Feel like there’s so much love/All our family and friends are together where we all belong/Merry Christmas everyone,” they sing on the chorus.
The tune was co-written by John and Sheeran and produced by Steve Mac. It sees the musicians joining forces for the first-ever time on an official single release, and, as the pair shared in their intro to the video premiere, it’s one of three holiday songs they wrote together.
The duo released a couple of teaser clips in the run-up to dropping “Merry Christmas.” In one, Sheeran reenacted the Love Actually cue card scene, but rather than it being a romantic overture, Sheeran announced the song and how it came to be.
“Last Christmas I received a call from my mate Elton John,” Sheeran shared via the cards. “And he told me we should do a ‘Christmas Song.’ And I replied, ‘Yeah maybe in 2022.’ But I actually wrote the chorus that day.”
The musicians’ global record and publishing royalties from the single and profits from sales of the single during the 2021 holiday season will be donated equally between the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation and The Elton John AIDS Foundation.
John released his all-star-brimming The Lockdown Sessions in October. Sheeran also dropped his fourth studio album, Equals, in October. In November, Sheeran performed on Saturday Night Live after coming out of quarantine following testing positive for Covid-19.