Ed Sheeran does Love Actually to tease his Elton John Christmas duet single

30 November 2021, 10:42 | Updated: 3 December 2021, 09:12

Ed Sheeran and Elton John promote new Christmas single in Love Actually-inspired clip

Ed Sheeran and Elton John confirm their new collaboration 'Merry Christmas'.

There are few pop friendships as heartwarming as that between now-elder statesman of rock Elton John and modern-day superstar Ed Sheeran.

Elton was an early champion of Ed and his support (along with Ed's songs, of course), helped propel him to where he is today.

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Fans of both had longed for a proper collaboration, and Ed recently spilled the beans that the two friends had been working on a Christmas single together.

"Elton rang me on Christmas Day to say Merry Christmas," Ed said.

"Elton rings me almost every single day. He said, 'Step Into Christmas' is Number 6 in the charts! I want to do another Christmas song – will you do it with me?"

Elton confirmed all the details yesterday (November 29) with a post on Twitter featuring Ed doing that famous doorstep scene from Richard Curtis's Christmas movie Love Actually.

"Just under a year ago, I called @edsheeran to see if he wanted to make a Christmas single with me and now it’s nearly here!" Elton said.

"‘Merry Christmas’ will be out Fri 3 Dec with all proceeds from this year’s Christmas period going to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation & @ejaf🎄☃️🎄"

In the video, the cards held by Ed read: "Hello. Last Christmas I received a call from my mate Elton John. 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. And here we are. Our Christmas song 'Merry Christmas' is out this Friday.

"Go pre-order or pre-save it now. It has sleigh bells. A lot of them..."

Famous Firsts: Ed Sheeran on his love for Elton John

Elton John is no stranger to Christmas hits, of course.

His single 'Step Into Christmas' (backed with the excellently-titled 'Ho, Ho, Ho (Who'd Be a Turkey at Christmas)') peaked at number 24 in 1973 and has since become a perennial seasonal favourite.

Since the charts went streaming, it's only done better and better, reaching number 11 in 2017 and entering the top ten the last three years.