Ed Sheeran & Elton John vie for Christmas number one with hotly anticipated new single

Daniel Keane3 December 2021

Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John have released their highly anticipated Christmas single - complete with sleigh bells, festive lyrics and a music video with a cast of famous friends.

The single, titled “Merry Christmas”, celebrates the festive season while also remembering “the ones who have gone” during a difficult year.

The track was released on Friday but faces stiff competition for Christmas number one - with Adele, Abba and LadBaby also vying for the top spot.

In the music video, based on a scene from festive favourite Love Actually, Sheeran knocks on Sir Elton’s door with a set of note cards in his hand, reading: “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....”

All profits from the track will go to Sheeran’s Suffolk Music Foundation and the Elton John Aids Foundation.

Both Sheeran and Sir Elton have previous experience in crafting a festive hit and have nabbed the coveted Christmas number one.

Sheeran claimed 2017’s Christmas number one with Perfect, while Sir Elton’s 1973 smash hit Step Into Christmas has re-entered the top 10 for the past two years.

It was the success of this single that prompted Sheeran to contact Sir Elton and ask him to collaborate.

“He was so buzzed that Step Into Christmas gets a higher position each year,” the singer told US chat show host Jimmy Fallon.

“So he’s like, ‘I want to do another Christmas song, do you want to do one with me?’”

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