Ed Sheeran Gets Into Holiday Spirit With Elton John on New ‘Merry Christmas’ Song

Ed Sheeran is getting into the holiday spirit on a “Merry Christmas” song, and he’s brought music icon Elton John along for the (sleigh) ride. The pair of Brit-crooners debuted their new duet this week, just weeks after Sheeran teased the collaboration during a Tonight Show appearance. Fans can stream the tune below, via YouTube.

While chatting with Tonight Show about the new track, Sheeran shared that they almost changed the name of it, but decided not to when they realized how surprisingly unique it was. “So get this,” he began “we write it and I title it, ‘Merry Christmas,’ but we’re probably going to need to change that title because there’ll be loads of songs called ‘Merry Christmas’. I went on Spotify, typed in ‘Merry Christmas,’ nothing.” Sheeran then added, “There’s ‘Merry Christmas Everyone,’ there’s ‘Happy Xmas’, there’s ‘Merry Xmas’…there’s not a song called ‘Merry Christmas.’”

The new duet is not John’s first this year, as the legendary singer released a collection of collabs titled The Lockdown Sessions, back in October. One of those collaborations was a cover of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” with Miley Cyrus, legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Los Angeles-based musician/producer WATT, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, and Metallica bassist Robert Truillo. Following its release, John made a surprise appearance on The Howard Stern Show with Metallica, and he hailed the tune as “one of the best songs ever written.”

Elaborating on how the haunting cover came together, John recalled, “That idea came from Andrew Watt, who produced the track and played guitar on it. He said, ‘I want you to start the song and finish the song, because I don’t want it to start with the guitar, because that’s how the original record started.’” John continued, “Listen, this is one of the best songs ever written, to me. It’s a song that never gets old. And playing on this track, I just couldn’t wait. The chord structure, the melodies, the time changes, it’s got drama written all over it.”

Continuing his acclaim of “Nothing Else matters,” John said, “I have to say, it was a no-brainer playing on this song. Metallica are probably the crème de la crème of those kind of bands. You can’t really define them. They’re not a heavy metal band. They’re a musical band. Their songs aren’t just heavy metal. They’re beautiful songs. This is such a melodic song – it’s f—ing great, actually.”