Feeling festive? No? Well, allow Elton John and Ed Sheeran to change that with their upcoming Christmas single. "Merry Christmas," as the song is simply titled, is out on Dec. 3. To get us excited, Sheeran posted a teaser for the track. It opens in Love Actually style with giant cue cards on John's doorstep. Sheeran explains that John approached him to collaborate on a Christmas song together, to which Sheeran replied, "Yeah, maybe in 2022." But turns out, he wrote the chorus that same day. So, "Merry Christmas" was born.
While we don't know much else about the collaboration, one thing we know for sure is that Sheeran will be dressed for the role. A week ago, he posted a photo on his Instagram of him and John wearing matching tracksuits for the special occasion. All proceeds raised from the single will support the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Sheeran first announced the Christmas duet back in October, when he appeared on a Dutch talk show. "It's f*cking great," he told the hosts, according to Billboard. Sheeran added that it was all John's idea back in 2020: "He rung me on Christmas Day and he said, '"Step Into Christmas" is No. 6 on the charts, and I'm 74, and I'm still having f*cking chart hits, this is great! I want to do another Christmas song, will you do it with me?'" Sheeran was initially hesitant about the idea, admitting that he "never really wanted to do a Christmas song." But after the death of a close friend, he decided to accept John's offer. "It really just hit home how stuff can just change overnight," Sheeran said. "I was like, 'Why the f*ck am I not doing a Christmas song with Elton John? I might not be here tomorrow, this will be a f*cking great way to celebrate Christmas.'"
When speaking to Jimmy Fallon about the festive collab earlier this month, Sheeran explained that if he was going to do a Christmas song, he wanted to do it properly: "In terms of doing a Christmas song, you need to chuck the kitchen sink at it. . . . So I said to Elton, 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.'"
The end result was "Merry Christmas," for which Sheeran wrote the chorus. "So get this," Sheeran told Fallon. "We write it, and I title it 'Merry Christmas,' and I'm like, 'We're going to have to change that title 'cause there's probably loads of songs called "Merry Christmas."' I went on Spotify, and I typed in 'Merry Christmas,' nothing. . . . There's not a song called "Merry Christmas." And then I went on YouTube and checked it out. Baffles me."
With this teaser, we officially mark it the beginning of the festive season. Love Actually, anyone?
Preorder and presave Elton John and Ed Sheeran's festive single "Merry Christmas" now.
https://ift.tt/3E7iwOK
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