Ed Sheeran and Elton John team up for the Christmas song of the year, simply titled ‘Merry Christmas’, alongside a video which parodies some of the most iconic festive videos ever filmed.
The video sees Ed and Elton in a festive setting with matching Gucci tracksuits, before launching into a montage of Christmassy scenes such as a snowball fight inspired by Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’, a snowman flight a la ‘We’re Walking in the Air’ and a band all dressed like Wizzard in the vein of ‘I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday’.
We even had Ed pretending to be East 17 in ‘Stay Another Day’ with (inexplicably) Jonathan Ross, Michael McIntyre and Big Narstie, and both Ed and Elton enjoyed a sleigh ride reminiscent of Shakin' Stevens’ ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’. Though probably the most amusing moment of all was Ed doing a camp little dance in a sexy Santa outfit.
The song is Ed’s first Christmas anthem, but Elton has long been established among the festive classics thanks to 1973’s ‘Step into Christmas’. ‘Merry Christmas’ is not on the same level as the greats, but it’s all for a good cause. All the proceeds from sales of the single will go to Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.