Merry Christmas: How Ed Sheeran And Elton John Brought Harmony To The Holidays

The recording: “If we’re going to do it, we have to chuck the kitchen sink at it”

Plans for the pair to quickly record their Christmas song in the afterglow of the holiday season were scuppered when a third COVID-19 lockdown was imposed, in January 2021. Once rules were finally relaxed at the end of March, however, Sheeran and John made up for lost time by writing three Christmas songs together. Two of them remain unreleased, but it was their first one, Merry Christmas, that they both felt had the most potential.

However, Sheeran did harbour some concerns about the song. “We’re going to have to change that title,” he told John, “because there are probably loads of songs called Merry Christmas.” In the event, due to what Sheeran called “a glitch in the matrix”, luck was on their side: “I went on Spotify and I typed in ‘Merry Christmas’ – nothing… There’s not a song called Merry Christmas. It baffled me.” Clearly, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future were smiling down upon them.

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Within a few months, Sheeran and John finally met up at Rokstone Studios, in London, with producer Steve Mac and began recording the song. “If we’re going to do it, we have to chuck the kitchen sink at it and it has to tick every single box,” Sheeran said. “It has to be sleigh bells… It has to be ding-dong church bells, it has to be mistletoe, dancing and wine.” With John’s distinctive piano tones ringing out during the intro, Sheeran’s voice shone like tinsel as he reeled off a litany of festive frolics (“Build a fire and gather ’round the tree/Fill a glass and maybe come and sing with me”).

Summoning an abundance of holiday cheer, Sheeran and John gift-wrapped Merry Christmas with Phil Spector-esque production touches, including a thumping Be My Baby-style beat, jingling chimes and a delightfully wistful choral breakdown. “I don’t really want to do a Christmas song unless we’re going in,” Sheeran later confessed to Jimmy Fallon. “It needs to be a proper Christmas song.” With lyrics that spoke of raging fires and glowing embers, Merry Christmas cheerily imparted a message of love and gratitude at a time when the world needed it more than ever.

The release: “I almost killed him with a bell…”

A year in the making, Ed Sheeran and Elton John’s spirited duet, Merry Christmas, was finally released on 3 December 2021. Selling 76,000 copies in its first week and peaking at No.1 in the UK, the song also inspired in its creators a remarkable gesture of goodwill, with all proceeds being split between Elton John’s AIDS Foundation and Ed Sheeran’s Suffolk Music Foundation.

Given that the whole world was still recovering from the ordeal of successive COVID-19 lockdowns, Merry Christmas tactfully acknowledged the toll the pandemic had taken on everyone (“I know there’s been pain this year, but it’s time to let it go”) while also offering a tribute to the death of loved ones (“While we’re here, can we all spare a thought/For the ones who have gone?”). In penning those words, Sheeran and John were not only expressing the collective grief of a those struggling with bereavement, but they were also voicing Sheeran’s own feelings following the death of his friend Michael Gudinski, who’d passed away in March 2021.

Despite those sombre lyrical touches, Merry Christmas was resolutely upbeat and optimistic, balancing its thought-provoking moments with a tongue-in-cheek spirit of playfulness and fun. The song’s music video, directed by Jason Koenig, was a festive fever dream full of gaudy knitwear that parodied scenes from Wham!’s Last Christmas and The Snowman’s Walking In The Air, while featuring a singalong with celebrity guests such as Mr Blobby, Jonathan Ross, Big Narstie, Michael McIntyre and The Darkness.

At one point during the making of the video, Sheeran got a bit too carried away and almost landed his songwriting partner in hospital. “I almost killed him with a bell…” he later admitted to Zane Lowe. “I’m dressed up as sort of sexy Santa Claus and I kick a present, but the present had a big metal bell on top of it.” Remembering how the object flew past John’s shoulder and almost “cracked him in the head”, Sheeran was visibly grateful for having avoided the ignominy of carting one of Britain’s greatest songwriters off to A&E.

Topping the UK singles chart with ease, it seemed as though Merry Christmas would see Sheeran and John score the coveted UK Christmas No.1 spot that year. However, LadBaby – YouTuber Mark Hoyle and his wife, Roxanne – had topped the charts for three years in a row with festive singles for the food-bank charity The Trussell Trust, and they had yet to announce their upcoming single. “Do not count LadBaby out,” Sheeran said as the festive face-off approached.

The LadBaby parody: “Ed and Elton might knock themselves off the top spot”

Just days after Sheeran had vouched for LadBaby in the race for Christmas No.1, it was announced that he and John had secretly teamed up with the Hoyles to record a parody of Merry Christmas, entitled Sausage Rolls For Everyone. “I’m proud to be supporting and featuring on LadBaby’s fun rework of Merry Christmas,” Sheeran said. “The Trussell Trust is a very important charity. Make sure you stream, buy and play it on repeat.”

Sporting a Christmas jumper emblazoned with the words “sausage rolls”, Sheeran stood next to Mark and Roxanne in LadBaby’s music video while John sat on a stool wearing a glammy pair of his iconic glasses. As Mark Hoyle told the Daily Mirror: “The idea that by linking up with us, Ed and Elton might knock themselves off the top spot, is what is so surprising and why no one saw it coming – a sausage roll parody of their own song that takes it to a whole new festive level!”

The legacy: “We’re honoured and excited to be coming together to help families”

Released on 17 December 2021, Sausage Rolls For Everyone did, indeed, knock Merry Christmas off the No.1 spot, allowing LadBaby to make history by equalling The Beatles’ record of having four consecutive Christmas No.1s. “Ed and Elton are pop royalty and they’ve both had huge success at Christmas,” Mark Hoyle said at the time. “So we’re honoured and excited to be coming together to help families this Christmas… with the power of sausage rolls.” Just a week later, Merry Christmas returned to the No.1 spot for a third and final week, closing out Sheeran and John’s festive coup.

Throughout that month, thanks to Merry Christmas, Ed Sheeran and Elton John had not only helped raise significant funds for charity, but they had also gifted us with a modern holiday staple that is already proving its longevity. In both 2022 and 2023, Merry Christmas re-entered the UK Top 10, and with more than 218 million Spotify streams to date, it’s highly likely that it will continue to stick around for years to come. Rarely is a song considered an instant classic from its very first listen, but Merry Christmas was immediately embraced by the public, and it continues to draw new fans with each passing year. That alone is proof that Christmas miracles do, in fact, come true.

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