NEWS
Ed Sheeran and Elton John pose backstage during the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards at the STAPLES Center on Feb. 9, 2013 in Los Angeles.
Kevin WinterEd Sheeran and Elton John are teaming up to give fans a new holiday song for their festive playlists.
After teasing the release of Christmas music, the English musicians announced Monday (Nov. 29) that their new song “Merry Christmas” will be released on Friday. In addition, the duo revealed in a joint Instagram post that all U.K. profits from the song this holiday season will go to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
The post features a video of Sheeran doing his best Love Actually impression, borrowing the famous scene where Andrew Lincoln’s Mark silently professes his love to Keira Knightley’s Juliet with romantic cue cards. This time, though, Sheeran is just announcing his and John’s “Merry Christmas” song.
The pair posted a second joint post, in which John and Sheeran shared a sneak peek of the corresponding video for the track, which contained a short snippet of the song. “Filled up with so much love/ All our family and friends are together where we all belong/ Merry Christmas, everyone,” the 71- and 30-year-old are heard singing. “This was an absolute blast! Our music video for ‘Merry Christmas’ is coming this Friday,” they captioned the post.
During Sheeran’s Nov. 8 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he revealed that John, who recently released a hit collaborative album The Lockdown Sessions, pitched him a Christmas duet idea. The collaborators would later go on to write three Christmas songs together.
“I’ve always been quite against it,” Sheeran recalled. “Not that I don’t like Christmas, I love Christmas, but in terms of doing a Christmas song, you need to chuck the kitchen sink at it.”
John already has a holiday hit under his belt: “Step Into Christmas” topped Billboard‘s Christmas Singles chart in 1973 and also hit the top 10 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart that same year.
See John and Sheeran’s new posts below.
MUNA have officially shared full details of their long awaited fourth studio album, Dancing On The Wall, which is scheduled to arrive on May 8.
The news comes with the release of the record’s title track and its accompanying official video, giving fans their first real look at what the trio’s new chapter sounds and feels like.
To mark the occasion, the group are planning a run of intimate underplay performances in Los Angeles, New York and London during release week. It will be a special opportunity to catch MUNA up close before they step back onto larger stages later this year.
Opening up about the project, the band described the title song as a standout moment within their body of work.
They shared: “Dancing On The Wall is possibly our favorite song we’ve made as a band. We think it’s all the best parts of MUNA – it’s coming from a really emotional and lonely place, but the song itself makes us feel powerful and euphoric. It’s written in the moment that the clock strikes midnight at the ball, and you have to give up the fantasy. In this case, it’s the fantasy of loving someone or something that can’t love you back.”
The 13 song album was produced by Naomi McPherson, allowing the band to take full creative ownership of the sound and direction. It is a project that pulls listeners straight to the dancefloor while still keeping its vulnerability front and center.
MUNA, made up of Katie Gavin and Josette Maskin alongside McPherson, have continued to build momentum over the years and were personally chosen by Harry Styles as the opening act for his first solo tour. Since then, they have also performed with Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour, in addition to sharing bills with Lorde, boygenius and Phoebe Bridgers.
Dancing On The Wall follows their 2022 self titled album, which marked their first release as independent artists after signing to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records in 2021.
Fans can stream the title track across all major platforms now. For tickets to MUNA’s upcoming shows, visit laylo.com/whereismuna/m/munatour.
Dancing On The Wall tracklisting:
It Gets So Hot
Dancing On The Wall
Eastside Girls
Wannabeher
On Call
So What
Party’s Over
Big Stick
Mary Jane
Girl’s Girl
…Unless
Why Do I Get A Good Feeling
Buzzkiller
