Ed Sheeran and Elton John have announced details of their upcoming Christmas duet. Watch the teaser below.

The single, titled ‘Merry Christmas’, will be released on Friday, (December 3) and was announced by Sheeran in an interview with Dutch radio station NPO Radio 2.

“Elton rang me on Christmas Day to say Merry Christmas. Elton rings me almost every single day,” Sheeran said. “He said, ‘’Step Into Christmas’ is Number 6 in the charts! I want to do another Christmas song – will you do it with me?’”

Of what to expect from the song, Sheeran added: “It’s just me and him. It’s great.”

In a video inspired by Love Actually, Sheeran wrote on social media: “Last Christmas I received a call from my mate Elton John and he told me we should do a Christmas song, and I replied ‘Yeah maybe in 2022’, but I actually wrote the chorus that day and here we are.

“Our Christmas song Merry Christmas is out this Friday (December 3). It has sleigh bells… a lot of them.”

Christmas has come early ? 'Merry Christmas' by Ed and @eltonofficial is out this Friday, pre-order or pre-save it here https://t.co/LNCaJ0gJHP pic.twitter.com/oiUcdOUoCs

— Ed Sheeran HQ (@edsheeran) November 29, 2021

All UK proceeds from the Christmas track will go to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation. ‘Merry Christmas’ will be out exactly three weeks before the race for the Official Christmas Number One kicks off, hinting at the possibility of the track being a top contender.

The 2021 Official Christmas Number One race kicks off at 12.01am on December 17, until 11.59pm December 23. Other contenders include Adele, ABBA and George Ezra.

In other news, John gave an update earlier this month about the hip injury that caused him to postpone his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour in September, saying he remains in pain with restricted movement in his hip joint, which means that he currently cannot manoeuvre himself in and out of a car.

Speaking to NME about new music in a recent Big Read feature, John said: “I just think: I know all the old stuff; I love the new stuff. It’s the future I’m interested in. I’m not interested in the past – not even Elton John’s past.

“I know I have to sing what I do onstage but I very, very rarely go back and listen to my own records. I’m more interested in hearing something new.”