Ed Sheeran and Elton John have announced details of their upcoming Christmas duet, named ‘Merry Christmas’. But when will it be released and where will proceeds from the single go? Here’s what you need to know. When will Ed Sheeran and Elton John’s Christmas song be released? The single, titled ‘Merry Christmas’, will be released on Friday 3 December. Ed shared the news on Instagram, sharing a Love Actually inspired video with the caption: “Our song ‘Merry Christmas’ is out this Friday. Link in bio to pre-order it or pre-save it. All UK proceeds from this year’s Christmas period will go to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation (www.essmf.com) and the Elton John AIDS Foundation (@ejaf ).” Elton John also confirmed all the details with a post on Twitter featuring Ed doing that famous doorstep scene from the iconic Christmas. He wrote: "Just under a year ago, I called @edsheeran to see if he wanted to make a Christmas single with me and now it’s nearly here!" "‘Merry Christmas’ will be out Fri 3 Dec with all proceeds from this year’s Christmas period going to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation & @ejaf.” In a video inspired by Love Actually, Sheeran holds up cards saying: “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.” You can pre-order or pre-save the single now. Where will proceeds from the song go? All UK proceeds from the Christmas song will go to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Could it be Christmas number one? The song will be released exactly two weeks before the race for the Official Christmas Number One kicks off, which means the track could be a contender for the number one spot. The 2021 Official Christmas Number One race kicks off at 12.01am on 17 December until 11.59pm 23 December, with other contenders including Adele, ABBA and George Ezra.