Sir Elton John is stepping into Christmas with Irish pop star CMAT by releasing a new version of his much-loved festive hit.
The British icon announced that a fresh take of his 1973 single, “Step into Christmas”, will be this year’s Amazon Music Original Christmas song, having last charted with the track at Number Seven on the UK Singles Chart last year.
Written by Sir Elton and his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin as a thank-you to fans, the track originally peaked at Number 24 on the Official Singles Chart in January 1974 and has since gone on to become a permanent favourite during the holiday season.
The news of his duet with CMAT comes after the streaming platform saw huge success with Kylie Minogue’s exclusive track, “XMAS”, which triumphed as the 2025 UK Christmas Number One.
“I’ve loved CMAT since I first heard her and saw her videos years ago. She has this incredible personality and a wicked sense of humour,” Sir Elton said in a statement.
“You can tell she has rock and roll and country, and Americana, at the heart of what she does – we’re kindred spirits in so many ways, and that’s why I was so thrilled with the idea of us collaborating on Step Into Christmas. She’s done an amazing job.”
CMAT, whose real name is Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, said: “When I listen to the music of Elton John, I am seven years old in the back of my mam’s car. It doesn’t matter how old or famous I become – whenever I listen to Elton John I will always be seven years old in the back of my mam’s car.
“Reconciling this feeling with the reality of getting to work with the man in question has been confusing to say the least, but the greatest joy of my life.”
She continued: “Christmas is my absolute favourite thing in the world, second maybe only to Elton John. I would like to invite the whole world to step into Christmas with us and make your yuletide dreams come true.”
CMAT had been teasing the single with a number of Instagram posts showing her dressing up as Sir Elton, which she posted earlier this week after Halloween.
CMAT, 30, won the Best Album prize at this year’s Ivor Novello Awards for her third LP Euro-Country, which was released last year to critical acclaim and also shortlisted for the 2025 Mercury Prize.
The Irish singer is best known for songs such as “Take A Sexy Picture Of Me”, “When A Good Man Cries” and “Running/Planning”.
Sir Elton has made bids for the Christmas Number One before, including his 2021 collaboration with Ed Sheeran, “Merry Christmas”. The song debuted at Number One in December that year but was bumped from the official Christmas Number One spot by “Sausage Rolls for Everyone”, the charity single by LadBaby that also featured Sheeran and Sir Elton.
The new song will be available to stream exclusively on Amazon Music from Thursday.
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