Elton John called Ed Sheeran a 'big mouth' after the singer leaked the news about a secret Christmas duet

• Elton John said Ed Sheeran was a "big mouth" for prematurely revealing a secret collaboration.
• John told the music outlet NME that he was "sworn to secrecy" about the unreleased song.

The British singer Elton John used some choice words about Ed Sheeran in a recent interview with NME after Sheeran leaked the news of a surprise Christmas duet.

Sheeran, 30, publicized the collaboration during an appearance on the Dutch radio station NPO Radio 2 earlier this month - unbeknownst to John, 74.

"Yeah, he let the cat out of the bag didn't he?" John told NME.

"I was sworn to secrecy and then big mouth fucking Sheeran goes to the Netherlands! It's supposed to come out - we haven't finished it yet, so there's still work to be done," John continued. The song has no release date or title.

Sheeran said the idea for the duet came from John, who called him last year after his song "Step Into Christmas" landed in the UK top 10 for the first time, NME reported.

"Elton rang me on Christmas Day to say Merry Christmas. Elton rings me almost every single day," he told NPO Radio 2, according to NME.

"He said, 'Step Into Christmas is Number 6 in the charts! I want to do another Christmas song - will you do it with me?'" Sheeran continued, according to the outlet.

Sheeran said that while he initially didn't feel like the song "suited me," having the opportunity to work on a track with his mentor changed his mind. "It's just me and him. It's great," Sheeran told NPO Radio 2, according to NME.

Sheeran and John have teamed up before, performing together at the 2013 Grammys. John has also spent time off-stage advising the "Bad Habits" singer under his label Rocket Music Entertainment Group.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2017, John said Sheeran reminded him of himself when he was starting out.

"And just the fact that he's got the balls to go and do that in front of 90,000 people - that takes a lot of balls," John told Rolling Stone.

He added, "That takes a lot of confidence. And he has no shortage of confidence."