Elton John and CMAT Team Up for ‘Step Into Christmas’ in Bid for the 2026 Christmas Number One

LONDON — The race for the 2026 UK Christmas No. 1 has its first serious contender, and it is a song older than most of the chart it hopes to top. Sir Elton John, 79, has teamed up with Irish singer-songwriter CMAT for a new duet version of “Step Into Christmas”, released today, Thursday 5 November 2026, exclusively on Amazon Music as this year’s Amazon Music Original Christmas song. The reimagining combines stems taken from Elton’s original 1973 recording with new strings and CMAT’s vocals — a 53-year-old performance, quite literally, singing alongside a star from another century of pop.

The collaboration was teased before it was confirmed. On Wednesday 4 November, Elton posted a short social media clip showing a doll of CMAT hanging on a Christmas tree — the kind of cryptic, playful hint that sent both artists’ fanbases into speculation overnight. The official announcement followed today with the release itself, and with it the clearest possible statement of intent: Amazon’s Christmas Original slot is not a novelty berth. It is a launchpad aimed directly at the top of the festive chart.

“WE’RE KINDRED SPIRITS”

Speaking about the collaboration in the Amazon announcement, Elton John left no doubt about why he chose CMAT as his partner for the record: “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… 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 — born Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson — answered in terms that explain why the pairing works on record as well as on paper: “When I listen to the music of Elton John, I am 7 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 7 years old in the back of my mam’s car… Christmas is my absolute favourite thing in the world, second maybe only to Elton John.” It is, as endorsements go, about as wholehearted as a duet partner can offer: the younger artist is not covering a classic at arm’s length, but stepping inside a song that formed her.

A SONG THAT REFUSES TO RETIRE

The original “Step Into Christmas” was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin as a thank-you to fans, and first released in November 1973. Its initial chart run was modest — it peaked at No. 24 in January 1974 — but the song’s second life has long since eclipsed its first. It has now spent 42 non-consecutive weeks in the UK Top 40, returning December after December, and over Christmas 2025 it climbed to a new all-time peak of No. 7, more than half a century after it was recorded. Few festive standards are still improving on their own chart history in their sixth decade; “Step Into Christmas” is one of them, which is precisely what makes it the right vehicle for a No. 1 bid. The audience is already there. It only needs a reason to arrive earlier and stay longer.

WHY THE AMAZON SLOT MATTERS

The strongest evidence for the strategy sits in last year’s chart. The 2025 UK Christmas No. 1 was “XMAS” by Kylie Minogue — itself an Amazon Music Original. That result demonstrated that an exclusive streaming release, backed by a major platform campaign, can beat the perennial catalogue favourites and the charity singles to the festive summit. Amazon has now handed the same platform to an artist pairing with a built-in story: the elder statesman of British pop and one of its most charismatic rising songwriters, performing a song that reached a new peak only last Christmas. The Official Christmas Number 1 for 2026 will be revealed on Friday 25 December on BBC Radio 1, covering chart week 18–24 December — which means the campaign that began with a doll on a tree on 4 November has seven weeks to run.

A FESTIVE SEASON STARTING EARLY

The Elton and CMAT release does not arrive in isolation. The 2026 festive season is opening earlier and bigger than usual on both sides of the Atlantic: in the United States today, Olivia Rodrigo releases “Take Me Home (4 Christmas)”, her first-ever Christmas song, with a video starring Cynthia Nixon and Ben Marshall. Between a Rodrigo debut, an Elton revival and the usual December catalogue surge, the Christmas chart is shaping up as a contest between generations — and, notably, between brand-new songs and half-century-old ones given new voices.

Analysis — Christmas No. 1 campaigns are usually won on narrative as much as music, and this one has narrative to spare: the 1973 master tape brought out of the vault, the superstar who has championed CMAT for years, the singer for whom Elton’s music is quite literally the sound of childhood car rides. The risk in any such reimagining is reverence — a remake so careful it adds nothing. Combining the original stems with new strings and a second, very different voice is the smart way around it: the record Elton’s audience remembers is still there underneath, while CMAT’s presence gives it somewhere new to go. Whether it tops the chart on 25 December now depends on seven weeks of streaming, playlists and word of mouth. But as opening moves in a Christmas No. 1 race go, this is about as strong as they come.

Source note: This original BuzzDaily report is based on the Amazon Press Center announcement of 5 November 2026 and on reporting by Official Charts (November 2026), the Glasgow Times (5 November 2026) and Far Out Magazine (5 November 2026). The quotations from Elton John and CMAT are from the Amazon announcement as published by Amazon Press Center and Official Charts on 5 November 2026. Chart history for the original “Step Into Christmas” — written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin as a thank-you to fans, released November 1973, initially peaking at No. 24 in January 1974, 42 non-consecutive weeks in the Top 40 and a new peak of No. 7 over Christmas 2025 — is as reported by Official Charts. The 2025 Christmas No. 1 (“XMAS” by Kylie Minogue, an Amazon Music Original), the 4 November social media teaser and the 25 December 2026 BBC Radio 1 reveal for chart week 18–24 December are as reported by the same sources. The closing assessment is BuzzDaily’s own analysis. Hero photograph: Sir Elton John performing at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2023, via Wikimedia Commons under a CC BY 2.0 licence (file photo).