Elton John '˜paid £5 million to star' in John Lewis Christmas advert 2018Â

The pop legend has just begun his final tour Farewell Yellow Brick Road, which will bring him to the South Coast in June 2019 '“ here's how to get tickets. 

Sources close to the production of this year's John Lewis Christmas Advert told the Mail on Sunday, that the flamboyant singer's fee took up half of the £10 million budget. 

Sir Elton will reportedly play the piano in the advert and his popular 1970 track Your Song will also feature as this year's song. 

Ellie Golding previously performed a cover of Sir Elton's song for the 2010 John Lewis Christmas advert '“ and it managed to reach number two in the charts that year. 

According to reports Sir Elton was involved in four days of filming at the Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire earlier this year. 

The John Lewis Christmas advert has been an highly anticipated part of the festive season since the company wowed the country in 2007 with its '˜Shadows' campaign. 

In previous years the department store has employed lesser known artists to perform covers of more popular songs for its Christmas adverts '“ including Tom Odell, Lilly Allen and Slow Moving Millie. 

A source close to the production told the Mail on Sunday: '˜John Lewis wanted to win the battle of the Christmas adverts this year and it has cost them a significant sum to do it, but they think having Elton on board will guarantee its popularity and blow Marks & Spencer out of the water.' 

In recent years more and more companies have been joining the battle for the best Christmas advert '“ including discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl as well as Sainsbury's, who did a WW1 themed advert in 2014. 

John Lewis wowed viewers with another advert campaign '“ featuring school children performing a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody, with space ships, astronauts and Martians. 

You can watch the advert at the top of this story.