Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding reveal why they like working together

They're a good team!

Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding
Author: Anna Sky MagliolaPublished 11th Mar 2023
Last updated 19 minutes ago

Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding have topped the charts over the last decade or so - both individually and as a collaborative pair. With hits like 'Burn' and 'How Long Will I Love You' for Ellie and 'One Kiss' and 'Blessings' for Calvin, there's a huge amount of talent between the two of them.

So it's no surprise really that such a creative couple of musicians would make pretty sensational music together, too. Here's everything you need to know about Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding's collaborations together.

How many songs have Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding done together?

The pair have released a total of four hits together: 'I Need Your Love' (2013), 'Outside' (2014), 'Miracle' (2023) and 'Free' (2024).

Why do Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris like working together?

Ellie and Calvin came in to Hits Radio for an interview with Fleur East and James Barr back in 2023, and Fleur asked them just that - wanting to know the secret to them working together, and why they think it works.

Calvin revealed Ellie has the: "Three good things about working with somebody," going on to explain she has: "A spectacular unique voice and delivery that can carry a song emotionally, and you’re a laugh!"

Ellie then added: "I feel like we just have a 'thing', I don’t know what it is, it’s hard to explain."

With Calvin opening up further: "It’s one of them, you just work with someone and it works several times, and it’s just easy in the studio and it’s not awkward, which frequently with me, it can be. It just flows and you get the best out of each other, it’s one of them."

'I Need Your Love'

The duo first worked together back in 2013 on 'I Need Your Love'. The song was released as a single on 2nd April 2013 and went to Number 4 in the UK, later being certified Platinum in the UK with over 600,000 sales.

It appeared on Calvin's seismic 2012 album '18 Months', and as a bonus track on Ellie's 'Halcyon', released in the same year. 'I Need Your Love' received two nominations at the BRIT Awards 2014 for British Single of the Year and British Video of the Year.

The music video, directed by Emil Nava, set tongues wagging and rumours flying that Calvin and Ellie were in a relationship, as the video is filmed from the perspective of a camcorder and follows the fictional pair on a romantic holiday.

'Outside'

It was obviously a relationship that worked well quickly, as the pair waited only a year before releasing their next duet. 'Outside' was released as a single on 20th October 2014, having appeared on Calvin's 2014 album 'Motion' and the deluxe edition of Ellie's 2015 record 'Delirium'.

'Miracle'

joined Fleur East, James Barr and Producer Matt to celebrate the release of their new collaboration 'Miracle'. The new song is a banger, and is the third time the pair have worked together, with their previous hits 'I Need Your Love' and 'Outside' both reaching the Top 10 in the UK.

Before the release of their song, Ellie revealed 'Miracle' was the highest chorus she's had to sing and she explained in the interview why she chose to sing it so high.

Ellie told the Forth 1 team: "The trick is always singing a bit higher, you know something else that’s a bit higher and just keep doing it." She went on to explain she doesn't want to lose the ability to sing higher: "If I keep singing consistently higher it’s like muscle memory, so it will just be there."

'Free'

Unreleased Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding song

Having first worked together a decade ago, we wanted to know if there were any other collabs they've recorded, and there are.... 👀

Calvin revealed that the pair did in fact record another song together, but: "It wasn’t good enough, only the good ones come out."

Ellie then chimed in that Calvin had told her that her part was good, but it was only two or three lines. So sadly it looks like we won't hear that collab on the radio any time soon!

You can hear Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding' on the Forth 1 playlist.

Now read:

Calvin Harris: Does the DJ/producer sing his own songs?

Everything you need to know about Calvin Harris

The inspirations behind some of Ellie Goulding's biggest songs from 'Starry Eyed' to 'Burn'

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