Ed Sheeran in disbelief over new Beyonce collaboration

British pop star Ed Sheeran still cannot believe he secured a feature from Beyonce for the remix of his song Perfect.

The Shape of You hitmaker released a new version of his ballad with the superstar on Thursday (30Nov17), with fans instantly heaping praise on the tune.

Ed admits he initially reached out to Beyonce about the potential project just "to see" if it's something she would even consider, particularly as the singer rarely grants collaborations.

"It's something I kinda did just to see whether she would say yes," he told News Corp Australia. "I just wanted to see what would happen. I can't believe it, to be honest."

The track, which is renamed Perfect Duet, was recorded in a studio in New York in September (17), with just one other person sitting in on the session with the pair, instead of a string of record company officials - something Ed didn't expect.

"It's a really weird thing, it was just me and her and an engineer, which was very cool," he said. "To be on-on-one with someone you respect that much and be able to craft the song the way you envision without input from anybody else... that's rare. When there are two people coming together like that, everyone has an opinion, you know?"

Ed had to keep the song a secret after the stars laid down their vocals, which occurred four months after the 26-year-old first floated the idea to the then-pregnant icon, who gave birth to twins Rumi and Sir in June (17).

Speaking backstage at KIIS-FM's iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in Los Angeles on Friday (01Dec17), he told news show Entertainment Tonight, "I have an email address I email (to get in touch with Beyonce)..., so, I emailed that and we got on the phone, and it's been in the works since May. Obviously, she had twins, and we finished (the song) in September, so I've been holding onto it since then."

He also claimed Beyonce's email address "actually changes every week".

It wasn't Ed's first professional interaction with JAY-Z's wife - the two artists previously teamed up to perform a rendition of Beyonce's Drunk in Love hit at the Global Citizen Festival in New York in 2015.