Justin Bieber helped Diplo realise dreams of working with Ed Sheeran

Justin Bieber helped Diplo realise his ambition of creating a song with Ed Sheeran after years of failed attempts.

Justin features on the new track by the rapper and producer's electronica group Major Lazer, titled Cold Water, which was co-written and co-produced with Ed and his long-time collaborator Benny Blanco.

The 37-year-old musician admits he spent years trying to organise a hook up with the Thinking Out Loud singer, but could never find the right song.

After creating Cold Water together with Ed and Benny, Diplo, real name Thomas Wesley Pentz, was sceptical about approaching Justin to appear on the track, telling Rolling Stone magazine, "It was spontaneous, no one thought it would work."

However he was delighted when the 22-year-old pop superstar, who has previously teamed with Diplo's other side-project Jack U, loved the song so much he agreed to help out, allowing him to achieve his long held ambition of working with the British tunesmith.

"I had been trying to link with Benny Blanco and Ed Sheeran for years to find the right song we could all work on together and the moment I heard this one, I knew that it was the one," he says. "The timing was perfect and when we approached Justin, he was also in love with the song we all had written."

The song also features vocals from the Danish singer MO, who is a close pal of Diplo and features on Major Lazer's 2015 smash hit Lean On.

Of her involvement he adds, "I thought it would be interesting to incorporate another vocal and seeing she's family, I reached out to MO and we decided to try our best to make something fresh and interesting as Major Lazer."

The song, which is released on Friday (22Jul16), could provide some clues as to Ed's future musical direction, as he's rumoured to be in the early stages of creating his new album with Benny.

Earlier this month (Jul16) the pair took a trip on a cruise liner from New York on which Ed reportedly booked a conference room in order to work on new material.