Olly Murs and The Ordinary Boys reunite on festive tune Christmas Starts Tonight
Olly Murs and Sam Preston have reimagined Run This Town into the festive tune Christmas Starts Tonight.
Olly Murs is ringing in the holiday season with a brand-new collaboration alongside The Ordinary Boys frontman Sam Preston.
Their latest release, Christmas Starts Tonight, arrives just in time for December and reimagines Olly’s earlier track Run This Town as a full-blown festive anthem.
The single continues Olly’s long-standing creative partnership with Sam, who first worked with the singer on the chart-topping hit Heart Skips A Beat. The fun track blends Olly’s trademark pop energy with The Ordinary Boys’ indie flair.
Reflecting on the song’s journey, Olly explained how the track evolved from a forgotten demo into a Christmas highlight: “It began as a demo of ‘Run This Town’ that never quite found its moment. Fast forward to 2025, and it ends up on my new album. I perform it on Strictly, and suddenly, I’m hearing it as a Christmas song. So I sent Sam a message and somehow we’ve turned it into a full-on festive anthem and properly reconnected in the process.”
Sam echoed the excitement, describing the release as a “small seasonal miracle”: “Born from the bones of ‘Run This Town’, a tune that had been languishing in a dusty folder on Olly’s phone for fifteen years, it has finally been granted a new life as a Yuletide anthem.”
Ska song Run This Town featured on Olly's Top 5 album Knees Up, released in November, but he recorded the track during the sessions for his self-titled 2010 debut album.
He said: “This song’s been with me since my first album back in 2010. I’ve always loved it, but it never quite found the right moment… until now.
"It’s got that Madness-style energy that I’ve always wanted to tap into. When I started working on the ‘Knees Up’ album late last year with the style of songs I was writing it finally felt like the right time to bring it to life and add it to the mix. I’ve wanted to release this one for years and now it’s time!”
