"The Joker and the Queen" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, taken from his fifth studio album, =, that was released on 29 October 2021 by Asylum and Atlantic Records.
Sheeran wrote and produced the song with Johnny McDaid, Fred, and Sam Roman. A duet version of the song, featuring American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, was released on 11 February 2022 as the album's fourth single.
The single is a slow-paced folk ballad driven by a cinematic piano, waltz tempo, and 1950s-inspired strings. It marks the fourth collaboration between Sheeran and Swift, following "Everything Has Changed" (2012), "End Game" (2017), and "Run" (2021).
An accompanying music video, casting the actors from the music video of "Everything Has Changed", was released on 11 February 2022 as well; "The Joker and the Queen" video is a sequel.
The single has charted at number two in Japan and the UK, number three in Singapore, number five in Ireland, Lithuania and Malaysia, number 11 in Australia, Belgium, and Vietnam, number 12 in Canada, number 15 in the Philippines, and number 19 in Hong Kong and Switzerland.