For 28 years, it was a holiday tradition for Darlene Love to perform her signature hit “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on David Letterman’s late night shows, but that all came to an end when he went off air in 2015. Now, they’ve reunited for Letterman’s YouTube channel to pick up where they left off.
Before Love sang “Christmas” with accompaniment from Letterman’s longtime band leader Paul Shaffer on piano, they all had a chat about the tradition. Letterman also asked Love about recently performing the song with Cher during the Rockefeller Center tree lighting special.
This prompted Love to air out her feelings about never being asked to play the song solo for the annual ceremony. “Do you know they wouldn’t hire me for that?” she said, noting that other artists have performed the track instead.
Letterman responded with disbelief, saying “That’s bullshit, and I hope I haven’t ruined anyone’s holiday.” Love added that Cher echoed those same thoughts.
On a more positive note, Love said performing with Cher was a full-circle moment. When Love recorded the first version of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” in 1963, Cher sang background vocals. Love would return the favor six decades later, duetting on Cher’s version of the song for a 2023 Christmas album.
Later in the conversation, Love thanked Letterman for his role in advancing her career. “David, I want you to know you are the reason that my career took off,” she said, “because I really wasn’t working that much.” At a time when Love was “really trying to get this solo career going,” appearing on Letterman every year helped her get more work.
Watch Love belt out “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” with Shaffer and three backup singers below.
In the years since Love last played “Christmas” on Late Show with David Letterman in 2014, she has moved the annual performance to ABC’s daytime talk show The View, but it didn’t feel the same. Hopefully, Love and Letterman can carry the tradition forward from here on out.
Letterman recently returned to the Late Show as a guest, with The National performing at his request. He later released a 27-minute-long conversation with The National’s Matt Berninger in which they talked about creativity and depression. Next year, Letterman is set to appear at Netflix Is a Joke Fest.
