Cher Sang Backup on This Classic Christmas Song
Cher didn’t release an album of Christmas songs until this year. Despite this, she performed vocals on the best Christmas song of the rock ‘n’ roll era. She revealed what it was like to revisit that career milestone.
Cher said her new album of Christmas songs doesn’t have ‘Christmas Christmas songs’
2023 saw the release of Cher’s first Christmas album, which is simply titled Christmas. During a 2023 interview with Billboard, the “I Got You Babe” singer took pride in the album. “They’re not ‘Christmas Christmas’ songs, OK, they’re just great songs,” Cher said. “And I never say that because I almost never like what I do. But I mean people love it and I’m happy.”
It makes perfect sense that Cher would record Christmas songs, as she sang backup on Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” That classic track became a standard, inspiring renditions by Mariah Carey, U2, and Michael Bublé. Phil Spector’s production on “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” clearly influenced more recent Christmas songs, such as Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree.”
The album Christmas features a new version of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Cher featuring Love. In the liner notes for the record, the “Believe” singer had some glowing things to say about Love. “Singing with you — ‘one of the greatest singers ever’ — is a special kind of miracle,” she said. “Just think, I was 17 when I sang background on this song … I’m still so in awe of you! Now we’ve come full circle.”
How Cher got Darlene Love to record the song with her
Love discussed how the collaboration came together. “Very rarely do I get a chance to talk to her on the phone, I usually talk to her in person somewhere when we run into each other,” Love said. “And she said, ‘Hey, doll!’ I hadn’t talked to her in so long I said, ‘This is who?’ and she said ‘Cher, b****!'” Love thought this exchange was hilarious.
While Love originated the song, she was still happy to rerecord it with Cher. “I was so humbled that she wanted to sing, ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’ with me,” she recalled. “Between the two of us, I don’t know who was more excited.”
How ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’ performed
While it’s become a seasonal favorite, appearing in films like Gremlins and Sing 2, Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” didn’t hit the Billboard Hot 100 when it first came out in 1963. The tune reached No. 15 in 2018, staying on the chart for 20 weeks.
The tune appeared on the record A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records, more commonly known as A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. That record includes several radio staples, including The Ronettes’ covers of “Frosty the Snowman” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” If there’s a Pet Sounds of holiday music, it’s A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector.
Cher helped Love create a masterpiece and, all these years later, it’s still a Yuletide favorite.
