The Christmas season has officially started in New York City: The Big Apple's iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was lit up Wednesday night, accompanied by songs from Kelly Clarkson, Cher, Barry Manilow and more.
Kelly actually hosted NBC's annual special Christmas In Rockefeller Center, in addition to performing festive songs like "Underneath the Tree" and "Glow" from her 2013 holiday album Wrapped In Red and "Santa Can't You Hear Me," from her 2021 collection, When Christmas Comes Around.
Cher, who just released her first holiday album, Christmas, teamed up with Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love for "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." Cher recorded a new version of the 1963 classic with Darlene for her new album because way back in 1963, she sang backup vocals on Darlene's original version. Cher also performed "DJ Play Me a Christmas Song," from the new album.
Manilow, who's starring in his own NBC holiday special, Barry Manilow's A Very Barry Christmas, on December 11, performed "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and "Because It's Christmas." David Foster and Katharine McPhee performed "Santa Baby," "Jingle Bell Rock" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" from their 2022 release, Christmas Songs, which they've expanded with seven new tracks this holiday season.
Also participating in the festivities on Wednesday night were actresses Keke Palmer, Chloe Bailey and Liz Gillies; Family Guy creator, actor and singer Seth MacFarlane; and country star Carly Pearce.
This year's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is an 80-foot-tall, 43-foot-wide Norway spruce from Vestal, New York, that'll be decked out with 50,000 LED lights.
(A previous version of this story published on 11/28/23 was missing song titles. The text above has been updated to correct the error.)