Mary J. Blige, Justin Bieber, Jose Feliciano, Jess Glynne and many more artists have recorded exclusive holiday songs for Amazon, the company announced Thursday. Fans can now hear Mary J. Blige’s take on Wham’s “Last Christmas,” Bieber’s rendition of Brenda Lee’s classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Carrie Underwood and her new, original composition “Favorite Time of Year” (also featured on her new album), British singer Jess Glynne shares her take on Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas,” and José Feliciano will soon release a reimagined version of his song “Feliz Navidad,” to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the crossover hit.
To spread holiday cheer even further, Bieber, Blige, Underwood and Katy Perry have teamed up with Amazon and its “Delivering Smiles” holiday campaign, to give back to charitable organizations and the communities they serve this season. These artists have identified non-profits including Alexandria House, Inner-City Arts, LIFT, Westchester Jewish Community Services’ Mary J. Blige Center for Women and Girls, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America, to fulfill each organization’s AmazonSmile Charity Lists and donate tens of thousands of items. This is part of a larger Delivering Smiles holiday campaign recently announced, with Amazon donating millions of items through product and monetary donations to over one thousand charities worldwide.
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ has always been one of my favorite songs to celebrate the holidays, and I’m excited to team up with Amazon Music to share my own version, with my fans,” said Justin Bieber. “I’m so thankful to be able to spend the season with loved ones, and to also use this opportunity to give back to LIFT, Inner-City Arts and Alexandria House: three incredible organizations that I’ve supported in the past. I hope my fans join me in reaching out to the communities and organizations they care about, to help spread joy to those who need it most.”
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“I’ve always loved how ‘Last Christmas’ walks the line between being upbeat and heartbroken — all while still remaining one of the catchiest holiday songs,” said Mary J. Blige. “It’s one of the most unique holiday songs, and I’m excited for my fans to hear my take on it this holiday season on Amazon Music.”
“’Favorite Time of Year’ is a joyful, super happy and fun Christmas song because it is about all of the things that make you happy this time of year, and it puts you in the mood to celebrate,” said Carrie Underwood. “I can’t help but smile when I sing it, it just brightens my day and I’m thrilled to share it today only on Amazon Music.”
“This holiday season, it’s important for us to bring our customers more reasons to smile, and to create ways for them to connect with their favorite artists while at home with family,” said Ryan Redington, VP of Music Industry at Amazon Music. “Our customers are requesting holiday music more and more each year. In the days leading up to Christmas last year, Amazon Music listeners requested holiday music more than 11 million times per day, and nearly 8,000 times per minute worldwide, and we can’t wait to see that trend continue.”
Continuing the holiday celebrations throughout December, Amazon Music will launch a new episodic video series as part of the [Re]Discover initiative on Amazon Music, the global brand developed to support artist catalogs across all music genres. The [Re]Discover series will explore the untold stories behind lasting holiday hits including, “This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love and “Feliz Navidad” by José Feliciano. Kicking off in December, the new content series will feature a mix of archival footage, animations and interviews.
