Photo: The View/Disney
A Christmas visit from Darlene Love is becoming an annual gift for viewers of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Jimmy Fallon will continue a tradition that late-night legend David Letterman began by inviting Love to ring in the holidays with a song next week, marking the singer’s third overall appearance on Fallon’s Tonight Show.
Love will perform “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on the show next Thursday, December 18. Just like one year prior, she’ll be backed by Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul (fronted by her frequent collaborator Steven Van Zandt) and longtime Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer.
“I’m soooooo excited to announce that I’ve been invited back to perform my #1 holiday classic,” Love announced in a Facebook post.
“This performance is always such a joy,” she added. “Can’t wait to bring the holiday magic back to Fallon!”
The performance will also mark Shaffer’s first time back on The Tonight Show since his week-long stint as substitute bandleader back in February.
Love began performing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” for Letterman in 1986, during the host’s run on NBC’s Late Night. Though she returned several times, the performance truly became an annual affair when Letterman moved to CBS to sire The Late Show. Beginning in 1994, Love guested on that show nearly every December for its entire run.
The tradition died when Letterman left The Late Show, though he revived it for his YouTube channel in 2023.
In early 2024, Love revealed she had hoped to restart the tradition on Fallon’s Tonight Show, but had been given “the runaround” by the NBC program. Later that year, The Tonight Show invited Love to perform the song in studio for the first time.
While Love’s encore comes exactly one year after her last visit, this year’s scheduling points to The Tonight Show truly evoking the tradition Letterman began. Upped from playing the show’s penultimate holiday season episode it 2024, Love will perform the last show before Christmas this year—matching the scheduling she was given throughout her run with Letterman. (Last year, The Tonight Show rang in Christmas with Fallon and The Roots performing “Hey Rudy” off of his then-new holiday album, Holiday Seasoning.)
While Love is confirmed to be performing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” it’s possible another song will be thrown into the mix as well. Her Tonight Show visit comes just one day after the 20th anniversary of the classic Saturday Night Live short “Christmastime for the Jews,” for which Love provided vocals. This summer, the singer suggested she mark the occasion by performing the song live on either SNL or The Tonight Show.
“I’m 83, tomorrow isn’t promised, but today l’m alive, healthy, and still blessed with the voice and the passion to perform,” she wrote at the time. “Let’s make this anniversary unforgettable!”
