Darlene Love Returns to Letterman's Late Show this Friday, December 21

Traditions mean a lot during the holiday season, and one of my favorite holiday traditions is watching Darlene Love sing my favorite Christmas song, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), on the final Late Show before Christmas each year. This year, the final pre-Christmas Late Show will be this Friday, December 21, and Darlene's scheduled to return for the 26th year to do the honors. The song Darlene sings each year was first released on Phil Spector's 1963 classic A Christmas Gift for You, which means that Darlene's been singing it for 49 years – and somehow she just sounds better each year. In a separate Late Show tradition, actor Jay Thomas will return that same night to compete with Dave in the ritual quarterback challenge and to share one of the funniest stories ever involving the Lone Ranger's ride with two completely unqualified chaperones. If you haven't seen either of these features before, you'd do well to check them out. If you have, you'll want to stay up late or set your DVR for sure.

Here's Darlene's version of the song from last year's broadcast:

And here's a clip that captures Darlene's recent induction into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, including the induction presentation by Bette Middler:

I'll be watching on Friday. Hope you can enjoy it, too!