By Denny Patterson

Grammy Award winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love has long been recognized as one of the greatest singers of all time. 

Known as the definitive voice of the 1960s girl group The Blossoms and a hand-picked favorite of legendary producer Phil Spector, Love has captivated audiences worldwide with her warm, gracious stage presence and sensational performances. She has launched dozens of hits including “He’s a Rebel,” “Wait Til My Bobby Gets Home,” and her signature holiday classic, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”

On December 12, 2021, the music icon will bring these classics and more for a one-night only holiday performance at The Parker Playhouse. Love has been performing her annual Christmas tour for the last 25 years, and it’s a rock’ celebration you won’t want to miss. 

She took some time to talk more about the upcoming performance with OutClique, why Christmas is so special to her, and recently performing at the 2021 Tony Awards. 

Denny Patterson: Hi, Darlene! Thank you for taking some time to chat with me about your annual Christmas production, Love for the Holidays. What do you always look forward to the most about it?
Darlene Love: I always look forward to the Christmas songs, especially my favorite, my fans’ favorite, and David Letterman’s favorite, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” I only do it at Christmas time, and it’s amazing because my fans try to get me to do it at other times.

DP: You will be doing a performance of that song in-studio this year on The View?
DL: Yes. I will be in-studio this year. The last time we pre-recorded it was during my Christmas pay-per-view.

DP: How did Love for the Holidays initially begin? What’s its origin story?

DL: When we performed all the Christmas songs from the Phil Spector Christmas album at The Bottom Line back in 1996, we didn’t even realize that we were doing a Christmas show [laughs]. We had Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, The Crystals, The Ronettes, and we did it for about a month. My publicist then said, ‘you should put a Christmas show together.’ We did about two years later, but that same year, 1996, I was on The David Letterman Show, and people started to write in, ‘Does Miss Love do a Christmas show?’ I wasn’t just singing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” but also the five others I did on the Christmas album. So, appearing on The David Letterman Show is what actually started it, and it took a while for it to catch on. I hadn’t done any tours as Darlene Love. As a background singer, yes, but nothing solo. We began doing a few shows around New York, and then New Jersey, but that was about as far as it went. I think people thought I was born in New Jersey because that’s where I did the bulk of my Christmas shows, and they were huge. When producers found out I was doing Christmas shows, they were like, why don’t you come to Connecticut? Why don’t you come here and there? It spread like a domino effect, and now I have been doing a Christmas tour for the last 25 years. 

DP: Now that this has become a yearly tradition, how do you keep each performance fresh and exciting?

DL: I have been so blessed to be able to still have my voice, and I don’t believe in doing a show 50 percent. I will always do the best show that I can do. I give 100 percent, and more, and I think that’s what people love when they come to see me. They’re like, wow. They have no idea that I have that much energy at my age and I can still really perform. I recently talked to Gladys Knight, and she talked about how she just loves performing. I am the same way. I love doing my show. I told my husband, when this starts to feel like a job, that’s when it is time to quit.

DP: How do you typically spend Christmas, and what makes it such a special holiday to you?

DL: I was raised in a Christian family, and Christmas time is a big tradition in Christian homes. My father was a pastor, so we always celebrated. We had Christmas programs ever since I could remember, we did plays about baby Jesus and when he was born, so it was always a very special time to us. If you told me when I was 10 years old that I would be singing a Darlene Love Christmas song today, I would have been like, you’re kidding! Christmas is even more special to me now because I can do what I feel. I can get on the stage, sing all my Christmas songs, and bring the audiences into my life because it is something I have always celebrated. It is also a time of giving. My husband and I decided a few years ago, since all our children are grown, and we give to them and our friends all year long, at Christmas time, we would go out and give to the neighborhoods and people that are homeless. The last couple years, we have been going out and just handing wonderful cash out to people, which they can use. They don’t need a toy. So, Christmas has turned into a whole nother being for my husband and I. We get so much joy out of doing it. If I could do that all year long, that would be a wonderful thing.