Lalah Hathaway To Release ‘This Christmas’ Visual | Duet with Donny Hathaway

Five-time Grammy Award winner Lalah Hathaway will release the visual for her new version of “This Christmas,” a duet with her father Donny Hathaway, today December 7th at 9pm ET.

Directed by Phil Beaudreau & Lalah Hathaway, “This Christmas” was originally recorded by the late great Donny Hathaway.

The unreleased 1970 demo of the timeless holiday classic that serves as the foundation for this new version features a more relaxed tempo and tone than the original, as it features Donny playing acoustic piano instead of the familiar electric heard on the original. Lalah sits in with her father as they trade verses and harmonize, their voices blending flawlessly on this heartfelt version of a modern yuletide classic.

When Donny released the original version of “This Christmas” in 1970, he hoped it would be embraced as the first black Christmas carol, one authored and performed by African Americans. It took time, but the song eventually achieved a level of success that greatly exceeded his dreams. Today, “This Christmas” is the 30th most-performed holiday song of all time that continues to be heard everywhere each holiday season.

The story of how “This Christmas” became a celebrated yuletide anthem for black America is an interesting one. The tune originated in 1967 when Nadine McKinnor, a songwriting postal worker in Chicago, wrote the lyrics and melody during a historic blizzard. Three years later, her friend was decorating his home and office when it occurred to him that McKinnor should sing her songs for Hathaway. She did, and he immediately heard the potential in “This Christmas.”

In the fall of 1970, Donny Hathaway composed the music and arrangement to “This Christmas” and entered the studio to record the song with some of the city’s top musicians, including members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who play strings on the track.

In early December, “This Christmas” was released as a non-album single on Atco Records. It peaked at #11 on Billboard’s Christmas Singles chart, but its major breakthrough was still more than 20 years away. The wheels for that success were set into motion in 1991, when “This Christmas” was added to a reissue of Atco’s 1968 Soul Christmas compilation. Since then, the song’s upbeat mix of blasting horns, surging strings and Hathaway’s sweet and soulful delivery has resonated with audiences all over the world.

UB received the ultimate compliment from the legendary Lalah Hathaway, after we interviewed her in 2012; “I would just like to say thank you for such a unique, different and good interview. I’m happy to see that you did not ask me any questions about my father and his passing away. Too many interviewers focus so much on my father when asking me questions and it gets frustrating. So thank you for steering away from that.”

Stream “This Christmas” and Get Ready for The Visual!

Black Music Month: UB Flashback Interview with Lalah Hathaway