Darlene Love continued a decades-old late-night Christmas tradition Thursday night as she brought “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for the show’s final episode of 2025.
It was Love’s second year in a row performing the song on Fallon’s Tonight Show, following a ten-year late-night break after Late Show with David Letterman closed up shop in 2015. (Her final Letterman performance came during the last Late Show Christmas episode in December 2014.)
As she was last year, Love was joined by Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul (Steven Van Zandt’s band), as well as Paul Shaffer, with whom she’d performed the song annually on Letterman’s late-night shows.
Shaffer held court on the piano while Love and Van Zandt delivered a rollicking version of the Christmas classic.
Love’s late-night Christmas tradition began on Late Night with David Letterman in 1986. After Letterman took his show to CBS, his Late Show made Love’s performance an annual affair.
“I’m so honored and excited to have been asked back for a second year to perform my #1 holiday classic, ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),’ alongside my dear friends Steven Van Zandt, Paul Shaffer, and the Disciples of Soul,” Love wrote on Facebook after taping the appearance late Thursday.
“A heartfelt thank you to Jimmy Fallon and the incredible production crew and team at Fallon for always rolling out the red carpet,” she added. “I love you all!”
Watch Darlene Love’s complete 2025 late-night performance of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” at the top of this post.
