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The Kelce Brothers' Christmas Jam: A Philly Special Holiday Hit!
Forget the "Kelce Bowl"—Jason and Travis Kelce are taking over the Holiday Music scene! This incredibly popular duo are known for more than just their football prowess. They now sing holiday tunes! And their new song, "It's Christmas Time (in Cleveland Heights)," is already creating major buzz! It’s from the third Eagles holiday album, A Philly Special Christmas Party, an album intended to create significant amounts of charitable support that these teams are known to actively support. The song, dropped on November 1st, officially launches the holiday season, starting with an incredibly notable duo in the NFL scene; something unheard of prior to this particular development, although, other very notable collaborations with pop-stars already exist.
Written by Zach Miller (keyboard player for Dr. Dog), the song is a super nostalgic tune about their Ohio hometown, perfectly embodying that melancholic-yet-upbeat Christmas spirit reminiscent of classic tracks like "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The lyrics, a really personal touch showing just how deep this artistic effort went; highlighting their feelings on spending holidays away from that very nostalgic Ohio town where both spent those key, initial years, completely adding additional value beyond their celebrity appeal, which would alone easily create success for their new artistic effort, it remains clear that these deeper emotional attachments that make this holiday-themed project, more successful beyond other collaborations.
And get this: the song also features the legendary Boyz II Men! Their smooth vocals add a stunning layer to the Kelce brothers' already emotional performance! This truly highlights the level of this collaboration, something unheard of previously: These extremely notable artists, across drastically different musical industries. A massively talented, yet quite diverse set of performers come together for this Christmas project; creating that unexpected appeal from this collaboration of those artists, adding incredible appeal which also would draw viewers for that name recognition and the value of the artists performing here. Jason Kelce even said: “When I found out it was even a possibility to have them on the song, it was unreal...Boyz II Men are probably the biggest names I’ve ever sang with." He is not lying.
Miller, who grew up listening to Boyz II Men’s 1991 debut album Cooleyhighharmony, calls it a "full circle" moment! It truly showcases those nostalgic sentiments, creating yet another level of value for viewers familiar with these incredibly famous musical performers across wildly different eras!
This project goes even beyond musical collaboration; creating charity drives as part of its ongoing projects; which emphasizes how deeply socially and ethically invested these individuals actually are. A Philly Special Christmas Party is the third holiday album from Jason Kelce and his former Eagles teammates, Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata. All proceeds from these projects, which includes that $3 million raised last year, goes directly to several charitable efforts around Philadelphia, the town this group call home. That alone could garner a lot of appeal. This is yet another element used to garner audience attention and could be why so many fans remained engaged across multiple album launches; the inclusion of socially valuable projects such as supporting children's healthcare increases the emotional ties to the projects involved here.
Previous albums featured artists such as Stevie Nicks and Amos Lee, demonstrating the significant appeal from including larger, better known performers in that genre; those collaborations only enhance this effort. Even this latest album included performers like Mt. Joy and Devon Gilfillian, showing that larger, cross-genre efforts were key.
Those musical foundations really set an impressive theme: It turns out that "It's Christmas Time (in Cleveland Heights)" used musical elements taken directly from the theme music for The New Heights Podcast; an insanely popular NFL podcast hosted by the Kelce brothers! The theme is even described by other members involved, as having some seriously interesting characteristics that were later reimagined into a very unique sound which captures both performers' distinctive styles yet remains unique to this Christmas collaboration, a really great element in the track.
This unexpected link creates a super cool connection to another project from these very artists. This is especially notable for Travis, who initially thought his vocals on "Fairytale of Philadelphia" were totally underwhelming (it turned into a No. 1 iTunes hit thanks in part to Taylor Swift's massive fan base!), yet both he and his brother appear incredibly optimistic and excited to continue their collaboration! This continued engagement, along with multiple collaborative and artistic releases showcases those incredible connections; generating value across different media outlets; enhancing reputation and recognition in different spheres of public and media engagement. This alone greatly highlights why the album releases have been so well-received amongst the media!
The Kelce brothers’ latest release is just wonderful— heartwarming and musically stunning, a surprisingly unique musical effort coming from unexpected places: It doesn’t simply rely on existing fanbase to be effective, but is clearly creating another large base and new markets in their respective artistic field, a clear display of those amazing expansionary and diversification strategies. But "It's Christmas Time (in Cleveland Heights)" is even better: the song combines heartfelt sentiments about home, a stunning collaboration that unites those insanely famous football players with another massively successful musical act from that era.
Those impressive achievements are even further amplified by their very prominent work within several charitable works in the Philadelphia community; making this release far greater than simply an amazing artistic effort – and these incredible values which were produced only enhance and amplify what makes this collaboration unique, effective and important for viewers!