‘Please Come Home for Christmas’: the festive classic sung by Bon Jovi, Eagles, Luther Vandross and Cher

22 December 2025, 11:03

The various singers of 'Please Come Home for Christmas' over the years. Picture: Getty/Alamy

By Thomas Edward

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Christmas is a time to spread joy.

After all, who can resist the opportunity to spend time with your nearest and dearest, sing a few carols, give gifts to your loved ones, and kick back in front of the epic television schedule.

We're all partial to eating far too much turkey (with the trimmings) on Christmas Day and maybe one mince pie too many, right?

That's how many of us celebrate Christmas, and how we make the festive season the most joyous it possibly can be.

Enjoying a festive feast with family is the highlight of many's Christmas season. Picture: Alamy

But for lots of people, Christmas isn't about celebrating. For many, Christmas can be one of the toughest times of the year.

Some of us don't have the close friends to pull Christmas crackers with, don't have the unbridled glee of children opening their presents, or don't have a partner to share the magic with.

It's not like this is a new phenomenon, as Texas blues musician Charles Brown would attest to in his blue Christmas classic 'Please Come Home For Christmas'.

In fact, the song's tear-jerking message has resonated with so many musicians in the years since.

You know that's the case, as the likes of Bon Jovi, the Eagles, James Brown, Luther Vandross, Etta James, Harry Connick Jr., Cher, Kelly Clarkson and even George Ezra have all covered it.

Charles Brown - Please Come Home For Christmas (King Records 1960)

Until the release of 'Please Come Home For Christmas', Charles Brown was more known for his 1947 R&B song 'Merry Christmas Baby'.

But in 1960 that all changed, after he penned the melancholic (and now-classic) Christmas song.

Featuring the chimes of bells and a smooth, shuffling sound that evokes the traditions of Christmas, the song itself couldn't be any sadder.

In the lyrics, Brown sings of a love lost and that he now finds himself unbearably lonely as this once precious time of year.

Gene Redd co-wrote the song with Brown, a New York producer who later went on to guide Kool & the Gang to superstardom.

But the song's subject matter and sombre tone caught the imagination of the Eagles, who transformed it into an unlikely hit 18 years later.

Eagles - Please Come Home For Christmas (Official Audio)

In 1978, Christmas songs were ever-present in the American pop charts every year but never really broke the top 20.

Before then, the last Christmas song to enter the top 20 was Roy Orbison with 'Pretty Paper' in 1963.

That changed when the Eagles decided to lend their voices to 'Please Come Home For Christmas', a song that Don Henley loved since he was a child.

The song's pensive sensibility was perfect for the Eagles, who would never choose to cover a song that was too chipper or overtly optimistic.

Fans were desperate to hear from the band, who took their sweet time writing the follow-up to their blockbuster 1976 album Hotel California, and 'Please Come Home For Christmas' plugged the gap perfectly.

It also introduced the blue Christmas song to an entirely new generation of music lovers, including the likes of Jon Bon Jovi.

Please Come Home For Christmas

In 1992, Bon Jovi ensured 'Please Come Home For Christmas' became a festive standard after their schmaltzy cover version.

Initially recorded for the holiday season benefit album A Very Special Christmas 2, the tousled rockers re-released it in the UK two years later.

Starring Cindy Crawford in the accompanying music video, the song ensured nobody would ever dare leave the dashing Bon Jovi alone at Christmas time (yes, we know, he's married.)

The wintery single reached the top 10 in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Italy, and even Don Felder of the Eagles played guitar on Bon Jovi's version.

George Ezra - Come On Home For Christmas (Official Video)

Since then, famous artists have found it irresistible putting their own spin on the sombre festive song.

Luther Vandross made it a genuine heartbreaker for his 1995 Christmas album aptly titled This Is Christmas, Willie Nelson country-fied it in 2004, and Cher gave it a sassy edge on her 2023 album Christmas.

Continuing the trend of contemporary singer-songwriters reimagining classic songs with a fresh voice, George Ezra also put his stamp on the song.

Given the chap always seems to be in a positive mood, it was a shift towards a more reflective style.

He made sure he and his band got into the Christmas spirit however, despite recording the song in September 2021 just a few months before the song's release.

"We all got into the studio with the band, but we agreed to come in our Christmas jumpers," he said.

"Studios don't often have windows so you don't know what's going on outside – once we got the Christmas tree up in there it might as well have been December."