December 25, 2025 • 8 mins
Multi-platinum recording artist Clay Aiken is back with a stunning new version of the Bing Crosby classic "Do You Hear What I Hear?," the first single from his highly anticipated Christmas album Christmas Bells are Ringing, set to be released on November 22nd. Aiken's unique interpretation infuses the classic carol with his signature vocal warmth and emotional depth making it a song for our times. Written in 1962 by Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" is timeless in its message, yet even more resonant today. Aiken reflects, "The whole American political climate over the past few years hasn't really given us much in the way of hope or optimism. As much as I wanted to believe I might be able to make some positive change in that world, I've realized that music often does a better job of that." Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Ron Fair, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" is the first release from Aiken's first studio album in over a decade, following a hiatus from music which found Aiken running for Congressional office in North Carolina, and raising his now teenage son. The album, Christmas Bells are Ringing, marks a return to the holiday music that solidified Aiken's place as a household name in 2004, when his debut holiday album Merry Christmas With Love broke records, selling nearly 300,000 copies in its first week. That album went platinum, becoming the best-selling holiday album of 2004 and earning Aiken three Billboard Music Awards.The new record boasts fresh takes on holiday staples like Nat King Cole's "Caroling, Caroling" and Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime", as well as a lush reinvention of "Merry Christmas, Darling" by the Carpenters (one of Clay's musical inspirations) and a show-stopping rendition of "Pure Imagination" which reimagines the Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory classic as a fitting soundtrack for the holiday season. Clay Aiken's rise to stardom began in 2003 as the runner-up on season two of American Idol. His debut single, "This Is the Night" debuted at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100, while his debut album Measure of a Man was certified triple platinum. Aiken has since sold millions of albums, launched national tours, starred on Broadway, and made his mark as a philanthropist and politician.Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Merry Christmas With Love, Clay Aiken's new album, Christmas Bells are Ringing' promises to bring the same joy and spirit to listeners, making it the perfect soundtrack for the 2024 holiday season.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Step into that studio, where are you putting yourself? Because
(00:02):
in radio they say who are they talking to? How
old are they? Do they have any children? And I
just feel like that that you envision us being right
there with you.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Well, I consider myself more of a live singer, live
performer than a recording performer, So I always in the studio.
I mean, I have sometimes a challenge because I do
my best work when when there's an audience, yep, when
there's a live audience. And so I have the challenge
(00:33):
of trying to put myself in that position, trying to
imagine that I'm in a theater with an audience. But
when you as you know, you've got a microphone in
front of you every day, when you've got one of
these recording microphones in front of you, it's so much
more sensitive and you have to, you know, be you
have to you have to sing into it or talking
to it whoever. It is a little bit differently, So
(00:55):
I have to kind of split the difference between performing
like I am on stage and performing like I am
in the studio. But I do need to imagine that
there's an audience there in order for me to do
my best work. So to speak.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I'll tell you the song that I want to hear
pouring through the radio this Christmas is Merry Christmas, Darling,
because you really bring your touch to it in the
way of you know, because people are going, oh, it's
too early for Christmas music, but when you hear this song, oh,
it's never going to be too early. It is right.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Now, thank you. It is. I grew up absolutely in
awe of Karen Carpenter, and I mean I'm still in
awe of Karen Carpenter's voice, and it's just you know,
they're actually recordings that they released, released recordings of her
where if you listen carefully enough, you can hear the
page turn from her sheet music as she's reading it
(01:47):
in the studio, and the take was just so good
because she was so spot on with she was one
take wonder that they just kept it. There was no
reason to redo it because it was just perfect as is,
and they left the page turn. And her voice has
always been just the thing that I aspire to, right,
So it was sort of exciting to record Merry Christmas, Darling,
(02:10):
but at the same time nerve racking because you know,
you're never going to sing it like Karen Carpenter, but
this version is thanks to Ron Fair. I think it
is true to the spirit of what the Carpenters recorded
on their Christmas album and really everything they did, but
still able to be my own version. I wanted to
(02:34):
be careful on this album not to make things my
own too much. I think that a lot of times
people do a Christmas album and they try to do
too much to change the songs or make them current.
And I don't think you need to make some of
these Christmas songs current. I think that what makes them
wonderful is the classic sound, the production from the fifties
(02:55):
and the sixties and the seventies for the Carpenters, and
we wanted to keep a lot of that as close
as possible to the original because Christmas is about that familiarity,
that nostalgia of being around people who you know and
love and listening to things that you know and love,
and that traditional element, and so I think we kept
(03:17):
that true for that song and for all of them.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, are you going to take this to like a
Broadway esque kind of a production, because I mean, I
would love to hear you sing. Do you hear what
I hear? At the Bloomenthal or even Ovens Auditorium, because
I think it has that essence about it of being
like I am in a theater with Clay Aiken.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, that's I mean, that's the goal I did. I
did a Christmas album. This is the twentieth anniversary of
my first Christmas album, and I went on the road
with that for goodness, five six seven years, I can't
even remember. We spent a long time, many years out
on the road every Christmas with that one. And the
idea of the goal for this is to do the
same thing, to be able to go out and perform,
(03:57):
because as I said before, that's where I feel most
comfortable is on the stage. So I was just I
was just at Bloomenthal or belk One with Ruben last
year with our twentieth anniversary Idol tour, and that's what
kind of got me back into the mood to perform again.
I had taken time off as my son was growing
(04:19):
up to be home as much as possible, and being
back on the road with Ruben made me realize I
missed it. My son is now at an age where
he's at sixteen, he's perfectly happy for me to not
be around very often, so I can leave now a
little bit more. And so it all has kind of
come together at the right time. So we'll be back
(04:40):
on the road with this next year for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
When you take a song like Wonderful Christmas Time from
Paul McCartney, wow, I mean this right here is a
moment because we've heard Paul sing it so many times
and you give it that one touch that says I
still love this song.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, Well, this was the one, you know, that's the
one that we we probably changed the most, only because
obviously Sir Paul's version is eighties, it was very it
was very, very much of its time, and trying to
make this album as classic as possible. That song is
a Christmas classic, but we wanted to make it fit
(05:19):
within the theme and the genre of this particular album.
So there's you know those Baroque strings that the Baroque
is the style, but people will think of the Bridgerton
sort of strings and trying we kind of took this
one and instead of doing what I said I don't
love people doing, which is trying to make things contemporary,
we took that song and we kind of did the reverse.
(05:42):
We made it a little older, we made it a
little more classic, which I think is an interesting spin
on it, and Ron Fair gets great credit for that,
for having the vision for it.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
So let me ask you, was the album cover already
done When you say that you made it classic because
that album cover is classic, did you envision that while
you were, you know, putting these touches on Wonderful Christmas Time. No.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
We we did the album cover first, actually because I
knew I knew what I wanted the album to sound like.
I knew that I wanted it to be as familiar
and classic and retro. Retro may not be the word,
but I wanted it to sound like a Perry Como
Andy Williams Christmas album. So we had the Christmas art
done first, not the title. I didn't know what the
(06:25):
titles of the album would be, and I had this
in the studio with me while I was recording to
kind of just kind of inspire us to know, this
is what we're this is where we're aiming, this is
this is what we want it to sound like. We
want it to sound like an album that was put
out in the time period where it would look like this.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I want to see you seeing alvam Maria live because
it sounds so personal on the album, and yet I
know that you will put such a touch on it
when it comes to making it so full and such
an experience.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
It's a it's a you know. That one also is
one that we kept as traditional as possible. We did
a little bit something different with to do with just
me and the guitar. Instead of making it big, we
we because it's traditionally known as this very big, triumphant
song and do you Hear What I Hear is typically
known to be a little smaller, a little more intimate
(07:18):
and haunting. We flipped it and we put that haunting,
intimate vibe on Ave Maria and we may do you
Hear What I Hear? A big, triumphant, cinematic type sound.
So it still gives both of them the classic nostalgic
sound that folks are that the whole album's aiming for,
(07:39):
but just does it on different songs and it gives it.
It gives me an opportunity to make my own versions
of each of them, but still stay true to what
our goal was.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Where can people go to find out more about you,
of the potential of a tour, and more about the album?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well, klay Akin dot Com is always I think around.
I think it's around, so you can do that. But
I'm on all the you know, that's it's a weird
thing too. I was saying somebody else's before there was
not social media. Last time I did an album, there
was not streaming services. But this album is available on
every streaming service there is, so Spotify, I've one of
(08:15):
the other ones, Spotify, YouTube Music and Apple Music and
Napster I think is still around there. It's on all
of those things, and you can find me at Clay
Aiken on x and Instagram and TikTok and all those places.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Do love it. Please come back to this show anytime
in the future. The door is always going to be
open for you. Clay.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Thank you very much, Eric, I appreciate it. Will you
be brilliant Okay, I will start trying. Yes, Thanks
Step into that studio, where are you putting yourself? Because
(00:02):
in radio they say who are they talking to? How
old are they? Do they have any children? And I
just feel like that that you envision us being right
there with you.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Well, I consider myself more of a live singer, live
performer than a recording performer, So I always in the studio.
I mean, I have sometimes a challenge because I do
my best work when when there's an audience, yep, when
there's a live audience. And so I have the challenge
(00:33):
of trying to put myself in that position, trying to
imagine that I'm in a theater with an audience. But
when you as you know, you've got a microphone in
front of you every day, when you've got one of
these recording microphones in front of you, it's so much
more sensitive and you have to, you know, be you
have to you have to sing into it or talking
to it whoever. It is a little bit differently, So
(00:55):
I have to kind of split the difference between performing
like I am on stage and performing like I am
in the studio. But I do need to imagine that
there's an audience there in order for me to do
my best work. So to speak.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I'll tell you the song that I want to hear
pouring through the radio this Christmas is Merry Christmas, Darling,
because you really bring your touch to it in the
way of you know, because people are going, oh, it's
too early for Christmas music, but when you hear this song, oh,
it's never going to be too early. It is right.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Now, thank you. It is. I grew up absolutely in
awe of Karen Carpenter, and I mean I'm still in
awe of Karen Carpenter's voice, and it's just you know,
they're actually recordings that they released, released recordings of her
where if you listen carefully enough, you can hear the
page turn from her sheet music as she's reading it
(01:47):
in the studio, and the take was just so good
because she was so spot on with she was one
take wonder that they just kept it. There was no
reason to redo it because it was just perfect as is,
and they left the page turn. And her voice has
always been just the thing that I aspire to, right,
So it was sort of exciting to record Merry Christmas, Darling,
(02:10):
but at the same time nerve racking because you know,
you're never going to sing it like Karen Carpenter, but
this version is thanks to Ron Fair. I think it
is true to the spirit of what the Carpenters recorded
on their Christmas album and really everything they did, but
still able to be my own version. I wanted to
(02:34):
be careful on this album not to make things my
own too much. I think that a lot of times
people do a Christmas album and they try to do
too much to change the songs or make them current.
And I don't think you need to make some of
these Christmas songs current. I think that what makes them
wonderful is the classic sound, the production from the fifties
(02:55):
and the sixties and the seventies for the Carpenters, and
we wanted to keep a lot of that as close
as possible to the original because Christmas is about that familiarity,
that nostalgia of being around people who you know and
love and listening to things that you know and love,
and that traditional element, and so I think we kept
(03:17):
that true for that song and for all of them.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, are you going to take this to like a
Broadway esque kind of a production, because I mean, I
would love to hear you sing. Do you hear what
I hear? At the Bloomenthal or even Ovens Auditorium, because
I think it has that essence about it of being
like I am in a theater with Clay Aiken.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, that's I mean, that's the goal I did. I
did a Christmas album. This is the twentieth anniversary of
my first Christmas album, and I went on the road
with that for goodness, five six seven years, I can't
even remember. We spent a long time, many years out
on the road every Christmas with that one. And the
idea of the goal for this is to do the
same thing, to be able to go out and perform,
(03:57):
because as I said before, that's where I feel most
comfortable is on the stage. So I was just I
was just at Bloomenthal or belk One with Ruben last
year with our twentieth anniversary Idol tour, and that's what
kind of got me back into the mood to perform again.
I had taken time off as my son was growing
(04:19):
up to be home as much as possible, and being
back on the road with Ruben made me realize I
missed it. My son is now at an age where
he's at sixteen, he's perfectly happy for me to not
be around very often, so I can leave now a
little bit more. And so it all has kind of
come together at the right time. So we'll be back
(04:40):
on the road with this next year for sure.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
When you take a song like Wonderful Christmas Time from
Paul McCartney, wow, I mean this right here is a
moment because we've heard Paul sing it so many times
and you give it that one touch that says I
still love this song.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, Well, this was the one, you know, that's the
one that we we probably changed the most, only because
obviously Sir Paul's version is eighties, it was very it
was very, very much of its time, and trying to
make this album as classic as possible. That song is
a Christmas classic, but we wanted to make it fit
(05:19):
within the theme and the genre of this particular album.
So there's you know those Baroque strings that the Baroque
is the style, but people will think of the Bridgerton
sort of strings and trying we kind of took this
one and instead of doing what I said I don't
love people doing, which is trying to make things contemporary,
we took that song and we kind of did the reverse.
(05:42):
We made it a little older, we made it a
little more classic, which I think is an interesting spin
on it, and Ron Fair gets great credit for that,
for having the vision for it.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
So let me ask you, was the album cover already
done When you say that you made it classic because
that album cover is classic, did you envision that while
you were, you know, putting these touches on Wonderful Christmas Time. No.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
We we did the album cover first, actually because I
knew I knew what I wanted the album to sound like.
I knew that I wanted it to be as familiar
and classic and retro. Retro may not be the word,
but I wanted it to sound like a Perry Como
Andy Williams Christmas album. So we had the Christmas art
done first, not the title. I didn't know what the
(06:25):
titles of the album would be, and I had this
in the studio with me while I was recording to
kind of just kind of inspire us to know, this
is what we're this is where we're aiming, this is
this is what we want it to sound like. We
want it to sound like an album that was put
out in the time period where it would look like this.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I want to see you seeing alvam Maria live because
it sounds so personal on the album, and yet I
know that you will put such a touch on it
when it comes to making it so full and such
an experience.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
It's a it's a you know. That one also is
one that we kept as traditional as possible. We did
a little bit something different with to do with just
me and the guitar. Instead of making it big, we
we because it's traditionally known as this very big, triumphant
song and do you Hear What I Hear is typically
known to be a little smaller, a little more intimate
(07:18):
and haunting. We flipped it and we put that haunting,
intimate vibe on Ave Maria and we may do you
Hear What I Hear? A big, triumphant, cinematic type sound.
So it still gives both of them the classic nostalgic
sound that folks are that the whole album's aiming for,
(07:39):
but just does it on different songs and it gives it.
It gives me an opportunity to make my own versions
of each of them, but still stay true to what
our goal was.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Where can people go to find out more about you,
of the potential of a tour, and more about the album?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well, klay Akin dot Com is always I think around.
I think it's around, so you can do that. But
I'm on all the you know, that's it's a weird
thing too. I was saying somebody else's before there was
not social media. Last time I did an album, there
was not streaming services. But this album is available on
every streaming service there is, so Spotify, I've one of
(08:15):
the other ones, Spotify, YouTube Music and Apple Music and
Napster I think is still around there. It's on all
of those things, and you can find me at Clay
Aiken on x and Instagram and TikTok and all those places.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Do love it. Please come back to this show anytime
in the future. The door is always going to be
open for you. Clay.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Thank you very much, Eric, I appreciate it. Will you
be brilliant Okay, I will start trying. Yes, Thanks
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