Eagles Players Team Up With Patti LaBelle, More For New Holiday Album

PHILADELPHIA — Last year, Philadelphia Eagles players Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, and Jordan Mailata teamed up with local musicians to release "A Philly Special Christmas" holiday album to benefit charity.

And apparently they loved the process and its outcome so much, they're back at it again.

The players have reunited with producer Charlie Hall of the War on Drugs and executive producer Connor Barwin to release their second holiday album, "A Philly Special Christmas Special."

The new album will be available this fall on Vera Y Records.

And like the first album, this one is packed with Philly-area musicians, including one of the most legendary singers of all time.

The trio called upon local musicians including Patti Labelle, Amos Lee, The Hooters’ Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman, DMHotep (Sun Ra Arkestra), Kevin Hanson (The Fractals, Huffamoose), Luke Carlos O’Reilly, Waxahatchee, members of The War on Drugs, Dr. Dog, Mewithoutyou, The Silver Ages Choir, and more for the new album.

Recorded during the NFL off season and comprised of ten holiday classics and an original tune by Kelce, "Santa’s Night," "A Philly Special Christmas Special" will donate proceeds from vinyl sales to local charities with the intention of surpassing the $1.25 million dollars raised in 2022.

A limited-edition LP will be released on red vinyl, a double disc of "A Philly Special Christmas Special" and 2022’s "A Philly Special Christmas" will be released on limited edition gold vinyl in addition to the album being released digitally and available on all streaming services.

Vinyl will be available to order on Nov. 3 online here.

The track listing for the new album is:

• The Christmas Song
• This Christmas
• Dominick the Donkey
• Santa’s Night
• Christmas Time Is Here
• All I Want for Christmas Is You
• Pretty Paper
• The Dreidel Song
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
• Fairytale of Philadelphia
• Auld Lang Syne

A "Philly Special Christmas Special" was recorded and mixed once again by Nick Krill,

"It's so much fun and an honor to be working with this incredible group of people; watching old friends and new friends all come together to make something really special," Barwin said. "We got started earlier this summer and can't wait to share the music and a couple of surprises in a few short months!"

"It never occurred to me that this gang would make another record and yet it never occurred to me that we wouldn't make another record," Hall said. "By any measure, the experience of what materialized last year was such a profound success… it seemed like a no brainer that we would at least get together and make some more music for fun, if not to actually produce a whole new record. What ensued surpassed all expectations - musically and spiritually. We dug in and have put together a wide-ranging romp through some classics, some deep cuts, and even an original tune written by Kelce."