Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. Nathan Congleton/NBC
Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager are certainly getting in the holiday spirit this year with vocal coach Cheryl Porter.
They dropped their holiday single, “A Carefree Christmas With Hoda & Jenna,” on Wednesday, November 29, debuting the music video on the fourth hour of Today.
“It’s gonna be a carefree Christmas, stop and smell the pine,” the trio sing. “Boughs of holly make us jolly, we’re all feeling fine.”
“We love Cheryl so much and without Cheryl, our song would sound a lot worse. Not only did she help us, but she sang a lot of it,” Bush Hager, 42, said after the music video premiere.
The Today With Hoda & Jenna coanchors revealed they were releasing the Christmas song during their Monday, November 27, show. Kotb, 59, and Bush Hager shared a first look at their album cover, which featured the duo donning Santa Claus hats and red scarves while wrapping their arms around each other.
“The star of the show is not pictured here,” Kotb said of the cover art on Monday.
“Cheryl is the star of the show,” Bush Hager added. Porter is a trained opera singer with 20 years of experience who has gone viral for her impressive vocal lessons.
“Cheryl is a person who can teach anyone to sing,” Kotb said. “She has her own technique. She’s amazing. She is like joy personified. She ran us through the paces, had us try to learn.”
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“I can’t believe that In just a few hours the CHRISTMAS🎄song and MUSIC VIDEO with my students Hoda and Jenna will drop‼️” Porter gushed to her 2 million Instagram followers on Wednesday. “I really hope you will be able to watch @hodaandjenna on @nbc at 10 am to be the very first to see if me and the ladies were able to pull it off‼️ No matter what, I’m so proud of them and proud of ALL MY STUDENTS all over the world for using their voices to make people SMILE and bring JOY this holiday!”
While the twosome released their first tune on Wednesday, Bush Hager noted it “could just be the first of many singles.” Hoda, for her part, joked it “could be the only, too.”
Bush Hager revealed she had one goal in mind, and that is for her and Kotb to “chart” this week, which she believes could be in the cards. “If we do, it’s a Christmas miracle,” Kotb quipped.
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After Kotb noted that she and Bush Hager were the only people who were talking about their new Christmas song, Bush Hager said she talked about the festive jingle on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“Do you think [Jimmy] Fallon’s gonna have us to perform?” Bush Hager asked Kotb, who replied, “If we ask enough times.”
“Well, I’ve asked him multiple times,” Bush Hager confessed.
“A Carefree Christmas” is now available to stream on Apple Music and Spotify.
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