Like many of our faves, Mary J. Blige has managed to stay busy despite the pandemic. She starred in Body Cam (and contributed to the soundtrack as well), is generating "Best Original Song" Oscar buzz with "See What You've Done" from Belly of the Beast, collaborated with rappers like Busta Rhymes and Dave East, vacationed/partied in Turks & Caicos with Diddy and friends (for his birthday) and is preparing to reissue her classic 1994 album My Life on November 20th. Somehow, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul still managed to spread some love (or heartbreak, rather) for the holidays with her remake of Wham!'s "Last Christmas."
The song is part of a new slate of festive Amazon Originals recorded exclusively for Amazon Music. The digital juggernaut has good reason to invest in the holidays, especially this year. "This holiday season, it’s important for us to bring our customers more reasons to smile, and to create ways for them to connect with their favourite artists while at home with family,” said Ryan Redington, VP of Music Industry at Amazon Music. “Our customers are requesting holiday music more and more each year. In the days leading up to Christmas last year, Amazon Music listeners requested holiday music more than 11 million times per day, and nearly 8,000 times per minute worldwide, and we can’t wait to see that trend continue."
Blige joins artists like Justin Beiber, Kiana Ledé, Jess Glynne, José Feliciano and more in adding to Amazon Original's Yuletide soundtrack. For her part, Mary shared, "I’ve always loved how ‘Last Christmas’ walks the line between being upbeat and heartbroken – all while still remaining one of the catchiest holiday songs. It’s one of the most unique holiday songs, and I’m excited for my fans to hear my take on it this holiday season on Amazon Music." Of course, she does an amazing job, infusing the song with her signature sauce while maintaining the vibe of the original. But it gave us an added dose of the feels, remembering that time she collaborated with the late George Michael for an update of Stevie Wonder's "As."
As the title implies, "Last Christmas (Amazon Original)" is available exclusively on Amazon Music, but you can listen to a sneak preview below before purchasing.
