Lainey Wilson Gets Bluesy on ‘Christmas at Graceland’ [Watch]
Lainey Wilson broke out her most festive bell bottoms — and even a holiday cowboy hat — on Wednesday night (Nov. 29) to perform "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" during NBC's Christmas at Graceland special.
The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year opened the show, which tributed Elvis Presley and marked the very first televised concert to be filmed at Presley's iconic Memphis, Tenn., home of Graceland. Wilson gave her performance against a backdrop of classic cars, decked-out Christmas trees and Graceland's famed facade, all dressed up for Christmas with a festive show of lights.
"Santa Claus Is Back in Town" is a Christmas standard these days, but back in the late '50s, it was Presley's recording that catapulted the song into the mainstream. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote the song in 1957, and Presley recorded it for Elvis' Christmas Album, which remains the best-selling Christmas album of all time, according to Billboard.
Wilson's version of "Santa Claus" stayed faithful to the bluesy, hip-shaking rock 'n' roll bonafides of the original, and she brought a little bit of her patented '70s flair to the performance, too, even taking a seat on the bed of a truck to perform one of the verses of the song.
Christmas at Graceland featured an all-genre lineup of stars, from country acts Kacey Musgraves and Kane Brown to pop artist Lana Del Rey and rapper Post Malone. In addition to the performances, Christmas at Graceland featured never-before-seen footage of Presley, as well as an appearance from his granddaughter and the new owner of Graceland, Riley Keough.
Keough inherited the property over the summer, following the death of her mother Lisa Marie Presley, in a ruling that came after months of legal disagreements between Keough and her grandmother, Priscilla Presley.
Keough was also one of the executive performers of Christmas at Graceland. The special aired on NBC.
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Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker