Biography

On October 2nd Shout! Factory will release Darlene Love’s first Christmas album, It’s Christmas, Of Course, which is sure to start a holiday tradition of its own! For the album, Darlene gives us her take on 12 tastefully selected holiday neo-classics of the ‘70s and ‘80s from a diverse array of artists like The Pretenders, The Band, James Brown, Tom Petty, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and more.

On this album of modern day classics, the Wall of Sound that surrounded her voice on her Phil Spector-produced hits has been stripped away, leaving her beautiful voice front and center. “We had a rule on this album: no oldies. We wanted to leave the ‘50s and ‘60s behind,” says Shawn Amos, Shout! Factory’s Vice President of A&R.

Darlene Love is a woman of many talents. She’s primarily recognized for her vocal contribution to some of Phil Spector’s biggest hits like “He’s A Rebel” and “He’s Sure The Boy I’m Gonna Marry” (The Crystals), and her unmistakable backing vocals for such luminaries as Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, The Mamas and Papas, Dionne Warwick, The Beach Boys, and Cher. Love has recently been seen lighting up Broadway with her performances in “Grease”, the Tony-Award nominated “Leader of the Pack”, and her current 2-year run as Motormouth Maybelle in Tony-Award winning “Hairspray”.

In addition to these notable accomplishments Love cut the classic “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” for Phil Spector’s Christmas Gift To You album in 1963. She’s performed the tune for the past 20 years, on David Letterman’s Late Show, where Dave has stated that the performance is his favorite thing about Christmas.

Love holds an annual Christmas concert in New York, selling out the Rose Theater in Lincoln Center last year. This year’s concert is scheduled for December 17th at Lincoln Center and is sure to in high demand as well. Now we have even more reason to celebrate one of the country’s most talented performers during everyone’s favorite time of year, Christmas.
Shout! Factory is a diversified entertainment company devoted to producing, uncovering and revitalizing the very best of pop culture. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their careers sharing their music, television and film faves with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory’s DVD offerings serve up classic, contemporary and cult TV series, riveting sports programs, live music, animation and documentaries in lavish packages crammed with extras. The company’s audio catalogue boasts GRAMMY®-nominated boxed sets, new releases from storied artists, lovingly assembled album reissues and indispensable “best of” compilations. These riches are the result of a creative acquisitions mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. Shout! Factory is based in Santa Monica, Calif. Its fine products are distributed by Sony BMG Music Entertainment Inc. For more on Shout! Factory, visit www.shoutfactory.com.