First the Beatles, Now Elvis Presley Has a New Single (Well, Sort Of)

Earlier this month, the Beatles released “Now and Then,” their first top 10 hit in 27 years that’s being billed as the “final” Beatles song. Now, Elvis Presley is also back.

A new version of his 1964 hit “Blue Christmas” has been authorized for release by the Presley estate. It pairs the King of Rock and Roll’s original vocal with current country star Kane Brown’s. (Brown recorded a solo version of the song in 2022).

And of course, there’s more of a tie-in. The new version of the Christmas classic was released in advance of a TV special honoring Presley and celebrating the winter holiday. Christmas at Graceland is scheduled to air on NBC on Nov. 29 and Brown, who is among the featured artists, will perform his virtual duet with Elvis on the show.

Other artists set for the TV special include Alanis Morissette, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Lana Del Rey and Post Malone.

This is hardly the first time that Presley’s music has been reworked and re-released with other collaborators. As Forbes notes, there’s even been a previous posthumous duet of “Blue Christmas” with Martina McBride.

Presley first issued “Blue Christmas” on his 1957 release Elvis’ Christmas Album, which topped the Billboard album chart for four non-consecutive weeks, beginning on the chart dated Dec. 16 of that year. In an interview for the Billboard Book of Number One Albums, Presley guitarist Scotty Moore recalled the recording sessions. “It was fun to do,” he said. “But we were all laughing about playing Christmas songs in Los Angeles in September.” To help set the mood, RCA A&R executive Steve Sholes had a fully decorated Christmas tree, complete with presents underneath, set up in the studio.