-Personally, I love Christmas albums.
I love holiday al-- I love holiday specials.
So I´m so excited to talk about --
Quest, do you have a favorite Christmas album, holiday album?
-Jackson Five Christmas album.
-Yeah, that was a good one, Jackson Five.
I think I´m going to say Phil Spector.
I want to say Phil Spector´s "Christmas Present --"
"Christmas Present For You" or something
it´s called, right? -Yeah.
-"Christmas Gift For You." That´s my jam.
But now I have a new favorite now.
I mean, come on, this is what I´m talking about now.
[ Cheers and applause ]
How did -- How did this come about?
How did you go, "Oh, yeah, I should do that"?
-I´ve wanted to do it -- I´m like you.
I start early. Like, I´ve already been start--
Well, this year, I´m Christmas all year.
And I´m not even tired at all.
Like, New York makes it so incredible.
I mean, you guys go big here. I love it.
-Trees outside and... -It´s so good.
But I just -- I´ve always wanted --
I think every writer would fantasize
about writing a Christmas hit
because it´s kind of that thing that comes back.
And I think also, like, when you write songs
and you´re part of people´s journey, like,
through your music that you write,
to write and be part of their holiday
and their memories for that part,
I mean, musically would be my dream.
-Forever, yeah. -Yeah.
And even when I die, hopefully, that would be great.
-Gwen, please, let´s not talk about that.
-No, I´m just saying. -It´s not a dark album at all.
-It lives on. -It´s a very positive album.
You cut those tracks out. No, please.
But the first track you wrote was "Christmas Eve."
-Well, that, yeah, was one of the first ones I wrote.
-How´d you get inspired by that?
-That´s actually a Christmas miracle song,
because I was actually at Blake´s ranch.
He has an ranch in Oklahoma, and it´s this fenced-in high fence
with, like, all kinds of exotic animals.
Like, I mean, herds, like, acres.
And I was like, "Okay, I´m going to go for a run.
I´m not only going to do my exercise,
but I´m going to do my spiritual exercise.
I´m going to jog and I´m going to pray."
Right? So that was like my goal.
And I started thinking about, if I wrote a Christmas song,
like, what could it be?
What would it be?
And then just like a nerd,
as the wildebeest were passing by, I was like --
-Wildebeest? -Yeah, he has wildebeest.
-That´s so rad. I got to get a wildebeest. Yeah.
I´m writing this down for my Christmas list.
-You can come. You can come.
-I wonder if my wife will get me a wildebeest.
That would be so rad.
-But I was running and I just was like,
"Ooh, maybe I´ll just try singing something.
Maybe something will come."
And the whole chorus to this song, "Christmas Eve," came,
and it was like a prayer.
So I´m like, "Oh, my gosh, I have to run back."
And I was, like, running back. And my parents were there.
And I´m like, "Did I steal this? Is this from church?
´Cause I feel like I know this song."
-Isn´t that funny?
When you hear a song the first time,
you´re like, "Wait, this song´s out already."
Like, "No, it´s a brand-new song."
But it´s so good. -I was convinced I stole it.
And then went back and I ended up finishing it.
And what´s crazy is that Blake heard it,
and he loved it so much
that he decided to put it on his Christmas record and record it,
which nobody´s ever recorded any of my songs,
especially not, like, the hottest cowboy ever,
sexiest man alive.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I mean, can we talk about this cowboy?
Can we just talk about this?
Look at this guy.
Blake.
How -- I don´t --
Honestly, how is he handling this?
Because if I know Blake a little bit,
this is not his thing at all.
-That is not his thing at all.
I feel responsible a little bit, because he called me.
He´s like, "I got to talk to you about something.
They want me to do this, and I hate doing photo shoots.
I´m not going to do it."
I was like, "Why would you not doing it?
Your record just came out.
You´re going to look back and you´re gonna regret it.
Like, come on, just live in the moment.
Like, everybody wants to see you do a photo --
I want to see you do a photo shoot,"
and then kind of convinced him.
And he´s just sort of like...
-But he´s like, "I don´t want to be sexiest man alive."
I don´t want to do -- I don´t want to do that."
He just would never, ever --
Like, I can´t wait to rub it in. -I know, I know.
-Because I know that it would make him laugh.
But you actually sing a great duet on this album.
This is "You Make It Feel Like Christmas," the title.
-I know, and he is such an incredible songwriter.
I mean, he doesn´t do it that often.
Like, he just -- he just -- I don´t know.
He loves to just be on his ranch.
That´s his favorite thing to do.
So, anyways, he was sitting around.
When we talked about the style the record was going to be,
that whole kind of Phil Spector throwback.
´Cause I was trying to figure it out.
Like, was it going to be ska, punk?
Was it going to be reggae? Was it gonna be --
There´s so many different things I´ve done.
So anyways, we decided to go old-school,
´cause I feel like that sort of raw and punk and Latin musicians
and classic at the same time,
it sort of sounds like a No Doubt record in a way, yeah.
-It´s fantastic. I told you when I was backstage,
I could already hear it in department stores every year,
in a great way.
´Cause I was like it makes you so happy
and puts you in the holiday spirit.
I also love the inside photo. Look at how gorgeous.
-Aw, that´s my little boo-boo.
-Is that your little boo-boo there?
Aww! Come on, how cute.
It´s just awesome. I´m just so --
Have you thought of what
you´re going to get Blake for Christmas?
-I have.
He´s really hard to buy for,
´cause he already has the wildebeest.
I was going to get him that. And then...
-What do you get a man who has wildebeest? Yeah.
-I think that because he doesn´t fit
in any of my furniture at my house --
He´s too big. Like, he literally --
-He´s a big dude. -Yeah.
And I´m like, "Okay, I´m going to get you a couch,
and that´s going to be your Christmas present."
-You´re gonna get him a couch?
-Yeah, I´m putting it outside so then he can do, like, the --
He likes to put fires and things like that.
In L.A. it´s kind of -- I don´t know.
I try to make him feel comfortable in L.A.
-Look at this. I just turned the thing.
Here´s him on a chair outside, like, an indoor --
-No.
-With a beer. That´s not outdoor furniture.
-Yeah, we´re not going to do La-Z-Boy at my house.
-You´re not doing La-Z-Boy at your house?
-He´s going to keep that one in Oklahoma.
-That´s for Blake.
Blake, you´re getting a couch, man.
Oh. Hopefully he´s not watching.
-He knows. I already told him ´cause he has everything.