Brad Paisley is bringing his country flair to New York City. The singer was on hand to perform during NBC’s Christmas in Rockefeller Center special on Dec. 3.
Taking the stage in his signature cowboy hat, Paisley captivated the audience with an unforgettable performance of “It’s a Marshmallow World.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Hosted by Reba McEntire, this year’s event will also include performances from Marc Anthony, Halle Bailey, Michael Bublรฉ, Kristin Chenoweth, Laufey, New Edition, Carly Pearce, and Gwen Stefani.
Additionally, The Radio City Rockettes will take the stage amid their 100th anniversary season.
The biggest star of the show, however, is this year’s Christmas tree. Hailing from East Greenbush, New York, the Norway spruce is 75 feet tall and 45 feet in diameter. This year’s tree will be decorated 50,000 LED lights and topped with a 900-pound Swarovski star.
Brad Paisley’s Christmas Album
Paisley’s performance came shortly after he released his latest Christmas album, Snow Globe Town. The 16-track albumโPaisley’s second holiday LP following Brad Paisley Christmas in 2006โfeatures eight new songs that Paisley penned, as well as some all-time favorite Christmas classics. Paisley’s song of the night, “It’s a Marshmallow World,” falls into the latter category on the album.
โI had so much inspiration writing songs for Hallmarkโs A Grand Ole Opry Christmas movie,โ Paisley said in a press release. โIt sparked a real creative energy that was honestly hard to stop so we made an entire album.โ
He expanded on the story of the festive album during a conversation with several outlets, according to Country Now.
โIf you had asked me what my next project was in July, I wouldโve told you, โWell, Iโve got these songs Iโm writing, so sometime next year weโll probably put an album out or something.โ I didnโt know I was doing a Christmas album,โ he said. โIt was around that time that Hallmark approached andโฆthey had already asked about being a part of this Opry movie. And I said, sure. And then they had asked if I would write a song, and then they asked if I would write three songs, and then they asked if I had anything else.”
“They said, ‘If youโre going to do an album or if you feel like doing a Christmas album, itโs a great time because weโre going to tie in all of these promotions and we can work with you on it,’” Paisley continued. “So the next thing you know, it went from cutting a few songs for this Hallmark thing to writing a bunch.”
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
