Jason Kelce and Stevie Nicks have teamed up to cover Ron Sexsmith’s ‘Maybe This Christmas’.
The former NFL player is set to release his annual festive album ‘A Philly Special Christmas Party’ later this month on November 22, and has already shared a collaboration with Boyz II Men in the form of ‘It’s Christmastime (In Cleveland Heights)’.
The album is the third in a series of festive charity records under the band name The Philly Specials, which is made up of Jason and his Philadelphia Eagles teammates Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata. Their 2023 release ‘A Philly Special Christmas Special’ raised over US$3million for a range of Philadelphia-based charities.
Rock icon and former Fleetwood Mac member Nicks has now joined forces with Kelce. They can be seen together in a new Instagram video working on the song, with Nicks advising him that they could “always put more harmonies on it”. Watch the clip and listen to the song below.
Footage of the unlikely pair – in which Kelce jokes, “Make sure Stevie can’t hear me” – was shared by the ‘A Philly Special Christmas’ account, captioned: “The duet we didn’t know we needed.”
The track is produced by Charlie Hall, who also played drums on it. “I was really hoping this song would resonate with Jason when we were kicking around ideas for this record, and it’s clear from the way he inhabits that beautiful melody that it did,” he said (via Stereogum).
“And to have Stevie Nicks, one of the all-time masters of emotional transference (and an all-time hero of mine) come in and amplify all this is such a dream. I love this duet so much.”
Executive producer Conner Barwin also added that there were “no words to describe how incredible it is” to have Nicks feature on the song. “There is so much emotion in this song, and it was thrilling to be with them in the studio and watch her and Jason connect, be creative together, and witness this beautiful song become a reality.”
Elsewhere, Kelce recently made headlines following an incident that saw him smash a heckler’s phone last week.
At the Ohio State vs. Penn State football game on November 2, a homophobic slur aimed at Kelce’s brother Travis – made in reference to his relationship with Taylor Swift – was shouted at the former NFL player.
Clips shared on social media showed somebody shouting to Kelce as he tries to walk through a crowd: “Hey, Kelce! How does it feel your brother’s a f****t dating Taylor Swift?”, after which Kelce walked back to the person, grabbed their phone and threw it to the ground.
Another clip shows that the heckler had been attempting to film Kelce’s reaction to his comment, while a third video showing Kelce repeating the slur, saying, “Who’s the f****t now?”
The former Philadelphia Eagles player has since addressed the incident on Monday Night Countdown, nodding to the now-viral moment and saying: “Everybody’s seen on social media everything that took place this week. Listen, I’m not happy with anything that took place.”
“I’m not proud of it,” he continued. “In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate, and I just don’t think that that’s a productive thing.”
As well as defending his brother, he recently came out in support of Swift after backlash suggesting the singer is shown too frequently at NFL games.
