"Celebrate Me Home" is a song written by Bob James and

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

, and recorded by Loggins as the title track of his 1977 debut solo album '' Celebrate Me Home''.

Release

Though not commercially released as a single, the promotional single reached No. 64 on the '' Record World'' Singles Chart. It evolved into one of Loggins' better-known songs, especially as it became a popular staple of radio stations' Christmas music playlists due to its opening line ("Home for the holidays"). It is included on Loggins' '' Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow'' and '' The Essential'' compilations, as well as his 1993 '' Outside: From the Redwoods'' live album. Its Christmastime presence is exemplified by its appearance on Best Buy's '' Sweet Tracks 2004'' set.

Other notable versions

The song was also sung by

Jill Colucci Jill Colucci (born 1949) is an American songwriter and vocalist. She initially rose to prominence in 1988, singing the main scores to the film '' Mystic Pizza''. She sang the ABC promo campaigns ''Something's Happening'' (the 1987 version wit ...

for Disney Channel's 1990 ''Celebrate Me Home'' campaign, which is named after the song. The campaign was mostly featured during the channel's

Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

, Summer, and

Fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...

Previews.

Ruben Studdard Ruben Studdard (born September 12, 1978) is an American singer and actor. He rose to fame as winner of the second season of ''American Idol'' and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2003 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his recording of ...

, winner of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' in its second season, recorded a cover of "Celebrate Me Home" to be used as the show's seventh season Top 12 exit song. Produced by

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most ...

, Studdard's rendition omitted the song's first-line holiday mention, to give it a more general feel. The Studdard recording was made available for iTunes download on March 12, 2008, as Loggins' original recording also prospered from new downloads. The song was sampled for Common's "Celebrate" on his 2011 album ''

The Dreamer/The Believer ''The Dreamer/The Believer'' is the ninth studio album by American rapper Common. It was released in the UK on December 19, 2011 and in the US on December 20 through Warner Bros. Records alongside Common's newly launched Think Common Music Inc. C ...

''. The cast of the ABC television series '' Nashville'' covered the song on their 2014 album '' Christmas with Nashville''. LeAnn Rimes covered the song on her 2015 album '' Today Is Christmas'' as a duet with Gavin DeGraw. The song was released as a promotional single and peaked at No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart. In 2016,

Jennifer Nettles Jennifer Odessa Nettles (born September 12, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer. Nettles is the lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush, and prior to this she fronted the Atlanta-based band ...

covered the song on her album ''

To Celebrate Christmas ''To Celebrate Christmas'' is the first solo Christmas and third solo studio album by American country music artist Jennifer Nettles, released on October 28, 2016, through Big Machine Records. This is the first Christmas-themed album for Nettles ...

''. In 2020, the family Christian band CAIN, Elizabeth Chan, and

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...

released their own covers of the song.

References

1976 songs American Christmas songs Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Phil Ramone Songs written by Kenny Loggins Kenny Loggins songs Ruben Studdard songs Pop ballads Rhythm and blues ballads Soul ballads {{1970s-song-stub