Billie Eilish Closes Out Kia Forum Run With Cover of Christmas Classic ‘O Holy Night’
Billie Eilish is well-prepared for the holiday season. The singer closed out her five-night run at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday (Dec. 21) with a cover of the Christmas standard “O Holy Night.”
“We’ve been doing a Christmas cover for every show, so we’re gonna do another one,” Eilish — dressed in white basketball shorts, an oversized Ecko jersey and backwards baseball cap told the crowd at the sold-out show. “She then invited fans to sing along as she crooned the shimmering tune over gently plucked guitar.
“O holy night, the stars are brightly shining/ It is the night of our dear savior’s birth,” she sang, turning even the song about the telling of the Christmas story into an ethereal ballad that sounded like it could have been on one of Eilish’s Grammy-winning albums. She was later joined by two female backup singers, electric piano and some gently brushed drums, with Eilish falling to her knees for the second half of the song as she sang the lines, “For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn/ Fall on our knees, O hear the angel voices.”
“I’m not religious at all, I just love Christmas so much,” Eilish told the cheering audience afterwards.
Eilish covered a different holiday classic during each night of her Dec. 15-21 run on her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour, taking on Bing Crosby’s “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” on night one, then “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” — with brother/producer Finneas — on the 16th, then another Crosby favorite, “Silver Bells,” the third night and “Silent Night” on Friday.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard