Jewel Takes Over ‘Kellyoke’ for ‘Merry Little Christmas’ Cover

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for Jewel to take the reins at The Kelly Clarkson Show. With Kelly Clarkson home sick, the pop star stepped in to deliver a “Kellyoke” cover of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” on Monday (Dec. 12).

“As always, we’re gonna dive straight in with music,” the host announced via satellite from her home, “except this is a little different — I’m very excited. Instead of a standard ‘Kellyoke,’ I have a good friend and super talented singer, she’s right there to lift you up with a signature song of the season.”

From there, Jewel launched into a wistful, jazz-tinged rendition of the holiday standard, singing, “Have yourself a merry little Christmas/ Let your heart be light/ From now on, our troubles will be out of sight/ Through the years, we all will be together/ If the fates allow/ So hang a shining/ Hang a shining star upon the highest bow/ And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.”

(Billboard can confirm that Jewel’s episode was taped on Dec. 2 and a fully recovered Clarkson is now back on set.)

Right after Jewel’s performance, Clarkson interviewed her fellow singer remotely about holiday traditions, music, Dolly Parton and more. “We grew up without television, without radio,” The Masked Singer champ said. “And so singing was, like, our main tradition. So tons of Christmas songs and folk songs and Swiss-German songs, all kinds for the holidays.”

Watch Jewel soar through “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” below.