MANILA, Philippines – Jose Mari Chan’s “Christmas in Our Hearts” goes international as American a cappella group Pentatonix covers the OPM holiday classic with Tony Award winner Lea Salonga. Its official music video was released last week, and has garnered more than 1.4M views as of writing.
The five-piece group’s rendition of “Christmas in our Hearts” is part of their album “Holidays Around The World”, which features other collaborations with well-known artists from different countries like Meghan Trainor, Lang Lang, Hiba Tawaji, Grace Lokwa, La Santa Cecilia, Shreys Ghoshal, Hikakin & Seiken, and The King’s Singers.
Speaking with People, members of Pentatonix had praises for Lea Salonga, saying, “She is just so iconic. One, she’s so talented. She’s a perfect singer. In the studio, she did one take.”
The group’s Christmas album also features three original songs, one of which is “Prayers for the World”, which according to them is “an anchor for the album, because there’s so much going on in our world today and it’s almost like a collective prayer with all these different artists from the international community that all want hope, love, and light and peace for our world today.”
“Yes, folks! This is happening! Had the most wonderful time recording this classic Filipino Christmas song with @ptxofficial! And yes, fellow Pinoys, this is the Christmas In Our Hearts you think it is!” Salonga, who was also named one of TIME100 Impact Awardees for being a life-long role model for children of color, announced on social media earlier this year.
“Christmas in Our Hearts” is Jose Mari Chan’s first Christmas album. The song was declared triple platinum by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry just weeks after its release in 1990.
Chan, dubbed as “The Father of Philippine Christmas Music”, recorded the song with his talented daughter, Liza Chan, who was 19 years old at the time, making the song even more special.
But did you know that the duet part of the song was initially offered to Lea Salonga? However, conflicts with her schedule with “Miss Saigon” and record label abroad did not permit her to do the duet. 32 years later, the world-renowned singer got to sing the well-loved Christmas hit after all.