Move over, Mariah Carey — Travis Kelce is here to officially kick off the holiday season.
Travis, 35, joined forces with his brother, Jason Kelce, and Boyz II Men for a new song on the upcoming holiday album A Philly Special Christmas Party. The soulful tune, titled “It’s Christmas Time (In Cleveland Heights),” was released on Friday, November 1, and features impressive vocals from the NFL siblings.
“This is a shout-out to everyone all around the world who’s thinking about home this Christmas,” Travis says at the beginning of the song.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end goes on to drop his signature catchphrase before the first verse. “That’s right, it’s Christmastime,” he says. “Alright nah.”
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Travis’ motto isn’t the only “New Heights” Easter egg in the new tune. A behind-the-scenes clip shared earlier this week revealed that the podcast’s theme music inspired the holiday melody.
“This is a song that came out of this great brain and I feel like it tickles the nerve that we’ve not yet [done],” drummer Charlie Hall said in an Instagram video uploaded Tuesday, October 29.
Musician Zach Miller went on to explain to Jason, 36, in the recording studio that the horns used in the opening moments of “New Heights” laid the groundwork for the Christmas song. Hall confirmed that the group “reimagined” the sound, adding that he couldn’t wait for Travis to hear the track.
“I also just think when Travis hears it, he’s going to be very excited about it,” Jason said.
A Philly Special Christmas Party is the third holiday album from Jason and his former Philadelphia Eagles teammates Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata. The trio first collaborated on A Philly Special Christmas in 2022 with all proceeds from the record benefiting local charities. Last year, they dropped A Philly Special Christmas Special, which featured another cameo from Travis.
Jason and his brother sang “Fairytale of Philadelphia,” putting a playful twist on the Pogues classic “Fairytale of New York.”
“It’s like two people fighting, but then they really love each other. It kind of works really good for our relationship,” Jason told Travis over the phone in a clip shared via the NFL’s TikTok in November 2023. “I think it could be a look at the relationship of two brothers and how much you’re wrapped up in your family’s lives and how much that impacts where you end up in life.”
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Travis was fully on board with the idea of lending his voice to Jason’s project, but he didn’t have high hopes for his performance at the time. “Not saying it was good by any means, I’m just saying they made it sound extremely better than what I felt like I left that studio thinking,” he joked on “New Heights” last fall.
The song reached No. 1 on iTunes, which Jason chalked up to the power of Taylor Swift‘s fan base. (Travis and Swift, 34, have been dating since summer 2023.)
“That’s right, we are officially rock stars,” Jason teased on a November 2023 podcast episode. “We owe a big thanks to one group in particular, besides the 92%ers, and that’s the Swifties, ’cause the Swifties came out. I sent out one tweet when it got to eight, and I got, like, 85 tweets from Swifties across the world saying, ‘Oh, you think eight’s good? We’re taking this to No. 1,’ and they did. It’s a powerful group, it’s a powerful group of people.”
