Black Pumas Cover Lou Rawls’ ‘Christmas Will Really Be Christmas’

Black Pumas recorded a cover of Lou Rawls’ “Christmas Will Really Be Christmas” for the Spotify Holiday Singles series. Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada assembled their touring band, including backing vocalists, for their take on the holiday classic.

Lou Rawls originally released “Christmas Will Really Be Christmas” on his 1967 holiday album, Merry Christmas Ho! Ho! Ho! “Doing a Christmas song is not exactly something that we normally set out to do, but this Lou Rawls song is amazing,” Quesada said. “It was produced by one of my favorite producers and arrangers, David Axelrod, so on that side of it I was drawn to it initially.”

Eric Burton provides lead vocals on the song. “It touches on a message that I think is poignant to today’s times in that Christmas isn’t really Christmas until everybody has peace and happiness,” Quesada added.

Stream audio of the track followed by a behind-the-scenes video: