Carrie Underwood and John Legend Team up for ‘Hallelujah’ Video Ahead of Holiday Season

Thanksgiving is nearly here and people around the country are already starting to celebrate the holiday season. They are putting up trees and lights while buying egg nog lattes from local coffee shops, and now they can soon listen to the newest festive collaboration between John Legend and Carrie Underwood.

According to a press release, the two music superstars are combining their talents for a new holiday song, “Hallelujah.” Their first-ever duet is part of Underwood’s first Christmas album, “My Gift.” In addition, Legend will appear as a guest on the upcoming music special, My Gift: A Christmas Special From Carrie Underwood. The special will be available to stream on HBO Max starting Thursday, Dec. 3.

“The original song was written by Legend and Toby Gad (“All of Me”),” the press release states. Acclaimed director and photographer director, Randee St. Nicholas, served as the director for the new music video. She has previously worked with Underwood on several projects throughout her career, including “Cry Pretty,” “Drinking Alone,” “Blown Away” and “Smoke Break.” All of these videos received CMT’s Video of the Year.

“Because of John Legend’s recent unpatriotic comment, I’m very disappointed that Carrie Underwood agreed to have any association with Legends. I WILL NOT be purchasing this new album,” one person commented on Twitter after hearing about the new collaboration. Several others responded with differing opinions. Some agreed to “boycott” Legend while others said that they love the song and that they would not “listen to the haters.”

Underwood released “My Gift” on Sept. 25 and it debuted No. 1 on the Billboard Country, Christian and Holiday charts. This album was Underwood’s eight straight to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Country chart. The album is still sitting atop the Christian charts seven weeks after its release, and it also debuted No. 1 on both the United Kingdom Country and Canadian Country charts. In addition to “Hallelujah,” the album features “beloved traditional favorites” and several original tunes, two of which Underwood wrote.

The video for “Hallelujah” debuted exclusively on Facebook Thursday night, quickly amassing over 20 million views. The video then migrated to YouTube and several other platforms, generating even more views. In 18 hours, “Hallelujah” accrued more than 338,000 views on YouTube alone.