The Roots, Anthony Hamilton & the HamilTones and Pentatonix will join NBC's star-studded special CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER," set to air live from Rockefeller Center in New York on Wednesday, Nov. 30 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT). The Roots will perform two songs, one of which will feature Anthony Hamilton & the HamilTones. Two of "SNL's" brightest stars this fall, Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon, will be on hand to help light the Christmas tree.
The show will be hosted by "Today" anchors
Matt Lauer,
Savannah Guthrie,
Al Roker and
Hoda Kotb, and will also feature previously announced performances from
Tony Bennett,
Neil Diamond,
Josh Groban,
Tori Kelly,
Sarah McLachlan,
Dolly Parton, Jor
Dan Smith,
Garth Brooks &
Trisha Yearwood and the Radio City Rockettes.
The 84th annual holiday extravaganza will feature a 94-foot tall, 56-foot wide Norway Spruce from Oneonta, N.Y. The tree is approximately 90 years old, weighs approximately 14 tons and will be decorated with more than 50,000 multi-colored LED lights.
For the eighth consecutive year, "Green Is Universal" - NBCUniversal's sustainability initiative in partnership with the Arbor Day
Foundation - will kick off its annual tree-planting campaign during the "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" broadcast. This year viewers can "Share a Tree" to a national forest, by using #ShareATree or visiting
www.greenisuniversal.com to create and share an animated holiday story. Each action will contribute to the Arbor Day Foundation's tree-planting efforts, funded by a $25,000 donation from NBCUniversal.
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
THE ROOTS
The legendary Roots Crew consists of
Black Thought (MC), Questlove (drums), Kamal Gray (electronic keyboards), F. Knuckles (percussion), Captain
Kirk Douglas (electronic guitar), Damon Bryson (sousaphone) and James Poyser (electronic keyboard).The Roots have become one of the best known and most respected hip-hop acts in the business, winning four Grammy Awards, including Best R&B Album for "Wake Up!," Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for "Hang in There" (with
John Legend) and Best Group or Duo R&B Vocal Performance for "Shine." This brings the band's Grammy nomination count to 12. Additionally, "The Roots Picnic," a yearly star-studded mix of musicians, has become a celebrated institution.
The Roots were named one of the greatest live bands around by Rolling Stone and serve as the official house band on "The Tonight Show
Starring Jimmy Fallon."
Anthony Hamilton & THE HAMILTONES
Grammy Award-winning R&B singer-songwriter
Anthony Hamilton found his calling as a member of the church choir as a child in Charlotte, N.C. Following up 2011's Grammy-nominated effort "Back to Love" and his 2014 Christmas offering "Home for the Holidays," the R&B cantor maintains his southern sensibility and poignant songwriting on his fifth studio effort, "What I'm Feelin.'"
Recording majority of the "What I'm Feelin'" in
NASHVILLE at the iconic
Blackbird and House of Blues studios, Hamilton reunited with longtime collaborator Mark Batson, who produced some of his biggest hits, including 2003 platinum smash "Charlene," along with his close engineer Bruce Irvine. The celebratory set showcases life's highs more than the lows. In addition, Hamilton recruited guitar heroes
Vince Gill for the country-leaning "Never Letting Go" and Grammy winner
Gary Clark Jr. on the worldly "Ain't No Shame."
Hamilton's decorated catalog includes his 2003 debut, "Comin' From Where I'm From" (which carried the hit title track) and 2005's "Ain't Nobody Worryin,'" among other efforts. He has earned several Grammy nominations, like "Po' Folks," the 2002
Nappy Roots collaboration that earned a nod for best rap/sung collaboration, and won his first trophy in 2009 for best traditional R&B vocal performance for his duet with
Al Green on "You've Got the Love I Need." He was also featured on the soundtrack to the film "Django Unchained" with "Freedom," a duet with Elayna Boynton. He has also lent his vocals to a variety of talent, including Nas, Rick Ross,
Carlos Santana,
Jill Scott, Tupac and
Al Green to name a few. His first album in more than five years, "What I'm Feelin,'" featuring The HamilTones, in stores everywhere now.
PENTATONIX
In just five years,
Pentatonix has sold more than 3.5 million albums in the U.S. alone. They have won two
GRAMMY AWARDS and performed for hundreds of thousands of fans at their sold-out shows across the globe. Their
Youtube channel boasts more than 11 million subscribers, yielding nearly 2 billion video views, and their 2015 self-titled album has been certified gold after debuting #1 on Billboard's Top 200. All seven
Pentatonix album releases have debuted in the chart's Top 10. In 2015 the group released its first tour documentary, "On My Way Home," and appeared in the feature film "Pitch Perfect 2." On Oct. 21,
Pentatonix released their third holiday album, "A
Pentatonix Christmas," which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The album includes the group's arrangement of the
Leonard Cohen classic "Hallelujah," which debuted at #6 on Billboard's Top Digital Songs chart. The music video received more than 20 million views in its first week. "A
Pentatonix Christmas" follows 2014's "That's Christmas to Me," which has been certified 2x platinum and includes the quintet's Grammy-winning arrangement for "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy."
Pentatonix is set to host their first holiday network special, "A
Pentatonix Christmas Special," on Dec. 14 (8 p.m. ET/PT) on NBC.
"Christmas in Rockefeller Center" is produced by Brad Lachman Productions with Lachman serving as executive producer. Bill Bracken produces.
For information on previously announced performers and "Christmas in Rockefeller Center," visit http://www.nbc.com/christmas-in-rockefeller-center and the NBCUniversal Media Village website at www.nbcumv.com
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