Exclusive

Darlene Love Thankful to Have a Home at The View After David Letterman Left The Late Show

Plus, the singer tells E! News about her holiday music being snuck into Love Actually

By Zach Johnson, Beth Sobol Dec 15, 2016 5:20 PMTags
Darlene Love, The ViewLou Rocco/ABC

Thanks to The View, Darlene Love's "Christmas Baby (Please Come Home)" has a new home.

For 28 years, Love performed her signature holiday hit on CBS' The Late Show. David Letterman left the late-night show in May 2015, turning Love into a free agent. The 75-year-old singer still performs the 1963 classic at concerts around the country, including yearly gigs in New York City.

Love was invited to sing on ABC's popular morning show in 2015, and she was asked to do it again on Friday's episode of The View. "After doing it 28 years on the Letterman show, the last time David saw me he said, 'I sure hope someone picks this up.' And usually, people don't want to do something that someone else did for so long, but they are doing it," she told E! News after taking the stage. "This is my second year on The View, so I think we found a new home."

Though she no longer speaks to Letterman as regularly, Love still keeps in touch with Paul Shaffer. "Me and Paul are buddies," she explained, "but I still see Dave every now and then."

read
The View Co-Hosts Dish on Raven-Symoné and Candace Cameron Bure's Exits

It's hard to imagine the holidays without Love, who recorded "All Alone on Christmas" for the Home Alone 2: Lost in New York soundtrack and contributed to Jingle All the Way's soundtrack.

Unbeknownst to her, "All Alone on Christmas" was also prominently featured in another popular holiday movie. "I didn't even know I was in Love Actually until a fan called and said, 'Do you know that movie?' They don't tell you because they don't want to pay you," she claimed. "Fans told me and I watched the movie and I went, 'I'm all the way through this movie!' I had to get in touch with the union so I could get paid! I happen to have great fans; they always keep me abreast of everything going on in my career. They know more about me than I do!"

December is Love's busiest month of the year, and she's grateful to play even a small part in people's holiday traditions. "You know," she told E! News, "when [music producer] Phil Spector recorded these Christmas songs, I don't think he had an idea they were still going to be around all these years and that my career was going to be around these songs, which is really great."

The View's Holiday Show with Love and Patti LaBelle airs Friday at 11 a.m. ET.