Former Journey frontman Steve Perry has shared “Winter Wonderland,” the second single off his upcoming holiday album The Season (Fantasy Records), out Nov. 5.
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Marking the first-ever holiday album by Perry, his rendition of the “Winter Wonderland,” originally written by Felix Bernard and Richard Bernhard Smith in 1934, captures the warmth of the classic with more Motown-inspired harmonization.
“I have always felt a close love for Motown’s music and how it shaped my early school years,” says Perry. “This track is a homage to that.”
The Season features Perry’s new interpretations of eight holiday classics that have significant meaning for the singer, including memories of holidays shared with his grandmother, which he connected with the first single “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”
“When I was recording vocals for ‘I’ll be Home For Christmas,’ as I was singing Please have snow and mistletoe and presents under the tree, I was emotionally thrown into standing in my grandmother’s house staring through the door that I always hung mistletoe on,” shares Perry. “And then I saw her beautiful Christmas tree in front of her living room window.”
He adds, “I had to stop singing because it felt like I was really there. I was a bit stunned. Back home for Christmas is where everyone wants to be.”
Perry, who released his third solo album, Traces, in 2018, recently partnered with the San Francisco Giants and The Giants Community Fund for a charity auction for the holidays. Proceeds from the auction will support the Junior Giants program, which provides free baseball and softball programs for nearly 24,000 kids in more than 85 leagues in underserved communities.
The online auction features a custom-made touring tuxedo tails jacket worn during past concert performances, an autographed copy of The Season, and Perry’s 1979 Mercedes 450SL, which he drove to many Journey writing, recording, and rehearsal sessions.
