Dolly Parton, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond, Josh Groban, Tori Kelly, Sarah McLachlan, Jordan Smith, Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood and the Radio City Rockettes Set to Perform
NEW YORK, N.Y. (November 3, 2016) – NBC celebrates the lighting of the world’s most famous Christmas tree with “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” on Wednesday, Nov. 30 (8-9 p.m. ET).
NBC’s “Today” anchors Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker and Hoda Kotb will host the broadcast from New York City’s Rockefeller Center. The special will feature dazzling holiday performances from Dolly Parton, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond, Josh Groban, Tori Kelly, Sarah McLachlan, Jordan Smith, Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood, the Radio City Rockettes and more.
Prior to the primetime telecast, an additional live hour of the special will be broadcast on select NBC stations (7-8 p.m. ET). Check local listings.
The 84th annual tree lighting will feature a 94-foot tall, 56-foot wide Norway spruce from Oneonta, N.Y. It 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 HOSTS:
Matt Lauer has been co-anchor of NBC News’ “Today” since January 1997. During his tenure, Lauer has conducted numerous remarkable and newsmaking interviews, including President Barack Obama, former President George W. Bush, Prince William and Prince Harry of Wales, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Capt. Richard Phillips. He has covered countless breaking news events, traveled to 49 different locations in his trademark “Where in the World Is Matt Lauer” series, and has anchored from the past eight Olympic Games. www.twitter.com/MLauer
Savannah Guthrie is the co-anchor of NBC News’ “Today” as well as NBC News’ chief legal correspondent. Since joining “Today,” she has conducted a wide range of exclusive interviews with newsmakers, including President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power and former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords. Guthrie has anchored major breaking news events, including the Boston Marathon bombing, the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris and the 2013 Moore, Okla., tornado. As part of her work on “Today,” she received a 2011 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Morning Show. www.twitter.com/SavannahGuthrie
Al Roker has been the weather and feature anchor on NBC News’ “Today” since January 1996. Since July 2009 he has been co-host of the morning show “Wake Up with Al” on the Weather Channel. New York magazine has twice named Roker Best Weatherman. He serves as host of “The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,” the “Rose Bowl Parade” and appears on various specials on NBC. As CEO of Al Roker Entertainment, he produces programming for traditional TV networks as well as OTT and digital platforms. www.twitter.com/alroker
Hoda Kotb is the co-host of the fourth hour of “Today,” alongside Kathie Lee Gifford. Kotb has also been a “Dateline” correspondent since April 1998 and covered a variety of domestic and international stories, as well as human-interest pieces and features across all NBC News platforms. Since Gifford and Kotb teamed up in 2008, the fourth hour of “Today” has been hailed as “appointment television” by Entertainment Weekly, “uproarious and irresistible” by People, and “Today’s happy hour” by USA Today. Kotb is a New York Times Bestselling author for her book “Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer and Kathie Lee.” www.twitter.com/hodakotb
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:
DOLLY PARTON
An internationally renowned superstar, the iconic Dolly Parton has contributed countless treasures to the world of music entertainment, penning classic songs such as “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “Here You Come Again” and her mega-hit “I Will Always Love You.” Parton is the most honored female country performer of all time, achieving 25 RIAA certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards, 41 career top 10 country albums, seven Grammy Awards, 10 Country Music Association Awards, five Academy of Country Music Awards and three American Music Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Following last year’s holiday special, 2016’s “Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love” will air Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 9 p.m., and will unveil the next chapter in the life of young Dolly. www.twitter.com/DollyParton
TONY BENNETT
No one in popular American music has recorded for so long and at such a high level of excellence than Tony Bennett. With millions of records sold worldwide and platinum and gold albums to his credit, Bennett has received 19 Grammys and the Grammy Lifetime Award. His initial successes came via a string of Columbia singles in the early 1950s, including such chart-toppers as “Because of You,“ "Rags to Riches” and a remake of Hank Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart.” He had 24 songs in the Top 40, including “I Wanna Be Around,“ “The Good Life,” “Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)” and his signature song,” I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” which garnered him two Grammy Awards. In celebration of Bennett’s 90th birthday this year, NBC will air the two-hour special “Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet to Come” Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 9 p.m. A companion CD, “Tony Bennett Celebrates 90,” featuring the musical performances from the NBC special will ! be released Dec. 16 and Bennett’s latest book “Just Getting Started” will be released Nov. 15. www.twitter.com/itstonybennett
NEIL DIAMOND
Throughout an illustrious and wide-ranging musical career, Neil Diamond has sold more than 125 million albums worldwide and has charted 37 Top 40 singles and 16 Top 10 albums both in the U.S. and internationally. A Grammy Award-winning artist, Diamond is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the highest honors bestowed upon songwriters. Diamond’s many other achievements include a Golden Globe Award, 13 Grammy nominations and 2009’s NARAS’s MusiCares Person of the Year award. In October, Diamond released his holiday collection “Acoustic Christmas,” featuring new recordings of holiday favorites and original tracks by Diamond. www.twitter.com/neildiamond
JOSH GROBAN
Josh Groban is an internationally renowned singer, songwriter and actor whose baritone voice is instantly recognizable and unparalleled among his peers. He has entertained fans across the globe with his multiplatinum albums and DVDs (selling more than 30 million worldwide), electrifying live performances, and comedic film and television appearances. Groban is the only artist who has had two albums land on Billboard’s list of 20 bestsellers of the last 10 years. In 2015, Groban released his seventh studio album, “Stages” — a collection of some of the greatest musical theater songs of all time, which Groban describes as “gorgeously arranged songs that have stood the test of time.” Groban is currently starring as “Pierre” in the new Broadway musical “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.” www.twitter.com/joshgroban
TORI KELLY
The 2016 Best New Artist Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter and producer has been hailed as an “Artist to Watch” by Rolling Stone, USA Today and Spin. The California native sold out her U.S. tour in support of her debut album, “Unbreakable Smile,” which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and includes the hits “Nobody Love” and “Should’ve Been Us.” “Unbreakable Smile” was reissued with two additional tracks: “Hollow,” which topped the Top 25 on pop radio and climbed on the Rhythmic charts, and a brand new song, “Something Beautiful.” This December, Kelly stars as Meena in the event film “Sing,” from Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures, alongside Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane and Scarlett Johansson. www.twitter.com/torikelly
SARAH MCLACHLAN
Sarah McLachlan is one of the most celebrated singer songwriters with more than 40 million albums sold worldwide. She is an eight-time Juno Award winner and a three-time Grammy Award winner. McLachlan’s landmark fifth album, the 10x-platinum “Surfacing,” contained two Grammy–winning tracks: “Building a Mystery” and “Last Dance.” In October, McLachlan released her holiday collection, “Wonderland,” featuring collaborations with Emmylou Harris, Martha Wainwright, Canadian quartet Half Moon Run and the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra. www.twitter.com/SarahMcLachlan
JORDAN SMITH
Jordan Smith showed the world his musical gift in 2015 when he became the bestselling artist in the history of “The Voice” and the winner of season nine. Smith’s honesty made history. Not only did he cement himself as “The Voice’s” biggest seller, moving 1.5 million singles in six months, but he launched eight songs to the Top 10 of iTunes— the first artist from any season to hit the iTunes Top 10 every single week of the Live Rounds. He also became one of two “The Voice” artists to notch three #1’s during the show’s season. This year Smith released his debut album, “Something Beautiful,” via Republic Records in March and his holiday album, “Tis the Season,” in October. www.twitter.com/JordanSmithLive
GARTH BROOKS & TRISHA YEARWOOD
Garth Brooks is the first artist in history to receive seven Diamond Awards for the now seven albums certified by the RIAA at over 10 million album sales each and remains the #1-selling solo artist in U.S. history certified by the RIAA with more than 138 million album sales. Along with wife and platinum-selling, multiple Grammy-, CMA- and ACM-wining artist Trisha Yearwood, Brooks is currently on the three-year Garth Brooks World Tour with Yearwood, which began with 11 sold-out shows in the Allstate Arena in Chicago and, in year two, is approaching 5 million tickets sold, making it the biggest tour in the world. The duo will release their first-ever duets collaboration, “Christmas Together,” by Pearl Records later this month. www.twitter.com/garthbrooks; www.twitter.com/trishayearwood
THE RADIO CITY ROCKETTES
Embraced by generations of families, the “Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes” is a one-of-a-kind tradition where the unmistakable spirit of Christmas in New York comes alive. The 2016 production of the “Christmas Spectacular,” which runs Nov. 11- Jan. 2, features stunning Rockettes dance numbers, spectacular costumes and state-of-the-art technology. The Radio City Rockettes are a legendary dance company and have been a part of the fabric of New York City for decades. Since their debut in the “Christmas Spectacular” in 1933, the Rockettes have danced into the hearts of millions and spread joy to people of all ages. Their precision technique continues to inspire fans of all ages and their talent and athleticism is unrivaled. www.twitter.com/rockettes!
“Christmas in Rockefeller Center” is produced by Brad Lachman Productions with Lachman serving as executive producer. Bill Bracken produces.
For more information on “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” visit nbc.com/christmas-in-rockefeller-center and the NBC Universal Media Village website at www.nbcumv.com.
Please follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NBC and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NBC.