Clay Aiken‘s new album, Christmas Bells Are Ringing — his first in nearly 15 years — arrives Friday, 20 years after his first holiday album, Merry Christmas With Love. Clay says he made the album for a very specific reason, but he also thinks it’s something the world needs at this moment.
For the past 10 years, Clay’s been focusing on running for office in his home state of North Carolina. But he rediscovered his love for singing live after he and pal Ruben Studdard toured together in 2023.
“I had fun,” he tells ABC Audio. “And I thought, ‘You know what? I could see myself going out and touring or performing again.’ Then my manager said, ‘Well, you can’t go out and do it unless you have a new album,’ and I thought, ‘Oh, God.’ So the album is a means to an end, right?”
Clay’s planning a Christmas tour for 2025. But as for why he chose to make a holiday album, he says, “Christmas just felt like the right place to start for me. It is something that’s all positive. … [It’s] supposed to hearken back to that sort of Perry Como, Andy Williams sort of vibe of cozy, safety, security.”
He laughs, “I feel like after what I’ve done for the last decade, and after the year that the world has gone through — yeah. Something safe and secure … I wanted to be a part of that.”
And keeping with that vibe, Clay is only singing classic tunes and old favorites.
“Everybody thinks they’re going to be the next Mariah and come up with this new, catchy Christmas song,” Clay says. “But no one’s going to beat Mariah. … So I didn’t want to try. I didn’t want to try for new original songs because no one ever remembers those.”
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