Rock icon Bob Dylan will sing the old yuletide standards Winter Wonderland, Little Drummer Boy, Must Be Santa, Here Comes Santa Claus, I’ll Be Home For Christmas and O Little Town of Bethlehem on his first ever Christmas album, with royalties going to charity. Dylan’s “Christmas in the Heart” album is due out on October 13, nearly six months after the release of his last studio album, “Together Through Life,” which topped the charts.
Speculation about the Christmas album began surfacing a few months ago, but were initially met with disbelief by some Dylan aficionados, as the singer was not known to record Christmas songs, and his latest albums have featured original material.
Dylan will donate all his U.S. royalties from album sales to the charity group Feeding America, and in a statement he said he hopes it brings “food security to people in need.”
Feeding America said it expects to provide meals to 1.4 million people this holiday season with the album proceeds.
Columbia said Dylan plans to donate his international royalties to two charity organizations that give meals to needy people in Britain and the developing world. But details on that partnership are still being worked out.
Dylan, 68, recently finished a concert tour of minor league ballparks. The singer behind the songs “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” received a Pulitzer Prize last year for his influence on music and culture.
