Laine Hardy Welcomes The Holidays With ‘Please Come Home For Christmas’ Music Video

Laine Hardy says when talk began about recording a Christmas song, he thought back to some of the music that had inspired him through the years. And ‘Please Come Home For Christmas’ came to mind immediately.

“I thought of the Eagles song,” Hardy explains. “It’s not actually their song, but their version of it. I grew up with classic rock influences and that’s the one I wanted to record.”

The song was written by blues singer and pianist, Charles Brown, who first recorded it in 1960. Others have since covered it and made it popular like the Eagles in 1978 and Jon Bon Jovi in the early 90s.

Hardy says the sentiment of ‘coming home for Christmas’ rings especially true with all that’s happened throughout 2020 due to COVID-19.

“With everything going on right now, there are going to be a lot of people missing family and loved ones this Christmas. So, I wanted to make my own version of the song and hope it lifts people up this year.”

He also wanted to share some of his own Christmas memories. Hardy grew up in the small town of Livingston, Louisiana and went back through years of old family photos to include some of them in the music video.  

“During my childhood we always got together as a family and opened presents and took pictures. You’ll see baby pictures of me and some old goofy pictures of me. Going through them really brought back a lot of memories.”

It’s been just a little over a year-and-a-half ago since Hardy won Season 17 of American Idol (May 2019). He has special memories of working with judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Ritchie, and Katy Perry, and maintains close contact with fellow singers and friends he met on the show. He’s been invited back to perform several times with his most recent appearance on May 10th where he did his rendition of “Life Is A Highway.”

He moved to Nashville last summer and this year has traveled back and forth between there and his family home in Louisiana. As he’s pursued his music career, while there have been no live venue performances, he has released new music and stay connected with fans through virtual touring. He says he’s really enjoyed doing the online shows.

“I just love to play music. I love to play for people.”

This past July, he released a single called “Tiny Town” that’s surpassed 2 million audio and video streams, and is now at country radio. They lyrics struck pretty close to home the first time he heard it.

“The song was written by Michael Tyler,” Hardy says. “He’s from Missouri and it relates so much to a small town like where I’m from. Being able to record it was an honor.”

Hardy has another new song out called “Other LA.” This is one he co-wrote (with Andy Sheridan, Erik Dylan and Dan Isbel) after spending time in Los Angeles during American Idol.

“I was out there for about seven to eight weeks and in the middle of all of it, I wrote down ‘Other LA’ in my notes. LA is the abbreviation for Los Angeles and it’s also the abbreviation for Louisiana. So, one day during a songwriting session I was scrolling through my notes and I found it.”

The idea was to show that while Los Angeles is a special place, there is nothing quite like home.

“The song talks about palm trees and how the weather’s nice and everything. California is awesome, but home is where my heart is, and I’m still grounded here in Louisiana.”

Hardy says he’s happy to be spending time there now, as he continues working on songwriting.

“I’ve been gathering inspiration while I’m home. I just started songwriting last year and fell in love with it. It’s like you’re painting a picture, making something that’s yours. It’s your emotions painted in a song and it’s really cool.

He has a new album in the works for release early next year and continues with virtual tour dates. For now, though, he’s looking forward to spending the holidays with family and reflecting on how fortunate he is to release his first Christmas song as an artist.  

“I’m really excited to record a Christmas song,” he explains. “When I was a kid growing up, I never expected to be a country singer or to be playing music or anything. So, this feels like a dream to me.”