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Introduction

🎄 NEIL DIAMOND TO HOST 2025 “CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER” — A SEASON OF LIGHT, LOVE, AND LEGEND 🎶✨

The snow hasn’t even begun to fall, but Christmas just arrived early for millions of fans around the world.
Moments ago, NBC confirmed what no one saw coming — Neil Diamond will host this year’s “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” special, marking the legendary singer’s first-ever time leading America’s most cherished holiday tradition.

More than a show, it’s a moment — a reunion of heart, hope, and harmony.
Beneath the dazzling glow of 50,000 lights, Neil will perform timeless Christmas classics and share the stage with some of the world’s biggest stars. Together, they’ll remind us that even in a changing world, the magic of music still brings people home.

“New York in December feels alive,” Neil said softly.
“This isn’t just about lighting a tree — it’s about lighting hearts.”

From the man whose voice has carried generations through joy and sorrow, this night promises something truly special — a celebration of love, memory, and melody that will echo far beyond Rockefeller Plaza.

📅 Live broadcast: Wednesday, December 3 at 8 p.m. ET
📺 Where to watch: NBC & Peacock

💬 Full lineup, rehearsal moments, and behind-the-scenes photos from Neil’s holiday debut — in the first comment below. 👇

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IN THE EARLY 1970s, WAYLON JENNINGS’ BANDMATES GAVE HIM A BUTTERSCOTCH-BLONDE 1953 FENDER TELECASTER AND DRESSED IT IN BLACK LEATHER. HE NEVER PLAYED IT BARE AGAIN. He was a Texas kid who had once played bass behind Buddy Holly. By 1972, Waylon Jennings was 34, trapped in a long RCA contract, tired of debt, tired of producers, and tired of Nashville telling him how country music was supposed to sound. The guitar underneath was a 1953 Telecaster. Pale yellow body. Plain pickguard. The kind of instrument that could have looked perfectly at home in any clean Nashville studio. But Waylon Jennings was no longer trying to look clean. His bandmates in The Waylors covered the guitar in black tooled leather, with white western flowers carved across it like saddlework on a working horse. Later, leather artist Terry Lankford helped shape the look that became inseparable from Waylon Jennings — the leather, the initials, the western edge, the outlaw silhouette. Waylon Jennings did the rest himself. He filed the frets down low so the strings sat close to the neck, giving the guitar part of that sharp, percussive snap people later recognized before he even started singing. He played that guitar through the outlaw years, through the wild nights, through sobriety, through The Highwaymen, and through the long road that turned him from a Nashville problem into a country music symbol. The butterscotch body was still underneath. Hidden. Quiet. Waiting under the black leather. Maybe that was why the guitar felt so much like Waylon Jennings himself. Was Waylon Jennings hiding the guitar — or finally showing the man Nashville had tried to cover up?