ABC/Paula Lobo
ABC/Paula LoboSheryl Crow is preparing to celebrate Christmas with her two young sons, Wyatt, 10, and Levi, 7. She says the two are now old enough to start asking the awkward holiday question that no parent wants to hear.
“They’re starting to say, ‘Mom, you’re really Santa, right?'” she tells ABC Radio. “And if I even allude to the fact that maybe I’m not, they’re like, ‘Oh, maybe she’s not! We don’t wanna screw it up, we wanna make sure Santa comes!'”
But no matter who brings the gifts, Crow says, both boys “have a lengthy list this year.” But for Sheryl, it’s not the presents that make the holiday. She says there’s a special moment each year when she truly knows that Christmas has arrived.
“We always go to Christmas Eve service,” she tells ABC Radio. “I sing in the choir, my mom sings in the choir, been doing it for my whole life. And now [the boys] do it, and that’s really when Christmas feels like Christmas.”
As you prepare to celebrate at home, you can watch Crow sing for your holiday music pleasure. On Friday, PBS stations nationwide will air Christmas at Belmont, an annual holiday concert taped at Nashville’s Belmont University. It features performances from Belmont’s School of Music students, and Sheryl, of course. It’s also a family affair.
Earlier this month, Crow released a charity single called “The Dreaming Kind” to raise money for Sandy Hook Promise, which works to educate people about the warning signs of gun violence. Her niece duetted with her on the record, and both her nephews sang backup. And on Christmas at Belmont, her nephew Bradley, a freshman at the school, joins her for a duet.