As if on cue, a short snowfall set the scene for the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting on Wednesday. Over 50,000 multi-colored lights lit up the night to thousands of cheers from spectators, but that wasn’t the only star of the evening.
The live broadcast ceremony was hosted by Emmy and Grammy Award winner Kelly Clarkson, with special appearances by NBC’s ‘TODAY’ anchors Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Al Roker and Craig Melvin.
In the hours leading up to the lighting, viewers were wowed with a mix of live and pre-taped performances from Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Hudson, RAYE, Coco Jones, Dan + Shay, Megan Hilty, Little Big Town and Thalía. The Radio City Rockettes also gave their traditional showing, also via pre-taped performance.
Kelly Clarkson closed the ceremony with her aptly chosen classic “Underneath the Tree,” just before the tree was lit at 9:58 p.m. by Tishman Speyer Chairman Jerry Speyer and CEO Rob Speyer, with the Mayor of New York City Eric Adams and TODAY anchor Hoda Kotb.
The 74-foot-tall Norway Spruce was adorned with energy-efficient LED lights along five miles of wire and topped with a 900-pound Swarovski Star designed by architect Daniel Libeskind.
The tree was scouted four years ago by representatives of the Rockefeller Center from the side yard of the Albert family in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Patriarch Earl Albert planted it with his late wife as a newlywed in 1967 and donated it in her honor.
“[Christmas] was my mother’s holiday. She shopped for it year-round; we cooked for it days and weeks ahead of time,” said Michael Albert, Earl Albert’s son. “It’s been truly heartwarming for the entire family, for my father, donating for my mom’s memory.”
“When I found it back in 2020, I knew that one day it would be here at Rockefeller Center,” said Erik Pauze, Head Gardener at Rockefeller Center.
Since April, Pauze has been visiting the tree, feeding and watering it every few weeks until it was cut down on Nov. 7.
“You meet a lot of great people, the local people get excited,” said Pauze. “It becomes a really great process.”
Visitors can view the lit tree on Sunday through Wednesday from 5 a.m. to midnight and Thursday through Saturday from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. It will stay lit all 24 hours of Christmas, and from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. It will be on view until mid-January.
