The first and last time Darlene Love performed Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) on Letterman

For 28 years in a row, the great Darlene Love paid a visit to David Letterman to perform Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).

It was a fabulous tradition and with Letterman retiring from the show, last year’s performance was Darlene’s last. What a run it had been.

The 2011 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame said she retired the song from television after Letterman retired. In the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom, Love credited Letterman and this holiday tradition for helping to restart her singing career.

She told Billboard last year: “This would be my 28th year in a row. They never told me not to, but it was an unspoken thing. They couldn’t ask me not to sing ‘Christmas (Baby)’ on another show, but after 10 years, then 15 years, of doing this one song on this one show, I felt I had an obligation to be true to them.”