Patti LaBelle’s viral 1996 Christmas performance is the kind of beautiful holiday chaos only a true diva can survive. In this episode of Queue Points, Jay Ray and DJ Sir Daniel revisit Patti LaBelle’s legendary National Christmas Tree Lighting performance of “This Christmas,” where she walks out too early, has out of order cue cards, has no background singers in sight, and still manages to give the people a show. The hosts unpack how a production mishap turned into a Black camp classic that resurfaces on timelines every December, complete with memes, reaction videos, and annual rewatch parties. Who can resist Patti’s over-the-top, pitch perfect, pleas for her background singers?
High anxiety for her, at the time? Absolutely!
The kind of carrying on that Queue Points loves? Most definitely!
Jay Ray and Sir Daniel break down what actually went wrong that night in 1996 – from bad stage cues to dropped cards – and why the Donny Hathaway classic “This Christmas” is such a sacred Black holiday anthem in the first place. They connect the dots between Patti’s “Where my background singers?!” moment, her retelling of the disaster on The Tonight Show, and later interviews where she “forgets” the whole thing, adding another layer to the folklore. Along the way, they talk about how C‑SPAN footage ended up fueling a new kind of Christmas tradition for the social media era.
The conversation doesn’t stop at the tree lighting. Jay Ray and Sir Daniel also revisit other times Patti has broken the internet – from the infamous Tyra Banks Show cupcake segment to the Walmart Patti Pie phenomenon that turned James Wright Chanel into a viral star and boosted Patti’s sweet potato pies into must‑have holiday items. It’s a warm, funny, and deeply Black cultural conversation that treats Patti LaBelle as both an icon and a meme queen, showing how her career continues to live through clips, GIFs, and remixes online.
If you love Black music history, 90s nostalgia, Christmas chaos, and diva storytelling, this episode is for you. Throw it on while you’re trimming the tree, laughing at “Next card, honey!” edits, or debating your favorite messy live performance moments with friends and family.
