One of Celine Dion's best-known holiday songs was written by Dee Snider of Twisted Sister. Surprised? Dion was, too. Apparently, she did not know Snider penned "The Magic of Christmas Day" until after cutting it for her 1998 album These Are Special Times.
"I heard that she found out years later," Snider told Ultimate Classic Rock, via NME. "And was very confused."
How did this Christmas gem emerge from one of rock's most metal dudes?
Snider said his wife requested it during "the height of [his] metal headedness." The tune he wrote was well out of his vocal range and ended up in the hands of Dion's camp.
"The first thing I said was, 'Does she know who wrote it?'" Snider asked engineer Ric Wake. "He said, 'I didn't tell her yet.' And I said, 'Do not tell her Satan wrote a Christmas song!' He said, 'Seriously?' I said, 'Seriously, dude. Just put it on the frigging album.'"
The track's title was changed from "God Bless Us Everyone" to "The Magic of Christmas Day," but the switch did not bother Snider.
"I don't care if she calls it 'This Song Is a Pile of Dog S--t'. Just put it on her album!" he said. "Eight million copies later, then it was Rosie O'Donnell's Christmas album and sold another 2 million. We call our house the House that St. Celine built!"
The singer recently announced plans to release a compilation album Rock and Roll Ain't Dead — Dee Snider Essentials 1983-2015, after his new single "Rock and Roll Ain't Dead" drops March 15.
The career-spanning compilation album will feature three new tracks alongside stuff from Twisted Sister, Widowmaker, Desperado, Van Helsing's Curse and Dee Does Broadway.
Readers: Are you surprised by the news? Let us know down in the comments section.
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