By Spotlight Central, Photos by Love Imagery
originally published: 12/14/2025
A holiday crowd bustles into Morristown, NJ’s Mayo Performing Arts Center this Thursday, December 4, 2025 evening for a special Greatest Hits Christmas Tour performance by singer/songwriter LeAnn Rimes.
Born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1982, LeAnn Rimes was raised in Dallas and began singing and dancing in local variety shows at the age of five. She quickly built a dedicated following in Texas where she garnered the attention of Dallas record promoter and disc jockey Bill Mack. At the age of eleven LeAnn recorded her first album.
By fourteen, Rimes had signed with Curb Records and recorded Blue, which debuted at #3 on the pop charts. The album’s title song “Blue” — originally written by Mack for country legend Patsy Cline — reached #1 on the Billboard country charts and earned Rimes her first two Grammy Awards.
At 15, Rimes’ album, You Light Up My Life — featuring the Grammy-nominated “How Do I Live” — became the first album in music history to simultaneously debut at #1 on the pop, country, and contemporary Christian charts.
In 2000, Rimes made her motion picture debut acting in the film, Coyote Ugly. She also recorded several tunes for the film’s soundtrack. She can currently be seen on the ABC-TV show 9–1–1: Nashville. Her latest recording, Greatest Hits Christmas, was released this year.
Inside the MPAC auditorium, musicians Greg Hagan on guitars and keyboards, Anton Nesbitt on bass, and Taku Hirano on drums take their places on stage.
LeAnn Rimes, 43, enters singing an a cappella rendition of “We Need a Little Christmas,” her full, clear voice filling the auditorium as she croons, “Haul out the holly/Put up the tree before my spirit falls again.” Greg Hagan joins in on guitar for the song’s “We need a little Christmas/Right this very moment” chorus before Taku Hirano’s drums roll right into a bluesy 12/8 version of “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Rimes sings with power and feeling as she’s accompanied by Hagan’s twangy guitar and Anton Nesbitt’s tight bass on this 1990 Vince Vance and the Valiants’ tune.
Following excited applause, Rimes announces, “Hello, New Jersey! How are you?” prior to adding, “This is the first night of our holiday tour — let’s have some fun!” and getting the audience clapping along on a swinging version of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Looking and sounding festive, Rimes dances downstage as Hagan plays a rockabilly guitar solo on this happy-go-lucky holiday favorite.
Rimes takes a seat on a stool downstage and talks about how her godparents gave her a love of holiday music.
Here, Rimes performs Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas” where she adds vocal embellishments as Hagan accompanies her on guitar.
Anton Nesbitt’s walking bass line leads Rimes and Co. into “Blue” where Rimes effortlessly sings up, down, and around the melody, her beautiful, rich, clear honey-coated tone delighting the crowd. Hagan renders a vintage ‘50s-style guitar solo while Hirano plays his drums with brushes before the crowd cheers for Rimes’ vocal gymnastics along with the work of her accomplished musicians.
Rimes follows up with her “favorite Christmas song” — “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” Crooning, “Don’t want a doll/No dinky Tinker Toy/I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy,” she’s supported by Nesbitt’s low and funky bass playing which contrasts nicely with Hagan’s high-flying guitar on this funky holiday tune.
Concertgoers cheer and Rimes exclaims, “That just brings me so much joy!” before talking about performing in the movie, Coyote Ugly, at the age of 17. Here, Hagan accompanies her as she sings, “But I Do Love You,” a country ballad which she recorded for the film. Moving on to another song from the soundtrack, Rimes performs “Right Kind Of Wrong,” a power ballad where her soulful vocal rises above the pulsating band.
Rimes talks about her love for the music of Joni Mitchell before easing into Mitchell’s “River.” Hagan fingerpicks his acoustic guitar accompanying Rimes as she sings, “It’s coming on Christmas/They’re cutting down trees,” on this modern Christmas classic which, as Rimes acknowledges, “breaks my heart in the best of ways.”
Hirano stands beside a snare drum set up for him on the side of the stage. Hagan’s keyboard organ sound fills the theater as Hirano plays a march rhythm to “The Little Drummer Boy.” Rimes’ voice is soulful and resonant as she sings with sparse accompaniment bringing this classic Christmas story song to life. After Nesbitt joins in on bass, Rimes ends the arrangement with a vocal ad-lib and the instruments drop out one by one and fade away leaving LeAnn’s pristine voice to conclude the song. Audience members react by standing and applauding at their seats.
Rimes reveals, “This next song was written during COVID when I needed some hope.” Here, acoustic guitar, voice, and shimmering cymbals render the rubato introduction to “Something Better’s Coming” before the band kicks in and Rimes sings with feeling as she moves to the beat of this joyful and rhythmic folk-pop tune.
Asking for audience participation, the crowd happily claps and sings along with Rimes and Co. on an upbeat rendition of “Must Be Santa” before the arrangement falls apart and Rimes wonders, “Did we f*ck this up?” After starting the number again from the top, Rimes yodels at the end and concertgoers hoot and holler, to which Rimes jokes about the experience, “That was a great moment!”
Performing an extended version of her Y2K Top 20 song from Coyote Ugly, “Can’t Fight the Moonlight,” Rimes sings, “You can try to resist/Try to hide from my kiss/But you know but you know/That you can’t fight the moonlight,” before the crowd echo-sings and claps along on this rockin’ number.
Rimes features her bandmates on a funky mash-up of Christmas tunes — including “Jingle Bell Rock” where Nesbitt slaps his bass, “Here Comes Santa Claus” which includes a screaming Greg Hagan electric guitar solo, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” where Hirano rumbles out a percussion solo, and George Michael’s “Last Christmas” — before the ensemble segues back into “Can’t Fight the Moonlight” for a grand conclusion.
Following huge applause, Rimes announces, “I did a movie for Hallmark a couple of years ago” prior to stepping into a song from the film, “It’s Christmas Eve,” where Hagan accompanies Rimes playing grand piano on this lovely ballad.
Rimes admits, “I know this next song has been a part of so many magical memories for people,” before performing her biggest hit, “How Do I Live.” With Hagan accompanying her on acoustic guitar, the natural gift of Rimes’ three-octave range is on display for all to hear, feel, and enjoy as she poignantly sings, “How do I live without you/I want to know/How do I breathe without you/If you ever go” on this classic country-pop ballad.
Music lovers stand, cheer, and demand an encore and Rimes take a seat at the piano where she declares, “So much love tonight! I hope you have a beautiful holiday!” Rimes gives a soulful a cappella performance of “Auld Lang Syne” before accompanying herself on piano on Darrell Brown’s “There Will Be a Better Day.” ” Following the song’s a cappella “Alleluia Alleluia/ There will be a better day” coda, the crowd stands and cheers and Rimes responds, “Thank you so much! God bless you,” before concluding, “Love each other.”
As concertgoers exit the auditorium, several share their thoughts on LeAnn Rimes’ performance tonight. Remarks Gabriella from Morris County, “I thought this show was spot-on for the season — exactly what we all need at this time. Now, the music is in my heart and it will carry me all through the holiday season; it was beautiful.”
Diana from Long Valley declares, “LeAnn was absolutely amazing! I’d never seen her before and she was phenomenal — she did great songs and her band was wonderful, too.” Steve from Long Valley agrees, adding, “It was a beautiful show. LeAnn did a fantastic job. She told great stories and got everyone into the Christmas mood.”
James from Morris Township exclaims, “This was my first time seeing LeAnn, and she is so talented! I thought her voice was fantastic and the show was great.” Caitlin from Morris Township concurs, noting, “LeAnn was great — amazing! The last time I saw her was in the movie, Coyote Ugly, and she was so impressive tonight — she’s still got it — and her personality is amazing, too; she’s so sweet.”
Whereas Denise from Clifton insists, “I loved her! She was so good — she has an amazing voice!” Joseph from Clifton reveals, “One of the first things we noticed was that there were only three band members and we thought that might not be enough until we heard her sing. Her voice is so good, it’s like another instrument!”
Lastly, Bruce from Parsippany suggests, “LeAnn Rimes has a voice that spans many genres of music — jazz, pop, rock, soul, and country. She’s effervescent and bubbly and such a joy to watch on stage, it makes me say, ‘Without Rimes or reason, she’s a Christmas gift to us all!”
To learn more about LeAnn Rimes, please go to leannrimesworld.com. To find out about upcoming events at MPAC — including David Foster and Katherine McPhee on February 6, The Temptations and The Four Tops on February 12, and Linda Eder: With Love from Linda on February 14 — please go to mayoarts.org.
Photos by Love ImagerySpotlight Central. Your source for Jersey entertainment news and reviews
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