The Birds are singing again: Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata, and Lane Johnson team up on third — and (maybe) final — Eagles holiday album

The Philly Specials are throwing a Christmas party.

Philadelphia Eagles singing linemen Jordan Mailata, Lane Johnson, and their newly retired teammate Jason Kelce will release a third album of holiday songs to benefit local charities in November.

A Philly Special Christmas Party, which follows 2022′s A Philly Special Christmas and last year’s A Philly Special Christmas Special, is scheduled to arrive on Black Friday (Nov. 29).

The album, once again produced by the War on Drugs’ drummer Charlie Hall, will feature the trio of singing Birds and an all-star group of local musicians, now collectively known as the Philly Specials.

This year’s guests include Boyz II Men, Kelce’s brother Travis, Delco-raised singer Devon Gilfillian, and acclaimed Philly sax player Immanuel Wilkins, plus other locally and nationally known artists that are not yet announced.

“This is the final one, the last in the series,” said Connor Barwin, the former Eagle defensive end who’s the executive producer of the project, which raised $3 million last year for the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and close to 50 other local organizations. ”We’re going out with a bang.”

The project’s first single is “Christmas Time (in Cleveland Heights),” a new song written by Zach Miller of Dr. Dog that teams the Kelce Brothers — who signed a $100 million deal for their New Heights podcast with Amazon last month — with Shawn Stockman, Nathan Morris, and Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men.

The song will mark the second vocal team-up for the Kelce bothers, who made their duet debut with an update of the Pogues’ “Fairytale of Philadelphia,” which topped the iTunes singles sales chart.

“The song is about being away from home on the holidays,” said Jason Kelce, speaking to The Inquirer from his home in Haverford, just as he returned from his Shore house in Sea Isle City. “I think musicians and athletes and a lot of people can empathize with that. You end up thinking about it, and yearning for the time when you were back home.”

“And Travis and I have been away from home for so long, so the song really hits home for us and I think the people of Cleveland Heights. And to have Boyz II Mean sing on it? When I heard that was even a possibility, I couldn’t believe it. It’s really an R&B song that’s right in their wheelhouse.”

“It’s Christmas Time (in Cleveland Heights)” will be accompanied by an animated video.

The song comes out on Friday, Nov. 1, to be followed by four more songs on each successive Friday leading up to the release of the full album, which was recorded at Rob Hyman of the Hooters’ Elm Street Studios in Conshohocken this year before the start of Eagles training camp in July.

“Having a Party,” the Sam Cooke song that was also recorded in a well-known version by Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, will also be in the album spotlighting psychedelic soul singer Gilfillian. In the Philly Specials take, Cooke’s 1962 hit becomes a Christmas party song.

» READ MORE: All the songs from the Eagles’ new Christmas album reviewed. Yes, even the newest ones.

Further guests will be announced in the coming weeks. Sorry Swifties, the world’s biggest pop star will not be one of them.

“Taylor Swift is not on the record,” Barwin said. Rather than fuel speculation that Swift — whose relationship with Travis Kelce began after the second Philly Special album was completed in 2023 — may or may not be appearing on this year’s album, Barwin said the Specials wanted to be clear she isn’t.

“We’re not going to play that game,” said Barwin, the Eagles’ head of player development, who spoke from the Nova Care Center in South Philly as the team was getting ready to head to Brazil for its season opener against the Green Bay Packers on Friday.

Last year, A Philly Special Christmas Special sold 50,000 LPs. With A Philly Special Christmas Party, Barwin hopes to double that number and raise $6 million, with chief beneficiaries again being the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center and CHOP’s CARE Project, plus a host of local charities selected by Philly Specials musicians.

The 12-track album includes a cover of Wham’s “Last Christmas,” which Kelce says “is all Jordan. Jordan is the best singer of the bunch. He’s legit. If there’s one of us that could actually make professional sounding music, it’s Jordan.”

The album also features Charles Brown’s “Please Come Home for Christmas,” José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad,” Alvin and the Chipmunks’ “Christmas Don’t Be Late,” and Philly band Mt. Joy’s “Jesus Drives an Astrovan,” recast as “Santa Drives an Astrovan.”

Kelce, who begins his new gig as analyst on ESPN’s Monday Night Football next week, also sings on Ron Sexsmith’s “Maybe This Christmas” and “Loud Little Town,” a new song written by Philly Specials member Brandon Beaver. On both, Kelce duets with singers of various degrees of fame whose names will be revealed closer to the album’s release.

Preorders can be placed at phillyspecialchristmas.com. beginning Nov. 1. LPs will ship the week of Nov. 22, with the whole album available on streaming services on Nov. 29.

Barwin said that the Philly Specials are planning to throw a Philly Special Christmas Party party to celebrate the release sometime in December.

“That won’t be open to the public,” he said. “It’ll be for the kids who benefit from the proceeds of the record.” In 2025, he said, there won’t be another Philly Specials record, but “some kind of show” that will keep the music going, probably scheduled for the summer, before the football season starts.

During the making of A Philly Special Christmas Party, “the fun thing for me is just to how much more these guys keep leaning in and how much better they’re getting at it,” Barwin said. “I think the biggest difference is Jason. He’s on a lot of songs and continues to improve as a singer.”

When the idea to make an Eagles Christmas album was born in 2021, “I wouldn’t even say we had dreams of it ever being this big,” said Barwin. “We weren’t even thinking that way. … That first year, I was worried that we weren’t going to be able to raise $20,000 for CCTC.”

A Philly Special Christmas Party closes with “The Parting Glass,” a Scottish traditional song sung a cappella by Kelce with Mailata and Johnson. It’s a song of goodbyes that would be a fitting finish if, as Barwin said, the series really is at its end.

So, is it?

“I think so,” said Kelce. “We’re not planning one for next year. I wouldn’t say definitely. But this is probably the last one.”

Whether or not it is, Kelce said he will look back at the albums with amazement.

“When we started, the idea was just to have fun. All three of us are into music. We sung in the locker room together. After games, I’d sit in Lane’s car and sing country songs with him.”

Now three albums later, “we’ve raised a lot money for a lot of organizations that do wonderful work in the city, and we’ve met all these people and created something with them together. There’s something about making something, when you do that with somebody, whether you make a song, or a table, there is just something about that that bonds you in a way that’s unique.

“So it’s been wonderful to be part of this whole group with everyone involved. If this is the last one, it’s an experience I’ll take with me and cherish forever.”