'Abbott Elementary' star Sheryl Lee Ralph adds Christmas album to showbiz resume
Ralph describes 'Sleigh' as an 'edgy and modern take on the holidays.'
Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph slays on ABC's school sitcom "Abbott Elementary" -- and brings that same energy to the holiday season.
In the same year she won an Emmy for her portrayal of the series' Barbara Howard, Ralph released a Christmas album titled "Sleigh."
In an interview with Rolling Stone, she described the LP as an "edgy and modern take on the holidays" inspired by The Jackson Five, Mariah Carey and Nat King Cole.
The album is produced by Ralph and eight-time Grammy-nominated producer B.Slade.
"It was her idea, from the very beginning, to have an intentional edge so that it would not sound like a traditional holiday album," B.Slade said in a statement from the album's distributor Syntax Creative.
Ralph said she was inspired to create a Christmas album thanks to a young man at 2021's 6abc Dunkin' Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia.
"[He] said, 'Miss Sheryl don't let next year come and you don't have a Christmas album, or song to sing in the parade.' He was so serious," she told Rolling Stone.
"I'm always excited when music is involved. I mean, if there is absolutely one universal language, I would have to say if it's going to be music, especially when people love it," she added.
"Abbott Elementary" airs Wednesday nights at 9p/8c on ABC.
