The iHeartRadio Holiday Special is back, and so is Mario Lopez!
Last year's host is returning for the 2022 iteration of the special, which will feature interviews with artists such as Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys, Dan + Shay, John Legend and Meghan Trainor as they reflect on some personal favorite holiday memories, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal.
The special will air on iHeartMedia's AC and Classic Hits stations nationwide on Nov. 23 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time.
"You always know it's the holiday season when iHeartRadio stations across America start playing Christmas music," Tom Poleman, Chief Programming Officer for iHeartMedia, shared in a release. "To get everyone in the mood we're bringing back the iHeartRadio Holiday Special with Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys, Dan + Shay, John Legend and Meghan Trainor, who will be sharing holiday memories with our host Mario Lopez to help us all get in the spirit."
The celebration arrives as iHeartMedia flips its stations to play Christmas music on November 11 at 5 p.m., which marks an around-the-clock change that will impact 80 stations across the country. Each year, this usually just happens on Christmas Day in key markets, but iHeartRadio is ready to really bring the holiday cheer for 2022.
iHeartRadio will also be continuing to offer Christmas music on stations like "iHeartChristmas," "North Pole Radio," "iHeartChristmas Classics," and some specialized stations like iHeartChristmas R&B, iHeartChristmas Country and iHeartChristmas Rock.
The special arrives just a month after the Backstreet Boys — Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, and Kevin Richardson — released their first Christmas album since the group was formed in 1993, A Very Backstreet Christmas. The album includes 13 songs, three of which are originals and the others covers of classic Christmas classics.
While making the album, band members McLean and Carter told Variety that they found inspiration in a possibly surprising place — another former boyband member. In fact, one track on the new LP was inspired by Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling."
"Justin wrote a really great song and we wanted to write a happy, uplifting song that had the same feel," Carter said. "Especially with the way the world is right now. It was like, 'Let's put some positive stuff out there,' so we wrote 'Happy Days.'"
McLean told PEOPLE in October that he hopes the record "stands the test of time," and certainly sees the group creating "new contemporary music for years to come," at least after they wrap their European leg of their DNA World Tour, which is scheduled through March 2023.
"The sky's the limit. We loosely talked about making another album," McLean said. "We've talked about going back to Vegas for a much lengthier stay, residency-wise. And if that is how things transpire, we will have time to make another record, while we're in Vegas or on downtime. Or we might just put out singles, it's kind of a singles market as well. We don't necessarily have to have a full-on LP, but who's to say?"
