NEW YORK (AP) — The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, an icon of New York City’s holiday season, was lit up Wednesday night in midtown Manhattan as crowds of people wearing Santa hats and Christmas light necklaces cheered.
This year’s towering evergreen is illuminated by more than 50,000 multicolored LED lights and topped by a Swarovski star weighing 900 pounds (408 kilograms).
Country music star Reba McEntire hosted NBC’s live broadcast of the tree-lighting ceremony, taking over from singer Kelly Clarkson, who did it in recent years. Famed dance troupe the Radio City Rockettes, who are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year, were among the performers. Singers Michael Bublé, Marc Anthony, Halle Bailey, Gwen Stefani and Kristin Chenoweth also performed.
The 75-foot (23-meter) Norway spruce was cut down at a home in the Albany suburbs, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Manhattan.
Homeowner Judy Russ said the family donated it in honor of her late husband, Dan, who died five years ago at age 32. She said the tree was planted by his great-grandparents in the 1920s.
“This is helping fill a massive hole,” Russ told NBC ahead of the ceremony. “It makes it feel like he’s with us again, bringing all of our family together.”
The tree stays on display until mid-January in front of the Art Deco skyscraper at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, overlooking the complex’s famous ice skating rink. It will then be milled into lumber for use by the affordable housing nonprofit Habitat for Humanity.
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The first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was purchased and put up in 1931 by workers at the center who pooled their money in a bid to raise spirits during the Great Depression. That tree, a comparatively modest 20-foot (6-meter) balsam fir, was trimmed with handmade garlands made by the workers’ families.
The tradition stuck, and the first annual tree-lighting ceremony was held in 1933.