Like most people this time of year, Rita Wilson is celebrating the holidays with music. The multi-talented star recently teamed up with Vince Gill on "Count Your Blessings," and songwriter/producer Daniel Tashian on "Christmas in the Heart."
Wilson and Gill have worked together in the past, and "Count Your Blessings" takes their collaborative relationship full circle. Especially given all that has happened over the last two years, the song delivers a timely message of gratitude with lyrics like, "Count your blessings while you may/ For we are here but little time to stay/ All around are hearts sincere and true/ Lovely things abound just waiting for you."
Rita tells iHeartRadio of working with Vince on their latest duet, "We had worked together before on my first album AM/FM for the song 'Faithless Love.' When Vince sings, my heart actually aches. He does something to my soul that I can't explain. Working with Vince is a gift because he makes everything sound fabulous."
She added of what "Count Your Blessings" personally means to her, "I am very aware of the fragility of life. So every day that I wake up is already something to be thankful for. It has been a challenging two years, for sure, so having good health is not to be taken for granted."
Earlier this fall, Wilson joined Daniel Tashian on another holiday song, "Christmas in the Heart." Ironically, the track was actually written during the summertime, and while the two were in entirely different countries. As Tashian explained on Twitter, "We wrote this in the heat of the summer, she was in Greece and I was in ... Tennessee. But that didn’t stop us from feeling the Christmas spirit."
Rita adds in a statement to iHeartRadio, "Daniel and I wrote 'Christmas in the Heart' during summer when it's sweltering outside! Snow is far from your mind. And the spirit of Christmas really can be with you all year. Love and kindness never go out of season."