Rod Stewart gets into holiday spirit with new album

• Stewart's Christmas collection gets a pre-Halloween release date (Oct. 30)
• Guests range from Cee Lo Green to the late Ella Fitzgerald
• The singer says producer David Foster is a "genius" of the genre

When you've made it big in the pop-music world, a Christmas album is practically a rite of passage, one that's been embraced by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Twisted Sister.

This yuletide season brings snuggle-by-the-hearth offerings from Lady Antebellum, Colbie Caillat and the reunited Grease duo of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. But Rod Stewart also wants to stuff your stocking.

"I've been putting this album off for a long time, but once I knew I could get (producer and arranger) David Foster involved, I was in," says Stewart of Merry Christmas, Baby (in stores Tuesday). Foster, who has produced top-selling Christmas albums by Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli, is chairman of Verve Music Group, the division of Universal Music Group that Stewart now calls home.

The album's 13 holiday staples range from Santa Claus Is Coming to Town to the title track, which features Cee Lo Green and Trombone Shorty. Other guests include Mary J. Blige (We Three Kings) and Michael Bublé (Winter Wonderland). Smooth jazz sax ace Dave Koz blows on Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!.

But by far the most emotional duet for Stewart was the one on What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? opposite late legend Ella Fitzgerald.

"I've been a fan of hers since I was 17, and let me tell you, at that age in my part of (London), that wasn't exactly fashionable, says Stewart, 67. "When it came time to record that track alongside her amazing voice, well, that was a tear-jerker moment for me."

While Stewart is proud of the way he acquitted himself opposite the First Lady of Song, he is quick to pass on any other credit for the album's possible success to Foster. "He's as close to a genius with this stuff as you can come," he says. "He was the mastermind, I was just the singer."

In December, PBS will air Rod Stewart: Merry Christmas, Baby as part of its Great Performances series (check local listings). The special was filmed at a lavish Los Angeles villa overlooking the Pacific Ocean and will feature the album's guest stars as well as a new holiday composition, penned by Stewart, Foster and his daughter Amy Foster, titled Red-Suited Super Man.