Liza Minnelli, the daughter of actress and singer Judy Garland, has a deep emotional connection to a particular holiday song that her mother famously performed.
"My favorite Christmas Carol is my mother's version of 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,'" she told PEOPLE in early December. "Mama got the song rewritten and Papa directed the film [Meet Me In St Louis]. It's a family tradition that makes us all laugh and cry."
Each year, as Minnelli prepares for Christmas, she revisits this song, stating that it never fails to make her cry. She shared that her father had some involvement with the song, adding to its sentimental value.
Minnelli emphasized the importance of spending time with family and loved ones during the Christmas season.
After a career spent largely on the road, she now cherishes the time she can spend with her family. "Holidays are always spent with family and loved ones. Finally!" she expressed in an interview with early December.
She reminisced about her earlier years when she was often away, stating, "For years, I lived on the road and was traveling for most of them ... I missed so much. That doesn't happen anymore."
Her appreciation for family gatherings is intertwined with her love for her mother's music. She fondly recalls how Garland had "Mama got the song rewritten and Papa directed the film," adding, "It's a family tradition that makes us all laugh and cry."
Minnelli's life has been shaped significantly by her relationship with her mother.
Following in Garland's footsteps, Minnelli has also become a successful actor, singer, and dancer. However, she reveals that growing up with such a prominent figure was not without its challenges.
Minnelli noted that her mother never treated her like a child, explaining to the NYT in 1984, "I was always treated like a grown-up."
Garland believed in communicating honestly, stating, "Why start out on the wrong foot? Enough people are going to say goo-goo, ga-ga, when you're older."
Minnelli also described her upbringing as tumultuous. "There were no middles, no times when I was just tranquil," she stated. Her childhood was marked by extremes—"screaming attacks or excessive love bouts, rivers of money or no money at all, seeing my mother constantly or not seeing her for weeks at a time." Despite this instability, she maintains that she experienced happiness during her childhood.
Although she acknowledged the turbulence of her upbringing, Minnelli insisted she had a happy childhood, despite the disbelief it may evoke from others.
"There's nothing I can say to convince people that I had a happy childhood," she explained, noting that public perception often contradicts her reality.
She attributed part of this skepticism to her mother's public persona, recalling Garland's sentiment, "I don't want them to believe that I'm happy or else they won't cry when I sing 'Over the Rainbow.'"
Minnelli reflected positively on her childhood, stating, "She ensured my happiness as a kid."
She expressed gratitude for her life, revealing, "I know what happened to me, and I know that I'm fine ... I'm terribly sorry if I'm not unhappy. It's not my fault I'm happy and I have been for most of my life."
