This is what you call irony: While cleaning someone else’s house to make ends meet, Darlene Love heard one of her songs playing on a radio.  Love recounted this painful post-stardom, pre-comeback moment in the 2013 documentary “20 Feet From Stardom.”  In March, that movie won an Oscar, and Love made her acceptance speech memorable by doing what she does best: singing.  “I said, ‘Lord, give me a song,'” says Love of singing at the Oscars in March during her acceptance speech for “20 Feet From Stardom.”

Much is happening for the 76-year-old star. Love is bringing her annual Christmas show to Red Bank and New York; she is at work on a Steven Van Zandt-produced album on which Bruce Springsteen is contributing a song; and 2014 marks her final performance of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on David Letterman’s show. (Letterman is retiring on May 20.)

Love spoke in a recent telephone interview.

Q. On Oscar night, you sang “His Eye is on the Sparrow” during your acceptance speech. Did you know you were going to sing?

A. No. The night before the Oscars, I was at a pre-Oscar party. They wanted me to go onstage and say thank you for the ladies in the film. They were saying, “You should sing something.” I thought, “You’ve got to be kidding. This is Oscar. I’m not prepared.” They prepare for weeks on that show. But I stopped for a few minutes; I said, “Lord, give me a song.” And that’s the song he gave me. Even with that, I was still nervous.

Q. Had you known Whitney Houston recorded “His Eye is on the Sparrow” for her final film, “Sparkle”? The recording was released after she died.

A. It’s amazing, because whenever she did any of her shows, she always sang that song. I saw her sing it many a day. A lot of times, she would sing it a cappella. I never thought about that until after I did it. It’s a song that expresses what Whitney felt about the Lord. I wasn’t thinking about that when the song came to me. But later on, I thought, “This is the song Whitney sings all the time.” So, yes, I did know how she felt about that song.

Q. For those who are not familiar with gospel music, what does the song mean?

Love performs at the Light of Day Festival in Asbury Park in 2013.Star-Ledger file photo

A. “His Eye is on the Sparrow” means that God is always looking at us, like he looks at the birds. He takes care of the birds. So when you say his eyes are on the sparrow, you know that he’s watching you.

Q. “20 Feet From Stardom” shone a light on background singers. Was the documentary a vindication of the background singer’s role?

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