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It’s not often that an artist’s debut LP consists entirely of Christmas songs – but James Fauntleroy is no ordinary artist. Nearly a decade after the release of the original Warmest Winter Ever, the three-time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer-songwriter is making his formal debut as a lead solo artist with The Warmest Winter Ever. The steamy new project compiles the first two Warmest Winter projects with 10 brand new songs perfect for a sultry Christmas between the sheets.
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The announcement of The Warmest Winter Ever comes exactly one week after Fauntleroy picked up his sixth career Grammy nomination. Recognized in best progressive R&B album for his bossa nova-inspired Nova collab album with Terrace Martin, the nod marks Fauntleroy’s first Grammy nomination as an artist. The acclaimed musician has won four prior trophies thanks to his writing contributions to Justin Timberlake’s “Pusher Love Girl” and Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic (“That’s What I Like”; “Finesse”). That’s no small feat for someone who claims that “for the last 20 years,” they’ve “been telling everybody I’m not an artist constantly when they ask.” With more previously released music making its way to DSPs soon, Fauntleroy is set to truly step into his own as an artist – and he’s redefining holiday music as he swaggers down that path.
Filled to the brim with jaw-dropping harmonies and hilariously sultry wordplay, The Warmest Winter Ever finds Fauntleroy inviting his audience to expand their understanding of what holiday music can sound like. Why stop at “O Holy Night” and “Deck the Halls,” when you can croon “bring that s–t to Santa” to your special someone? The first two Warmest Winter projects primarily feature cozy, acoustic-forward arrangements, and the 10 new tracks broaden that soundscape into a wonderland of skittering bass and intimate a cappella joints. Take “Sleigh,” a tongue-in-cheek harmonic rhapsody that answers the question: What would it sound like if James Fauntleroy took “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and absolutely freaked it?
In a wide-ranging conversation with Billboard, James Fauntleroy discusses the making of The Warmest Winter Ever, why Mariah Carey is “one of the best writers in the history of man,” working with Beyoncé and the state of male R&B.
Billboard: What’s up with you, man? How’re you feeling?
James Fauntleroy: I’m excited, man! I’m happy and surprised that I’m still in the game. Appreciative, you know, so I’m feeling a lot of gratitude. I’m going from my first artist-led project — ’cause the jazz album, or I guess R&B album, was [with] Terrace — getting nominated for a Grammy to now my first album even though I’m damn near 20 years in the game. This is gonna be my literal first album, so I’m super excited. I’m a new artist. This is my gonna be my first project.
Why is now the time to bring The Warmest Winter Ever to DSPs?
We had a meeting this morning, [and] I found this old tweet of Rihanna posting about the first [Warmest Winter] project and because I knew it’d been out for a while, I did the math and I was like, Damn, this was nine years ago! The first project, I put out nine years ago, and I put out the other one sometime between then and now, and basically these projects are my first official releases.
I’ve been putting music out the whole time, [but] there’s one other project that I hear about all throughout the year, every year, even though it’s like 13 years old. This is one that all year-round people are telling me it’s July and [they’re] still playing the Christmas album. It’s so mind-blowing that music has the power to be something that people care or talk about after — especially now when s–t comes out and you switch your playlist up the next f–king day – a week. A big part of wanting to put these things on DSPs is just to show all my core fans appreciation because even though the s–t’s on SoundCloud, for whatever reason, they’re always like, Please put this on Spotify, please put this on Apple Music!
I’m just slowly starting to put all these songs on DSPs, but also give them something new, because another part of my compulsion to release is that while I do it because I love it and I get paid to do it, it’s also because I know so many people study me from them telling me and also from my ears. That was a big part of why I started my school called the 1500 Sound Academy. I also feel compelled to take it to the next level for people who I’ve inspired. A friend of mine [named] August 08 — he just got caught in the crossfire in the hood, a couple of [months] ago and passed away — I met him when he literally ran up to me in the airport and he was like, “Oh my God, I’m such a huge fan, I never even thought about making music until I heard your music and I got your album cover tattooed on my leg!” He opened up his jeans because they were already ripped and I didn’t even say nothing yet, and he said all of this. Then he went on to have success as a writer, got signed to Def Jam, had a song with Jhené Aiko.
I think about that kind of thing especially as the Internet and life and music go through growing pains. I’m always trying to think about maintaining the art form and pushing the envelope forward. Maybe everybody on Earth doesn’t listen to it, but if it gets to the right person and has an impact on them, then you know that makes it worth it. So those are all the reasons. And then I found the right team, honestly. Everybody thinks I’m trying to be mysterious, but really I’ve been waiting for the right time, the right platform, and the right team to put something out that is giving my audience the level of quality that they expect from what my music sounds like.
Does it feel weird having your first official solo album be a Christmas record?
No, it feels natural to me because when I’m thinking about it in terms of my legacy — not what I’m trying to build, but where I’ve come to at this point — I think that it’s so unusual to have your first album be your Christmas album, but considering all the s–t I make, it makes it the perfect first album. I’m always trying to find ways to express that there’s more, that you know that I’m different, that I’m doing something. As a writer — that’ll always be the core of what I’m doing — I love it because why I even started doing it was it was never about trying to f–king take a small percentage of that Mariah Carey money, which, oh my God, I’d love to have some of that, but it was really about finding new ways to tell stories. It’s just an opportunity to have a new topic; finding something new to wrap the art around is my primary method of coming up with new art. This project, it’s 25 Christmas songs, like, is it really 25 things about Christmas to sing about?! I don’t even know. [Laughs]. They’re all about Christmas, but they’re all so different from any Christmas music I’ve heard, so they’re doing their job of helping me push myself forward.
I had a lot of fun making all this s–t. It’s so fun to make music with no pressure. I produced, I think, every song on here. Maybe there’s like a few that I brought in some talented musicians, and there’s two songs with other people’s voices on them. I just had a blast doing what I wanted and trying to figure out how to do something different from what I have done in the past.
This record has some steamy joints on there. What inspired the sonic world of The Warmest Winter Ever, and what was it like to return to that place for a third installment?
When I’m thinking about where I want to draw inspiration from my projects, at its core, it’s all about drawing from references. There’s Stevie Wonder all the way up to the Timbaland-Missy s–t. There’s a bunch of different references technically. As far as the artistic inspiration, it’s less music and more film.
In the song “Neck,” you know, I’m imagining the movie Elf. “Christmas List,” that’s a song where I’m talking about picking up a gun, and that’s a different kind of movie. But then you also have “Miracle,” where in the second verse, I was thinking about The Santa Clause. I’m thinking about Black movies like Soul Food because when I’m thinking of a song, I’m doing a lot of visualizing, which is where I’m pulling a lot of the descriptive lyrics like, “She’s Grand Theft Auto 5 stars bad” — I was laughing while I wrote that. It’s really just trying to create a movie because that’s how I view music.
Sounds like you were in a very cinematic headspace. Any music videos on the horizon?
I have so many ideas! Do I have enough money to do all those things? Absolutely not. So it’s really based on how people respond to it. “Sleigh,” for instance, which is maybe my favorite song on the whole thing, is actually about imagining that Santa Claus worked at FedEx and he’s about to go out to do a shipment and he has Mrs. Claus with him and his manager or whatever, he’s like You can’t take this lady out. He’s like What?! If she don’t go in there, we ain’t going nowhere. This is how I do it. The message is about a relationship that empowers you and strengthens you and gives you the ability to do magic. If I could do a video, it would be UPS Santa with a real ultra-bad Mrs. Claus with her arms folded. [Laughs].
“Sleigh” is also one of my favorites. Talk to me about crafting your vocal arrangements and background harmonies? Who are you building on and emulating?
The goal of the song is the same as the goal of the arrangements, but the arrangements are the primary. The lyrics are really important, but those tend to hit you after the third or fourth listen. The first goal is to catch you with the arrangement and the music. My number one goal before streaming, but especially now, is you really need these motherf–kers to play that s–t more than once. My goal is to make a song that you want to hear again. What is the use of this song? How is this of service to people you know?
Typically, the use I’m aiming for is that it makes you feel good. It gives you an escape out of the moment you’re in, makes you feel good about yourself, and makes you think about something differently, it’s world-building.
On the technical side, there’s more and more s–t going on. There’s more and more parts coming in. I tell my students and people this all the time, I usually think about the different notes in the harmonies as different people. They’re different background singers, so sometimes I’ll pronounce what I’m saying a little differently. I might use a different dynamic. On “Sleigh,” I really overtly did it. In the second verse, the way I sang the first line and the way I sang the second line is two different people. The first line is all soft and pretty, and then the next one I’m singing three times louder. It’s just all these dynamics that I’m trying to turn your attention to.
Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask this since you do sing “Sleigh like Beyoncé” in the song, so have you worked with Queen Bey recently?
The last thing we did was that song with Nas and Jay-Z [DJ Khaled’s “Sorry Not Sorry”]. I sang the hook. That was the first song I ever put out that I didn’t write, actually. They sent that to me done already and just asked me to put my voice on it and [there’s] Beyoncé at the end which sounds epic.
As I was saying earlier about service, it’s really to make whoever is playing Beyoncé, the listener who is Beyoncé in that moment, have the opportunity to feel that. I’m always gon f–k with Beyoncé on whatever s–t she’s doing, but the idea came into my mind because of what she represents.
Since that Nas song, I’ve worked on some s–t for her, I’ll say. But nobody knows what’s coming out except for her, so I really have no idea.
The new tracks sort of depart from the cozier, more acoustically intimate vibe of the first two projects. Was that an intentional choice or was that simply where your heart was during the creative process?
No, it’s super intentional because if you listen to the first [project] and the second one, you can hear my progression as a producer because I’m just starting to take beats seriously. I love when I look back at these projects that they’re time capsules of where I was in that moment, what I thought was cool, and what my capabilities were. Literally, the first one, I’m playing the guitar and I don’t know how to play the guitar. [Laughs]. I’m also playing the guitar on this one, but it’s 10 years later. So I still don’t know how to play the guitar, but you can hear the growth.
What are some of your favorite original contemporary Christmas songs? How about the classics?
As far as contemporary — I can’t wait to hear [this one] because you asked me about harmonies and the core of all that is Brandy. Let’s just keep it real, that’s the basis of my style in general – I’m super excited to hear Brandy’s Christmas album.
I’ve heard some good Christmas rap songs over the years. I’ve heard some good contemporary [songs], but I’m trying to think of something other than this Brandy s–t. I think my favorite contemporary Christmas songs are my own. As far as my favorite classics, of course, Mariah Carey. I’ve had the pleasure of working with her a couple of times, and she’s always pretty upset that nobody acknowledges that she’s one of the best writers in the history of man. When I hear her snapping about that s–t, I’d be like You right, man. F–k that! because they is not putting nearly enough respect on this motherf–ker’s name. Not even close, bro. And then when I worked with her, I was like, Oh, [she] really does write? She’s not just an artist who wants to write to get the money, she’s an actual writer who can just sing her a– off. She’ll always be number one, literally and figuratively and philosophically.
I really love [Paul McCartney’s] “Wonderful Christmastime.” “This Christmas,” that’s a classic. The modern Christmas song Chris Brown put out called “It’s Giving Christmas,” I like that one too.
You just picked up your first Grammy nomination as an artist and your first Grammy nom this decade. How does that feel? Especially in relation to your career longevity?
Man, I can’t believe it. I’ll tell people all the time, that the typical lifespan for a person like me in the business, it’s like one to three years. Even for a big act, if you get one year, you did it. I’ve been doing this s—t for like 18 years. I was not expecting to get nominated for a f—king Grammy as an artist because I’ve been telling everybody under the sun for 18 years or however long that I’m not an artist. I am an artist, but I’m not a professional recording artist. It’s extremely exciting to still be in the game at all. A month ago, Saturday Night Live had a Donald Trump joke about “No Air,” and I’m like Yo, that was my first hit song!
For people to still give any amount of attention or conversation or anything for anything I’m doing is such a big deal to me because that’s the part that never gets old because they just don’t have to do that. That means it really had an impact on them. To be this late in the game and still have new achievements and new opportunities and new possibilities happening is really such an honor.
R&B has been in a great space lately with artists like Victoria Monét, Coco Jones and SZA killing it both critically and commercially. Where would you like to see the journey go next?
My hope is if you listen to SZA’s development over the years, it’s gotten to a quality level that I think is really admirable and respectable and serious – and still, she’s growing. Every genre experiences a point where it goes off of the tracks of the mainstream and it kind of turns into this isolated place where it can just develop on its own, and typically that means people pay attention to it differently. But it also means that the genre has the freedom to develop without the pressure of success, so the creators are not thinking about it like that.
R&B hit that point. I’m more really thinking about R&B as it relates to gospel because gospel music has been able to develop so much that you have — even since the ’90s, but from the ’90s till now — this gospel tangent that’s actually jazz. Kim Burrell‘s doing jazz s—t up and down, left and right. All these kinds of singers are, not just her, but like the whole genre of gospel that she started, it’s all heavily jazz-based. I feel like R&B went through a bunch of different growing pains trying to figure out what was going to happen when it wasn’t the Confessions era — that’s pop at this point, we’re only calling it R&B because Usher’s Black, but that’s another conversation. It was at the height, and then it experienced what every genre that reaches that level experiences, which is too many opinions from people who aren’t in it, because now it’s making so much money. When [R&B] went through the struggles it went through, it had an opportunity to evolve and I think what it turned into is gangster rap.
Future, Migos, Drake is the most overt because he’s actually singing, but that’s what happened to R&B, bro. It turned into gangster rap on one arm and it turned into [what] they call progressive R&B at the Grammys. But is that what is actually? It’s just the freedom that the genre is allowed when it’s not under the scrutiny of the machine to develop to such a point that it can focus on the quality. I think that that’s where we’re at. I think it’s been happening. It was happening the whole time, like when the industry stopped f—king with it, it didn’t go away. I really feel like what we’re going to experience going forward is a mixture of both.
Music has been going on in the industry since the 1920s and even though the hit songs have changed over the years, tempos, topics, whatever, the point of the music hasn’t changed. It’s to make people feel a certain way and these are the ingredients that I think are going to give us more diverse and more interesting forms of R&B going forward, and so I’m personally going to continue to put that s—t in my music and show as many people as possible that there’s more.
I named only women in my previous question because I wanted to dig into your take on the state of male R&B, specifically in relation to women’s dominance in the genre for much of the young decade.
They gotta start talking to women, bro. I can’t say it any simpler than Drake is the biggest n—a, and who is his demographic? Which of his songs are the best ones? Because he got a lot of songs talking to n—as, but which ones matter the most? Which ones make him Drake? It’s just being aware of who you’re talking to. I won’t name their legendary names — but I talked to a lot of legendary people about when it happened and why it changed and, basically, when gangster rap came in, they all started saying the same thing. Women were like “We don’t want that soft s–t no more.”
Still, women are having such a big impact on what men are doing. You have to look past the statistics. You have to look past what the data is telling you people want and think about first, who are you? They need to focus on what we know is right. Yes, you can make money giving people the world to escape into where they can be Scarface and be going extra hard on h–s and beating people up and killing them and s–t and that could be fun. But you could also just watch Taken. You’re not gonna get the same feeling out of your target, which is women. There’s two women for every man, and you’re not gonna get the same response out of a woman that watches Taken versus The Notebook.
I think that’s part of the reason why the male artists are struggling. We need more. It should just be who you are. And I think that’s really the issue with any modern artist, it’s like, Are you doing something that’s gonna matter? Are you doing something that’s going to set you apart? Or are you doing what you heard yesterday? Because in today’s world, that’s just not going to be acceptable. You don’t want to be a replaceable slot in the playlist to have a long career, so I think the R&B guys are figuring that out, but it’s going to be a process.
Looking beyond the holiday season – once the decorations are taken down – what can fans expect from you in the new year?
I’m about to really be an artist, bro. How else can I show the people [who] supported me and made my life into what it is, my appreciation? I put my full power, mind, creativity and energy into giving them what they’re asking for. I’m really about to be putting out music and doing shows — I just did the first show I’ve done in years at a jazz festival with Terrace singing some of the Nova songs a couple of days ago. It’s time. There’s some more music that’s been out that I’m gonna finally put on DSPs. I did a joint album with someone that I think people are gonna be really surprised and excited about, and it’s done. I’m really about to start giving everybody my interpretation of what albums should sound like in the world I’m trying to create and we’ll see how it goes, but I’m excited!
Here’s the full tracklist for The Warmest Winter Ever:
*previously unreleased
1. Unwrapped*
2. Bad Bad Bad*
3. Magic*
4. Bring That Shit to Santa*
5. Mrs Claus*
6. The Neck*
7. Miracle*
8. Christmas List*
9. Sleigh*
10. Nice Or Not
11. Body Heat
12. Spiritual Gift
13. Is It Morning Yet
14. It Rains Everywhere
15. Christmas Lights
16. Christmas Everyday
17. Christmas Everynight
18. Give You Love
19. The Present
20. Stocking Stuffer
21. Dreaming
22. Like Summer
23. Mistletoe ft. Maeta
24. Open Up
25. You Can Get It
Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart returns for the 2023 holiday season, with Cher’s Christmas album debuting atop the tally (dated Nov. 4). It’s the pop superstar’s first holiday collection. The 13-song set has a blend of classic tunes and newly written tracks, and boasts a starry lineup of guests in Michael Bublé, Cyndi Lauper, Darlene Love, Tyga and Stevie Wonder.
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The new Nov. 4-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Oct. 31.
The Top Holiday Albums chart will continue to be published on a weekly basis through early January of 2024, when it will dash away until the next holiday season. (The chart generally returns to Billboard’s weekly chart menu every October.)
The Top Holiday Albums chart ranks the 50 most popular seasonal albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each units equals one album sales, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Cher’s Christmas earned 21,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 26, according to Luminate. Of that sum, album sales comprised 20,000, SEA units comprised a little under 1,000 and TEA units comprised the remaining negligible sum. The album was available to purchase as a digital download album and in four different CD variants (each with alternative cover art). A vinyl LP, on ruby red-colored vinyl, is scheduled for release on Nov. 17.
Cher also makes waves on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, where Christmas bows at No. 32, marking her 14th solo top 40-charting album on the tally. Further, she becomes only the second woman, and third soloist, with a new top 40-charting albums in the 1960s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, 2000s, ’10s and ‘20s. The only other acts to have achieved this feat are Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand and The Rolling Stones.
The top 10 of the Nov. 4-dated Top Holiday Albums chart is dotted with familiar favorites, as the soundtrack to the Halloween-meets-Christmas film Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is No. 2, Pentatonix’s new The Greatest Christmas Hits debuts at No. 3, Bublé’s Christmas is No. 4 and Vince Guaraldi Trio’s TV soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas is No. 5. The top 10 is rounded out by *NSYNC’s Home for Christmas (No. 6), Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas (No. 7), Frank Sinatra’s Ultimate Christmas (No. 8), Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song (No. 9) and Bing Crosby’s Christmas Classics (No. 10).
Among the artists that have new holiday albums dropping later this holiday season (or have recently released a new holiday set in the past month or so): Michael Bolton, Brandy, Jim Brickman, Ally Brooke, Bing Crosby, Jessie James Decker, Seth MacFarlane and Liz Gillies, Samara Joy, Johnny Mathis, My Morning Jacket, Oak Ridge Boys, Jon Pardi, Gregory Porter, Matt Rogers, Michael W. Smith, Straight No Chaser and The Tenors.
Mariah Carey may have had the most popular song of the 2022 holiday season, but Pentatonix was its most-listened-to act. The five-person vocal group had 92 recordings in the top 10,000 holiday tracks and total consumption of 2.58 million song units, based on sales and streams from Nov. 4 to Dec. 22, according to Luminate — more than any other artist.
While Pentatonix doesn’t have the same kinds of smash singles as Christmas-time mainstays like Carey, Andy Williams and Burl Ives, the group uses a combination of quantity and popularity to drive its seasonal success. Pentatonix’s top holiday track, a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” ranked No. 43 and accounted for about 10.5% of its total track consumption. Its cover of the David Foster-Jennifer Thompson-Jenner song “Grown Up Christmas List” ranked No. 187 and its rendition of the traditional songs “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Deck the Halls” were Nos. 189 and 191, respectively. Additionally, Pentatonix’s collaboration with Maren Morris, “When You Believe,” from the 1998 animated feature The Price of Egypt, ranked No. 188.
While most artists are content with the occasional holiday release, Pentatonix has released four studio albums comprised mostly or entirely of holiday music since Oct. 2018: Christmas Is Here! In 2018, We Need a Little Christmas in 2020, Evergreen in 2021 and Holidays Around the World in 2022. In addition, the group released a compilation album, The Best of Pentatonix Christmas, in 2019. Some recordings from its 2012 EP PTXmas and its 2014 album That’s Christmas to Me remain popular to this day. In addition, each November and December, the group tours U.S. arenas to perform holiday music.
Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” was once again the most popular holiday track with 1.29 million song units, narrowly beating the 1.24 million song units of Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” But Carey, the self-described “Queen of Christmas,” doesn’t have Pentatonix’s depth of holiday catalog. She ranked fifth in total consumption with 1.96 million units from 36 tracks within the top 10,000. Her second-most popular holiday recording, a cover of Darlene Love’s 1963 standard “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” ranked only No. 68. Her 2010 original recording “Oh! Santa” ranked No. 110 and her version of the traditional Christmas carol “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” was No. 130.
The No. 2 holiday artist was Bing Crosby with 2.43 million song units from 61 tracks in the top 10,000. Crosby’s top recording, “White Christmas,” was No. 13. “Hawaiian Christmas Song” at No. 38, “Winter Wonderland” at No. 63, “Silent Night” at No. 72, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” at No. 83, “The Little Drummer Boy” at No. 86 and “Do You Hear What I Hear?” at No. 95.
At No. 3 was Michael Bublé, whose 25 recordings in the top 10,000 amassed 2.39 million song units. Bublé had numerous songs in the top 100, including “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” at No. 16, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” at No. 31, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” at No. 45 and “Holly Jolly Christmas” at No. 46. Bublé also stands out for having numerous recordings in the top 100 that are the second-most popular versions of the songs. (Burl Ives’ version of “Holly Jolly Christmas,” ranked No. 4 while Perry Como’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” ranked No. 10.) But Bublé is also notable for knocking off some holiday legends. His 19-year-old version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” ranks 38 slots above Bing Crosby’s historic recording from 1943.
Nat King Cole ranked fourth in holiday music consumption with 2.1 million song units from 33 recordings in the top 10,000. Cole’s top recordings were his now-standard versions of “The Christmas Song” at No. 12 and “Deck the Halls” at No. 15. “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Joy to the World” were also in the top 100, at Nos. 51 and 82, respectively.
After Carey at No. 5, artists in the top 10 were Andy Williams (1.84 million), Frank Sinatra (1.71 million), Perry Como (1.38 million), Burl Ives (1.37 million) and Brenda Lee (1.31 million).
This year, a handful of new recordings beat long odds and were among the 50 most popular holiday tracks: Lizzo’s cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Someday at Christmas” and Lauren Spencer-Smith’s version of “Last Christmas” by Wham! ranked Nos. 39 and 47, respectively, in consumption – measuring track sales and streams – from Nov. 4 to Dec. 22, according to Luminate. Kane Brown’s version of “Blue Christmas,” made famous by Elvis Presley, ranked No. 48.
If historical trends persist, though, many of this year’s new holiday recordings won’t even survive the summer. Creating a holiday standard is one of the most difficult, unlikely tasks in all of songwriting.
Looking back over the last five years shows the slim odds a new recording faces in becoming an annual favorite. In 2017, 72 newly released tracks made the top 1,000 holiday recordings of the last two months of the year. Three of them — Sia’s “Santa’s Coming for Us” (No. 37), Pentatonix’s “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (No. 68) and Us the Duo’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (No. 98) — made the top 100. Gwen Stefani had eight of the 72 new recordings in the top 1,000. Hanson’s “Finally, It’s Christmas,” at No. 610, was an original song competing against new recordings of well-worn favorites like “Wonderful Christmastime” and “The Christmas Song.”
Five years later, only 30 recordings released in 2017 remained in the top 1,000. Sia’s “Santa’s Coming for Us” dropped from No. 37 to No. 171, while her song “Snowman” has risen to No. 53 to become the most popular recording of the class of 2017. Stefani had only three recordings from 2017 in the top 1,000, and her top-ranked holiday song, “You Make It Feel Like Christmas,” released in 2011, slipped to No. 42 from No. 18 five years earlier. Hanson was in the top 1,000 — with “What Christmas Means to Me,” originally recorded by Stevie Wonder in 1967, not its original song from five years earlier.
To become a holiday favorite, a new recording must prove itself by competing against popular holiday songs that have withstood decades-long wars of attrition. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is a relatively young holiday standard at 28 years old. “Last Christmas” by Wham!, ranked No. 5 this holiday season, is 36. Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (No. 7) and Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” (No. 8), just 8 and 12 years old, respectively, have beaten the odds to challenge established recordings like Andy Williams’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (No. 6), released in 1963 and often heard in advertisements and movie soundtracks.
That weeding-out process isn’t enough to deter songwriters from trying to create the next holiday hit and collect royalty checks year after year, though. This year, Chris Isaak, Backstreet Boys and Thomas Rhett released albums or EPs of Christmas songs. Sam Smith, Alanis Morissette, Dan + Shay, Joss Stone, Lukas Graham and Remi Wolf released individual tracks.
Even though the odds of writing a holiday standard are slim, the payoff is a lure, says Rhett Miller, singer for the alt-country band The Old 97’s. Miller and his musician friends have told “a probably apocryphal story” amongst themselves about musician Nick Lowe walking to his mailbox one day in a bath robe and finding a check for a million dollars not knowing that Curtis Stigers’ cover of his song “Peace, Love and Understanding” was featured on the soundtrack to the movie The Bodyguard that would go on to sell 44 million copies worldwide.
“In the olden days, landing a song on a soundtrack like that was sort of the end all be all,” says Miller. “But, really, the Christmas song is the biggest dream of any songwriter — to have a song that connects and becomes a standard.” Miller acknowledges the long odds a holiday recording faces in becoming a recurring hit. Writing a holiday standard is like winning the lottery: A jackpot is exceedingly unlikely, but, as the saying goes, you can’t win if you don’t play. “I did have an idea that if we contributed an album of holiday songs to the conversation, we would at least be in the running for one of those songs that connected,” says Miller.
Miller has the benefit of having an influential company in his corner: Disney. James Gunn, writer and director of Marvel Comics’ Guardians of the Galaxy movie franchise, cast the Old 97’s for the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special that premiered on Disney+ video on-demand streaming service in November. The Old 97’s re-recorded their original song, “Here It Is Christmastime,” with actor-singer Kevin Bacon, and performed the song wearing prosthetic makeup. That helped “Here It Is Christmastime” debut at No. 7 on the Holiday Digital Song Sales and No. 27 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales charts for Dec. 10. Although the recording ranks only at No. 865 this holiday season, it will likely benefit from Marvel Comics fans viewing the special in the coming years.
In the streaming age, nothing helps posterity like a partnership with a giant multi-national entertainment platform. Lizzo, Spencer-Smith and Brown, the top of the Class of 2022, recorded their holiday tracks under exclusive partnership with Amazon Music. In earlier years, Amazon Music has released original holiday recordings by Katy Perry (“Cozy Little Christmas” in 2018), Carrie Underwood (an original song, “Favorite Time of the Year,” in 2020), John Legend (“Happy Christmas [War Is Over]” in 2019), Taylor Swift (“Christmas Tree Farm [Old Timey Version]” in 2019) and Camila Cabello (“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” in 2021).
“Each year, we really look to work with artists that we know our customers love and who we think are going to be a good fit for our holiday listeners and really work with them to find the right track,” says Stephen Brower, global co-lead, artist relations at Amazon Music, “whether that’s a cover in the case of Lizzo doing Stevie Wonder’s ‘Someday at Christmas’ or in Katy and Carrie’s cases, having brand new songs.”
What holiday listeners seem to want every November and December is comfort music that harkens back to eras bygone. Even an original holiday song must have a classic, throwback sound that takes from late ’50s and early ’60s pop and rock. The rockabilly in Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” and Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” production in The Ronettes “Sleigh Ride” set a template that’s been closely followed by later artists. “Ever since Mariah, only songs that had that ’60s Spector feel seem to be getting any traction,” says Sean Ross, author of the Ross on Radio newsletter.
Christmas is no time to reinvent the wheel. Recreating the sounds of Christmas past gives Lizzo, Spencer-Smith and Brown the best chance at capturing an audience and maintaining momentum for the next five years. “Because the Christmas music season is typically only about six weeks, people don’t get tired of them,” Tom Poleman, chief programming officer for iHeartMedia, says in an email to Billboard. “As a result, there’s a huge supply of great songs to play, making it hard for new ones to cut through. The ones that do break through are usually well-made remakes of holiday classics by a big star like Kelly Clarkson.”
This holiday season, Clarkson’s covers of Chuck Berry’s “Run Run Rudolph” (No. 103) and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (No. 238) were the first and second most popular versions of those songs after the originals. She also has popular versions of “My Favorite Things” (No. 282), “Please Come Home for Christmas” (No. 317) and “Silent Night” (No. 382). But Clarkson is the rare contemporary artist whose original songs are more popular than her covers. In a few years, “Under the Mistletoe” (No. 105) from 2020 and “Christmas Isn’t Canceled (You Are)” (No. 168) from 2021 could become the next “Underneath the Tree” (No. 8).
Miller is aware of the long odds that “Here It Is Christmastime” faces in the coming years – but he’s hopeful he can have a Clarkson-level hit one day. “It’s going to be something,” he says. “But will it be my Nick Lowe-in-a-bath robe moment? I don’t know. It would be great if something broke through.”
Vince Guaraldi Trio’s evergreen soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas hits a new peak on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, as the set rises 5-2 (on the list dated Dec. 24). That surpasses its previous high, notched just a week ago, when the album rose 7-5, beating its earlier peak of No. 6, achieved last holiday season (Dec. 18, 2021).
The companion album to the 1965 animated TV special sold 17,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 15 (up 24%), according to Luminate. Most of that sum (14,000) is driven by vinyl album sales. A Charlie Brown Christmas is available across more than 15 vinyl variants (most differing in the color of its vinyl LP), including versions exclusive to Barnes & Noble, Newbury Comics, independent record stores, Target, Urban Outfitters, Vinyl Me, Please and Walmart.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is a consistent strong performer on vinyl, as it was the top-selling holiday album on vinyl annually in the U.S. from 2012 through 2021.
Since Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991, A Charlie Brown Christmas has sold 4.3 million in traditional album sales across all formats (CD, vinyl, cassette, digital download album, etc.), with 469,000 of that sum in vinyl LP sales.
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, Taylor Swift’s Midnights holds at No. 1 for a eighth week in a row — the most weeks at No. 1 since Adele’s 30 also spent its first eight weeks atop the list a year ago). Meanwhile, Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak reaches a new peak as it re-enters the chart at No. 4 following its release on vinyl.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
A Charlie Brown Christmas was released in 1965 but did not reach any Billboard ranking until 1987, when it debuted on the Top Holiday Albums chart, where it later peaked at No. 2 (Jan. 27, 2007). On the Billboard 200 chart, the set reached a new peak last season, climbing to No. 6 on the list dated Jan. 1, 2022. A year prior, it reached the top 10 for the first time (No. 10 on the Jan. 2, 2021 chart).
The A Charlie Brown Christmas TV special aired annually on CBS during the holiday season from 1965 through 2000. ABC picked up the rights to the show from 2001-19. In 2020, the Apple TV+ subscription service acquired the rights to the special – along with other classic animated Peanuts programs. A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of many animated TV specials based on the Peanuts comic characters. It was followed by familiar favorites like It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973).
A Charlie Brown Christmas made its Apple TV+ premiere on Dec. 4, 2020. Apple initially teamed with PBS to bring the special back to free over-the-air TV with commercial-free airings on PBS and sister network PBS KIDS in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, Apple TV+ and PBS did not collaborate on a Peanuts presentation. Instead, Apple TV+ offered free limited time screenings of three Peanuts specials for anyone that logs into the service using their Apple ID. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was available free between Oct. 28-31, followed by A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Nov. 23-27 and A Charlie Brown Christmas on Dec. 22-25.
At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Taylor Swift’s Midnights spends an eighth week in a row on top – the most weeks at No. 1 since Adele’s 30 also led for its first eight weeks on the list (Dec. 24, 2021-Jan. 22, 2022 charts). Midnights has spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other Swift album since 1989 logged 10 nonconsecutive weeks in charge (2014). Since 1989, she scored seven more No. 1s albums, including Midnights.
In the latest tracking week, Midnights sold 74,000 copies – up 10%. Its cumulative U.S. sales stand at 1.666 million.
Harry Styles’ former No. 1 Harry’s House falls 2-3 with 16,000 sold (down 41%).
Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak hits a new peak as it re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 4 following its release on vinyl. The album sold 15,000 copies in the tracking week – up 956% – with 14,000 of that sum on vinyl. American Heartbreak was released on May 20 via digital download and CD (as well as through streaming services). Its vinyl LP – a triple LP set – was not released until Dec. 9. (Unlike the many vinyl variants of the Charlie Brown Christmas album, Bryan’s set was only available in one standard black vinyl edition.)
American Heartbreak previously spent one week on Top Album Sales, debuting at No. 7 on the June 4-dated chart with 6,000 sold in its first week of availability.
Matteo, Andrea and Virginia Bocelli’s A Family Christmas falls 3-5 on Top Album Sales with 14,000 sold (down 40%), Michael Jackson’s Thriller rises 7-6 with 13,000 (up 7%), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours climbs 8-7 with nearly 13,000 (up 8%) and Swift’s former No. 1 Evermore bumps 12-8 with 12,000 (up 21%). Rounding out the new top 10 are Michael Bublé’s former leader Christmas, ascending 11-9 with nearly 10,000 (down 5%) and The Beatles’ Revolver, jumping 14-10 with 9,000 (up 21%).
In the week ending Dec. 15, there were 2.911 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 11.9% compared to the previous week). That’s the biggest week of 2022 and the largest for album sales since the week ending Dec. 23, 2021, when 4.231 million were sold.
In the week ending Dec. 15, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 2.526 million (up 14.7%) and digital albums comprised 375,000 (down 4.2%).
There were 1.001 million CD albums sold in the week ending Dec. 15 (up 7.7% week-over-week) and 1.521 million vinyl albums sold (up 20.1%). Both represent the largest sales weeks for each album format in 2022. Volume was last larger for both in the week ending Dec. 23, 2021, when there were 1.584 million CD albums sold and 2.113 million vinyl albums sold.
Further, the 1.521 million vinyl albums sold in the week ending Dec. 15 marks the third-largest week for vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. (The largest week in the Luminate era for vinyl was the week ending Dec. 23, 2021.)
Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 33.822 million (down 11.3% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 39.659 million (up 3.5%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 93.462 million (down 8.5% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 74.013 million (down 3.8%) and digital album sales total 19.450 million (down 22.7%).
Is this finally the year that Christmas music streaming is cannibalizing holiday music sales? The raw numbers appear to suggest that’s the case, and some music industry execs have taken notice.
Since 2017, seasonal music album sales — physical formats and digital downloads — have dropped 61.8% to 1.44 million copies (so far) in 2022, as of Dec. 8. That’s down from 4.1 million copies in 2017, even though album sales are essentially at the same level of 90.55 million copies this year versus 91.64 million back then, according to Luminate data up to Dec. 8.
What’s more, seasonal music has held steady during that time, at 6.41 million album consumption units so far in 2022 versus 6.24 million album consumption units in the comparable 49-week year-to-date period of 2017, with an overall annual average coming to 6.3 million album consumption units during that five-year period. But within that, as you might expect, streaming has more than doubled, from 3.2 billion in overall holiday song streams, as of the 49th week of 2017, to 6.68 billion holiday song streams so far this year.
“This might be the year that streaming is impacting Christmas sales,” says one major label executive.
But while music wholesalers concede that the genre is not having the greatest holiday season in terms of sales, they counter there’s another reason this year’s numbers are sluggish. They argue 2022 is missing a key ingredient that in the past has proved to be a big catalyst for the overall genre during the holidays: a big, new Christmas album that drives traffic and fuels sales across the entire genre.
“While a lot of the new albums are doing fine and have done a decent volume, not one of them has been a breakaway hit,” says Alliance Entertainment senior vp of purchasing and marketing Laura Provenzano. In years past, big holiday music albums came from the likes of Josh Groban and his Noel album, which scanned 3.7 million album copies in its debut year of 2007 and now totals 6.32 million album consumption units in the U.S.; Michael Buble‘s Christmas, which scanned 2.45 million copies in its release year of 2011 and a total of 4.5 million album consumption units to date; or, going back further, Kenny G‘s Miracle, the Holiday Album, which scanned nearly 3 million copies in its 1994 debut. Those albums really stoked the genre’s sales numbers in the years they were released.
Besides lacking a big album this year, music merchandisers say the complexion of physical sales has changed, with more titles coming out in the expensive vinyl format while budget-priced CDs’ role in driving holiday sales has faced diminished floor space in discount department stores. So while merchants are realizing more revenue-per-copy thanks to vinyl’s popularity, they’re also seeing a drop in CD unit sales because of a squeeze on budget floor space.
“Some key retailers have pared back their presence in the budget business; there are fewer $5 bins on the sales floor nowadays,” offers Provenzano. Meanwhile, as more holiday albums come out on vinyl, “now that a lot of holiday music has a higher price point, it is no longer as much of an impulse item,” Provenzano adds.
For example, as of week 49 of 2017, physical holiday and seasonal album sales totaled 2.987 million copies, with 100,000 courtesy of the vinyl format. As of the 49th week of this year, total physical sales were 1.142 million, of which 637,000 were in the CD format and 503,000 vinyl, according to Luminate.
Music is generally considered impervious to economic downturns, but that doesn’t mean all genres are immune to the threat of recession, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything, music merchandisers say. While vinyl has been growing in leaps and bounds, when it comes to holiday music, shoppers are much more price sensitive these days, agrees All Media Supply music buyer Joe Pica.
Music retailers and wholesalers say that even if turns out to be a softer year for holiday music, many perennial Christmas titles are still selling consistently, if not as much as they once were; and that some of the new albums are doing pretty well too. The new releases they point to are Lindsey Stirling‘s Snow Waltz, which so far this year has generated 37,000 units — 25,000 physical copies — since its October release; and her 2017 collection Warmer In the Winter, which has generated 25,000 album consumption units so far this year and 455,000 units — 176,000 physical — since its release. Other new releases include the Bocelli’s A Family Christmas at 66,000 album consumption units — including nearly 52,000 physical copies — since its October release; and the Backstreet Boys‘ A Very Backstreet Christmas, which has so far accumulated 57,000 album consumption units, of which 38,000 are physical copies.
If only, music merchandisers lament, there was that one big album emerging from the pack. In fact, merchandisers were hoping the Backstreet Boys album would fill that role since it was initially going to be paired with a Dec. 14 special on ABC. But that show was pulled due to allegations that singer Nick Carter raped a 17-year-old girl during a 2001 tour — an accusation which he has denied. That news initially broke on Dec. 8.
A look at daily sales for that title for the last two weeks shows that the album is still selling at about the same pace, ranging from 1,100 to 1,400 copies daily through Dec. 12, with the exception of a 7,000 album consumption unit bump on Dec. 5. But even though its sales and streaming activity appears to be holding despite the allegations, the album is unlikely to enjoy a windfall in incremental sales that the holiday TV special would have delivered had it aired.
Besides new releases, other Christmas albums issued over the last few years — including Dolly Parton‘s A Holly Dolly Christmas — are also still generating healthy activity. Kelly Clarkson‘s When Christmas Comes Around has generated nearly 51,000 album consumption units, of which 15,000 copies are in physical formats, amounting to 106,000 units overall since its release in Oct. 2021; while Carrie Underwood‘s My Gift has garnered 46,000 album consumption units so far this year, of which 17,000 are physical, and 628,000 album units since its 2020 bow.
Meanwhile, Pentatonix has built up a strong holiday brand through six seasonal albums, which so far this year have garnered 251,000 album consumption units including 28,000 units from its latest effort, Holidays Around the World. However, only 10% — or 25,000 units — are physical copies. Trans-Siberian Orchestra is another holiday music brand still putting respectable numbers up on the board, as its four genre albums this year have collectively achieved 111,000 units in album consumption activity, of which nearly 28,000 are physical copies.
But even with that showing from current artists like Underwood, Clarkson and Pentatonix, plus legacy artists like Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Ingram Entertainment’s head of sales and marketing Steve Harkins wonders if we are seeing a changing of the guard in the holiday genre. For instance, the holiday seasonal album chart for the week ended Dec. 8 shows that albums from Christmas perennials from the last 50 years, like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Elvis Presley, Johnny Mathis and Burl Ives, collectively have only four albums in the top 25 of the Dec. 8 chart; and another six albums in the second half, from Nos. 26 to No. 50.
“We have always relied on the old staples, but now we are seeing more contemporary artists moving up into the top spots on the holiday charts; it could be a generational transition,” says Harkins. “Some of the crooners are being replaced. We are selling less units from them, although they do still sell steadily.”
Others disagree with that assessment, saying that while the old guard may not sell as well as they used to, they still do well, according to Provenzano. Or as All Media’s Pina puts it, “Are the kids today buying Bing? I find that hard to believe. But we still sell plenty of Alabama‘s Christmas album and other [perennial] holiday sellers keep plodding along.”
While the rise of newer holiday music may be true so far this year for the seasonal album chart, it’s not so for the overall holiday/seasonal song streaming chart. Of the top 25 in that chart, only three songs — Ariana Grande‘s “Santa Tell Me” at No. 6, Pentatonix‘s “Hallellujah” at No. 17 and Sia‘s “Snowman” at No. 20 — are from the last 10 years. That’s down from the prior year, when four songs within a 10-year release window made the Top 25 year-to-date holiday songs in the period ending Dec. 2, 2021. In fact, this year only 22 songs in that chart’s top 100 have been released in the last 10 years, and overall, only 34 of the top 100 holiday season songs were released in the current century. As for new holiday tunes released this year, only four songs made the top 100 holiday season songs as of Dec. 9, with Lizzo‘s “Someday At Christmas” showing the most activity at No. 55.
Some holiday classics remain strong sellers year in and year out, and some even grow stronger every year. Alliance’s Provenzano wonders how many copies of the Vince Guaraldi Trio‘s A Charlie Brown Christmas the industry can sell every year. Since 2017, that title has grown every year, from 76,000 album consumption units to nearly 191,000 units as of the 49th week of each subsequent year. This year represents its strongest frame yet, with the album up slightly from 189,000 last year, which was better than 2020 (164,000), 2019 (134,000) and 2018 (88,000).
But other traditional big holiday sellers, like the Mannheim Steamroller albums — consisting of nine studio and four compilation or live albums dating back to the late 1980s that have collectively amassed 23 platinum awards from the RIAA — have slowed down considerably. This year, that catalog has generated about 75,000 album consumption units so far, and of that only a little more than 3,000 were physical sales.
Still, the labels haven’t given up on their perennial sellers. They’ve begun boosting sales of various titles by refurbishing those albums, in some cases adding bonus tracks like the eight extras on Holly Dolly Christmas; or issuing the albums in different colored vinyl like with the Vince Guaraldi Trio classic. Up in Brighton, Mass., Newbury Comics buyer Larry Mansdorf says the latter LP is the chain’s No. 3 selling album — overall, not just seasonal — thanks to the chain carrying the album in green-swirl vinyl.
Still, unless holiday season album sales rebound, the major labels might begin to pare back their offering, says one label executive working in catalog. As it is currently, about 2,300 holiday Christmas titles are still in print, including about 400 that are also available in the vinyl format, wholesalers say.
“This may be the year we look at our Christmas title range and see what’s worth keeping in physical print,” the label executive says.
While it may seem like most every major artist has released a full-length holiday album, there are still quite a few superstars that have yet to drop a seasonal project – including such chart-topping acts as Adele, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Ed Sheeran.
On the latest Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below), hosts Katie and Keith discuss a dozen artists that are missing from the holiday cannon and debate whether we’ll ever actually get a seasonal album from them. (We’re looking at you, Paul McCartney!)
Also on the show, the Pop Shoppers chat about SZA scoring her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with SOS (and securing one of the biggest debuts of 2022) and how Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” reaches double-digits at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, spending its 10th nonconsecutive week atop the list.
Katie and Keith also take a stroll down chart memory lane in the chart stat of the week feature, revisiting the all-star charity album A Very Special Christmas and what became the start of a mega-successful holiday music series.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
This time every year, enduring favorites by Mariah Carey, Brenda Lee and Bobby Helms rise to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 as Americans turn to holiday streaming playlists and Christmas-focused radio stations. However, these evergreens, celebrating the biggest Christian holiday of the year, are more secular than in years past.
It used to be that contemporary takes on traditional songs about the birth of Christ — “Little Drummer Boy,” “Joy to the World,” “Silent Night” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” — were among the most popular holiday songs. Listeners enjoyed Nat King Cole’s “O Come All Ye Faithful” as much as his version of “Deck the Halls.” Kenny Rogers had a popular take on “Mary, Did You Know?,” first recorded in 1991 by Michael English of the Christian group the Gaither Vocal Band. Martina McBride’s rendition of “O Holy Night,” a Christmas carol from the 1840s, was among the top 100 holiday songs.
In 2022, as streaming playlists drive listening, the top 100 holiday songs are more likely to conjure images of Santa, sleigh bells and cold weather than a baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Through Dec. 8, religious music had only a 4.4% share of the top 100 holiday songs’ total consumption — tied with 2021 for the lowest since 2010, according to a Billboard analysis of Luminate data. The top religious song since the first week of November, “O Come All Ye Faithful” by Nat King Cole, ranks only No. 50, the lowest for a No. 1. religious song since 2010. “Mary, Did You Know?” by Pentatonix ranks a mere No. 68 and Rogers’ version of the song has fallen to No. 255.
In terms of market share, religious holiday songs peaked in 2015 with 18.2% of the top 100 holiday tracks’ total consumption, which measures digital downloads and streaming. Vocal group Pentatonix owned six of the 13 religious songs in the top 100 holiday tracks, including No. 3 (“Mary, Did You Know?”), No. 25 (“Little Drummer Boy”) and No. 30 (“White Winter Hymnal”). The combined consumption of two versions of “Mary, Did You Know?” by Jordan Smith (No. 2) and Pentatonix (No. 3) that year was 17% greater than that of the No. 1 recording, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
Religious songs captured the most number of spots in the top 100 in 2013, with 14 of the top holiday songs for the final two months of the year being religious in nature. There were two versions of “The Little Drummer Boy,” by Pentatonix (No. 3) and Harry Simeone Chorale (No. 74). Recordings of “Silent Night” by Kelly Clarkson (No. 21) and The Temptations (No. 44) were popular at the time. There were four versions of “O Holy Night” in the top 100: Celine Dion (No. 48), Mariah Carey (No. 77), Martina McBride (No. 96) and Pentatonix (No. 97). And Amy Grant’s original song “Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)” ranked No. 82.
To categorize holiday music as secular or religious, Billboard considered each track’s lyrical content. Religious songs contain references to Biblical characters (e.g., Jesus, God or the Virgin Mary) or Christian themes (the nativity scene). Billboard counted Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukuh Song” as religious for its references to Judaism. A song like “Hallelujah,” written by Leonard Cohen and covered countless times by the likes of Pentatonix and Carrie Underwood, has a religious-sounding title but is classified as secular.
How holiday music is consumed — like all music — has changed over the years. From 2015, when religious holiday music reached its peak market share, to 2022, downloads’ contribution to total consumption of the top 100 holiday songs dropped from 49% to just 1.4%. This year, numerous religious songs, including For King & Country’s “Little Drummer Boy” and Lauren Daigle’s “Light of the World,” have relatively strong download sales but too few streams to make the top 100.
Radio stations favor a different slate of religious holiday songs than streaming platforms, such as versions of the 1962 song “Do You Hear What I Hear?” by Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood and Whitney Houston that fall outside of the top 100 holiday streaming recordings. Traditional songs like “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” recorded by the likes of Barenaked Ladies and Mannheim Steamroller, consistently perform well at U.S. radio. “Songs like ‘O Holy Night,’ ‘Do You Hear What I Hear?’ and ‘The First Noel’ still test equally well for us,” says Tom Poleman, chief programming officer for iHeartMedia, in an email to Billboard.
But the data show U.S. radio airplay of holiday music has also become more secular in recent years. In November and December of 2015, there were 16 religious songs in the top 100 holiday recordings as measured by spins. The top religious recording, “The Little Drummer Boy” by Harry Simeone Chorale, ranked No. 25 and was closely followed by two versions of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” by Houston and Bing Crosby at No. 33 and No. 34, respectively. Rogers’ and Pentatonix’s covers of “Mary, Did You Know?” also ranked in the top 100.
This year, through Dec. 8, there were only 6 religious songs in the top 100, and the top track, “The Little Drummer Boy” by Harry Simeone Chorale, had fallen to No. 72. Christian artist Amy Grant still makes the top 100, but her versions of “Winter Wonderland,” “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Sleigh Ride” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” have performed better than her top religious song, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
The final rankings could have more religious songs come Christmas, however. Radio stations tend to play religious-themed songs more often as Christmas nears, says Sean Ross, author of the Ross on Radio newsletter. That would mean tracks such as “The First Noel” by Andy Williams and “Joy to the World” by Nat King Cole, both top 100 tracks in 2021, could get more plays and rise through the ranks in the coming week.
Christmas is a time for music and memories. In that spirit, this playlist is an excerpt from Ed Christman‘s yesteryear Xman Xmas mixtapes, compiled circa 1986-1988.
The Xman XmasTape
Ed Christman
Encompassing well-known classics by Burl Ives and Bobby Helms, long-lost gems (e.g. The Gems’ “Love for Christmas”) and surreal oddities such as Edd “Kookie” Byrnes’ “Yulesville,” here are some Christmas classics to revisit and deep cuts to discover. In particular, Christman, Billboard senior editor/analyst, would like to call your attention to Dean Martin’s reference of Rudolph as “Rudy, the red-beaked reindeer.”
Andy Williams, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”
The Crystals, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt Kickers, “Monster’s Holiday”
The Trashmen, “Dancin’ With Santa”
Bobby Helms, “Jingle Bell Rock”
Chuck Berry, “Run Rudolph Run”
Plan 9, “Merry Christmas”
Elvis Presley, “Blue Christmas”
Al Green, “White Christmas”
Otis Redding, “Merry Christmas Baby”
The Partridge Family, “My Christmas Card to You”
The Cheepskates, “Christmastime With You”
The Wailers, “She’s Comin’ Home”
The Turtles, “Christmas Is My Time of Year”
Milton DeLugg & The Little Eskimos, “Hooray for Santa Claus”
The Sonics, “Don’t Believe In Christmas”
Brenda Lee, “Papa Noel”
Chris Stamey, “Christmas Time”
The Rockfield Chorale, “Jingle Jangle”
The Galaxies, “Christmas Eve”
Cliff Richard, “Little Town”
Frank Sinatra, “Mistletoe and Holly”
Isaac Hayes, “Mistletoe and Me”
Nat “King” Cole, “The Christmas Song”
Fay Lovsky, “Christmas Was a Friend of Mine”
The Beach Boys, “Little Saint Nick”
https://open.spotify.com/track/75dfH68JDisE8dDaD4KlVY?si=e8ce163e8c9346d3
Barry Richards, “Baby Sittin’ Santa”
Three Aces and A Joker, “Sleigh Bell Rock”
Jack Scott, “There’s Trouble Brewin’”
Yard Trauma, “Christmas Tyme”
Edd “Kookie” Byrnes, “Yulesville”
Percy Faith & His Orchestra, “Joy to the World”
Burl Ives, “Holly Jolly Christmas”
NRBQ, “Christmas Wish”
Rosemary Clooney, “Suzy Snowflake”
Dean Martin, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Stan Freberg, “Nuttin’ for Christmas”
Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, “Jingle Bells”
Louis Armstrong, “‘Zat You Santa Claus?”
Brenda Lee, “I’m Gonna Lasso Santa Claus”
The Drifters, “White Christmas”
Santo & Johnny, “Twistin’ Bells”
The Tryfles, “Gloria (In Excelsis Deo)”
Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra, “Christmas Night In Harlem”
James Brown, “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto”
Solomon Burke, “Christmas Presents”
The Gems, “Love for Christmas”
Wednesday Week, “Christmas Here”
Darlene Love, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, “Deck the Halls/Bring a Torch”
Alison Moyet, “The Coventry Carol”
Chris de Burgh, “A Spaceman Came Traveling”
Sting, “Gabriel’s Message”
The Supremes, “Born of Mary”
Mike Oldfield, “In Dulce Jubilo”
Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, “The Carol of the Bells”
Glad Singers, “Three Kings”
The Platters, “Jingle Bells Jingle”
Aztec Camera, “Hot Club of Christ”
Crocodile Shop, “December Mourning”
The Ravers, “(It’s Gonna Be A) Punk Rock Christmas”
Nadroj & the Wolrats, “Forget It”
Andy Paley, “Sleigh Ride”
The Ronettes, “Sleigh Ride”
John Lennon & Yoko Ono, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”
Bing Crosby & David Bowie, “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy”
The Kinks, “Father Christmas”
The Turtles, “Santa and the Sidewalk Surfer”
The Fools, “Rockin’ In a Christmas New Year”
Billy Squier, “Christmas Is the Time to Say ‘I Love You’”
Roy Wood, “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday”
The Waitresses, “Christmas Wrapping”
Kurtis Blow, “Christmas Rappin’”
James Brown, “Let’s Make Christmas Mean Something This Year”
Paul McCartney, “Wonderful Christmastime”
Bing Crosby, “Christmas In Killarney”
The Ronettes, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”
Brenda Lee, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
Elvis Presley, “Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me”
Billy West, “Jingle Bell Rock”
The Royal Guardsmen, “Snoopy’s Christmas”
XTC, “Thanks for Christmas”
Davitt Sigerson, “It’s a Big Country”
Pretenders, “2000 Miles”
Slade, “Merry Xmas Everybody”
The Crystals, “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
Bing Crosby, “White Christmas”
The Dickies, “Silent Night”
Cristina, “Things Fall Apart”
At first, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” made three people laugh.
One was Randy Brooks, nephew of the late comedian Foster Brooks, who wrote the song but couldn’t convince his own group to play it. The others were Elmo Shropshire, a veterinarian, and his wife, Patsy Trigg, a bluegrass duo that performed at casinos in the Southwest under the name Elmo & Patsy. Brooks met them outside a Lake Tahoe hotel in 1979 and wound up playing them the song. Elmo & Patsy performed it as part of their act, then booked studio time and recorded it as a single.
Then it took off — first on KSFO in San Francisco, which played it as a lark, then at more and more radio stations around the country. Trigg’s parents published “Grandma” through their Tennessee gospel-music company, Kris Publishing, which meant Brooks made money every time it sold. But Shropshire, who owned the master-recording rights, turned out to be an aggressive DIY record man, recording a full-on album containing “Grandma” and lining up distribution through big drug-store chains. In 1983, it hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s Christmas Songs chart, then graduated to toys, films and TV shows. Today, it’s a holiday standard.
“It was an amazing rush,” says Trigg of the early “Grandma” days, before she and Shropshire divorced in 1985. “It was probably one of the most exciting times I’ve ever experienced.”
Billboard estimates the song’s publishing has generated $800,000, but the original Elmo & Patsy master-recording version has brought in $2.5 million through record sales and streaming over the years, all in the U.S. Much of that goes to Sony’s Epic Records, to which Shropshire signed a distribution deal in the early ’80s — meaning the veterinarian lost control of the master recordings and a lot of potential income. So Shropshire pulled a Taylor Swift-before-there-was-a-Taylor Swift and re-recorded the track under the name Dr. Elmo. His version generated an additional $7 million-plus. And that’s not even counting TV, film and toy licensing.
So the track has a happy ending — for everybody but Grandma.
“We did it all ourselves,” says Shropshire, 86, of Novato, Calif., in a phone interview between gigs performing the song at New Jersey soup kitchens and psychiatric hospitals. “We were working constantly. But it was fun. There’s something [that’s] great fun about being an entrepreneur.”
How did you come to be the performer on the song but not the songwriter?
Randy brought the song to me in Lake Tahoe. I thought it was provocative and funny. I thought the joke would be over after one or two times. At that point, I wasn’t professional enough to think about any recording business. I was still working at my veterinary hospital. I made a recording of it to give to some friends for a gag Christmas gift. One took it to a radio station in San Francisco and they started playing it. I had no idea. I was driving to work and [KSFO broadcaster] Gene Nelson said, “Well, we just played this song a little while ago, and a whole bunch of people called in and said they hated it. If we get 50 requests for it, we’ll play it again.”
How did it go from that to holiday hit?
In 1979, maybe 1980, when we first came out with the record, it was played a couple times. Right after Christmas, the bottom would drop out. At that time, there were probably 80 [record] companies. I’d send them a copy. I just had a little vinyl 45. They were interested in selling albums. I’d send a letter saying, “This is played on the radio, and I think it’s going to be good.” Almost every one would take the letter I wrote, and they had big Magic Marker on it, saying, “Stop sending me this shit!” In 1983, everybody started taping it from KSFO in San Francisco.
How did you capitalize on the radio exposure?
There were a lot of independent record distributors, but they’d [buy] 100 CDs — and at the end of a season, they’d send back, like, 98. Then we’d have to pay them back, or no money would exchange hands. My wife Pam Wendell — she was a salesperson — had the idea of making CDs and little displays and packaging them in a box and selling them to drugstore chains. We went to Longs Drugs in California. They had about 250 stores. It was different from getting them into record stores, when you usually didn’t get paid — then you’re competing with Elton John and the Eagles and your stuff goes down into the basement. Longs Drugs didn’t sell music, but at Christmas, they would put our displays out. Thirty days later, they would send us a check.
Then what happened?
We went from Longs to Eckerds, in the East. They had 3,000 stores. And we went to Costco and Sav-on — they had about 3,000 stores. Ultimately, we got into Dollar General, and they had 8,000 stores. I would try to do radio interviews. And they liked it. There was always a good angle: “Why did you sing a song where Grandma gets killed at Christmas?” I wasn’t that great of an interview, but it was fun for them and provocative. I would do interviews starting at 3 in the morning so I could be on the 6 a.m. morning shows in the East. I did probably 175 interviews every December. We lined them up every 15 minutes. That was from about 1994 until 2014.
At some point, Sony comes into the story, right? What was the story there?
In 1983, I spent a lot of money making a video. There was a man and wife in Nashville who had a little record company called Nationwide Sound Distributors. They got wind of it and said, “If you’ll sign a deal with us for a year, we’ll press 250,000.” Well, they sold all 250,000 copies, because people were hearing it for about three years, and there was no place to buy it. So the market was there. Billboard had it No. 1, in front of [Bing Crosby‘s] “White Christmas.” That’s when Epic [Records, part of CBS, later purchased by Sony] got involved and said they wanted to distribute it. It was a pretty onerous contract. I made an album of Christmas songs, so they could have an album. It probably cost $10,000 to $15,000. They gave me a $20,000 advance, but they owned everything. They sold a lot of records, and they just did nothing for promotion.
If Epic owned those recordings, you couldn’t sell the album yourself at drugstores, right? Is that why you recorded a different version?
That’s right. I re-recorded my own version of “Grandma.” We used all the same personnel. Even I can’t tell the difference.
You must be aware that’s exactly what Taylor Swift is doing. Have you followed that story?
No, I have not. No kidding! I’m so excited to hear about it.
Her record label was sold, including her original catalog. She didn’t like the people who bought the label and wanted to buy back the catalog but couldn’t. So she re-recorded all the songs and told everybody to buy and stream the new ones instead of the old ones.
I’ll tell you another thing about re-recording. Let’s say somebody wants to use the song in a movie. It’s a one-time payoff. They usually pay, I’m thinking, $25,000 for the publishing part of it to use the composition and another $25,000 for the master sound recording. So anytime somebody wants to put it on TV or a movie, [or] toys, more money comes from that than from record sales. If they use the Sony version, Sony just gives me a pittance. But if they use my version, I get the whole $25,000. This is the same with Taylor Swift.
Ah! I wasn’t even thinking about synchs.
Oh, you would not believe the times somebody would call up and say, “We want to pay X amount of dollars” — usually many thousands — “to use the composition in Jarhead.” And they’d say, “We’ve already contacted Sony and they say we can use their recording.” And I’d immediately call up the person and say, “Don’t use the Sony recording! Use ours!” That’s $25,000 out the window!
So you have to be proactive and make sure music supervisors know to use your version.
We have been on so high alert with that. Sometimes we’d have to talk ’em out of it. They’d say, “Who’s Dr. Elmo?” We’d get them to listen to it and they couldn’t tell the difference and we’d say, “We can give you a better deal.”
Did you ever recoup the $30,000 you spent on the video, and the $10,000 or $15,000 you spent in the studio for that Epic version?
Yeah, we made it up that year. That and more!
Well, I assume you have another 150 interviews to do today, so I should let you go.
No! We’re not afraid all those CDs will come back to us after the first of the year anymore. Those streams won’t come back to us. We’re not worried about that.
