Christmas Songs
Featuring jingles from Sabrina Carpenter, Kelly Clarkson and more.
Christmas season is here, with a whole new offering of holiday songs in Spanish or Spanglish, including original songs or covers, and more than one album. While must-have classics like José Feliciano‘s “Feliz Navidad,” which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020, remain in the top 10 of Billboard‘s Holiday 100 chart, artists like Maria Becerra and Thalia have new releases to add to your playlist this month.
The former released a bilingual version of the American classic “Jingle Bell Rocks,” adding verses in Spanish to the voice of Bobby Helms on the iconic original 1957 recording for a refreshing duet. The latter released the six-song EP Navidad Melancólica, fusing rhythms such as bachata and cumbia, and uniting pop with Christian music in a collaboration with Marcos Witt.
“This album was born from my need to preserve my childhood memories, transforming them into memories full of joy, hope and strength to fill my life with faith on these special dates,” Thalia wrote in an Instagram post.
The Latin music offering this Christmas is wide and varied, with songs to dance to, reflect on or simply enjoy with family or friends. Among those who released full albums is David Bisbal, with the 10-song set Todo Es Posible en Navidad, which includes an original song of the same title as well as Spanish versions of American classics. There is also Luis Angel “El Flaco” — with a Deluxe edition of his 2021 LP Feliz Navidad, to which he adds three new songs — and the Venezuelan musician Beet Acosta, with the luminous Christmas Express EP.
For those far from their loved ones, Joaquina captures the feeling of nostalgia in the song “Airport.” And, in a beautiful reflection, Ricardo Montaner addresses the story of Jesus’ birth from his mother’s point of view in “María”, to the rhythm of bachata.
The helpless romantic will enjoy a beautiful version of “Santa” performed by Zhamira Zambrano and Jay Wheeler, while another beloved couple of Latin music, Camilo and Evaluna, recorded “Navidad en cada corner (“It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas).”
DJ Deorro with “Querido Santa Claus,” and Ryan Castro, Juanes and SOG with “Chucu Chucu,” bring laughter and fun just in time for the holidays, while Lupita Infante spreads her joy with “¡Navidad! ¡Navidad! Remix.”
Below, enjoy our list of Latin Christmas songs and albums released in 2024.
Beet Acosta, Navidad Express
On Nov. 1, A&M/UMe is set to release the Carpenters’ Christmas Once More, a new collection featuring 16 Carpenters holiday classics, personally curated by Richard Carpenter. This newly remixed and remastered set includes fan favorites such as “Merry Christmas Darling,” featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, “Sleigh Ride” and “(There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays.” The album title is a play on the title of the duo’s 1973 pop smash “Yesterday Once More,” which was later used as the title of a 1985 hits collection by the duo.
The Carpenters have been associated with Christmas since 1970, the year they burst to stardom with “Close to You” (Billboard’s No. 1 Song of the Summer for 1970) and “We’ve Only Just Begun.” That holiday season, they released “Merry Christmas Darling,” a nostalgic Richard Carpenter-Frank Pooler ballad that reached No. 1 on Billboard’s annual Christmas Singles lists in 1970, 1971 and 1973.
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The song remains a classic. “Merry Christmas Darling” ranked No. 41 on Billboard’s 2023 list of the 100 best Christmas songs of all time. Melinda Newman praised the song’s “dreamy reverie” and especially Karen’s lead vocal. “Her vocal on ‘Merry Christmas Darling’ as she longs for her loved one, who is away for Christmas and New Year’s Day, is pure, sublime perfection. She conveys the perfect mix of yearning, sadness and hope since she knows, even though it’s unspoken, they will be joyfully reunited after the holidays. Over 50 years since its release, it’s still the soundtrack for any college couples separated during the holiday break.”
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“Merry Christmas Darling” was re-released in 1974 with a torchy ballad version of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” on the B side. It was released again in 1977 with “Christmas Song” on the B side. Also in 1977, the Carpenters headlined their first holiday TV special for ABC, The Carpenters at Christmas. In 1978, finally, they released their first holiday album, Christmas Portrait. It coincided with the release of a second holiday special for ABC, The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait, which featured film legend Gene Kelly as a guest star.
Christmas Portrait has logged 66 weeks on the Billboard 200. Among the duo’s albums, only Close to You has logged more weeks on Billboard’s flagship albums chart (87).
Richard had a unique idea for creating a near-continuous work that would mix hymns, pop tunes, vocals and instrumentals. He did some of the orchestral arrangements himself, while others were assigned to Peter Knight and Billy May.
“With Karen’s marvelous leads,” Richard has written, “combined with an oversize studio orchestra and chorus, terrific arrangements, and timeless music, Christmas Portrait was, and is, an almost incomparable Christmas album.”
Enough material was recorded during the Christmas Portrait sessions to allow for the release of a second Carpenters holiday album, An Old-Fashioned Christmas, in 1984, the year after Karen’s untimely death at age 32. In 1990, Christmas Portrait – The Special Edition combined tracks from both Carpenters’ seasonal LPs with some additional material. Now comes Christmas Once More, which will be available in multiple formats, including CD, black vinyl, limited-edition gold vinyl, digital download, streaming and ATMOS.
There have been numerous indications in recent years of the Carpenters’ continuing audience appeal. A 1998 compilation, Love Songs, rode the Billboard 200 for 25 weeks. Carpenters songs have been featured in several hit movies, such as 2007’s The Simpsons Movie (which memorably featured “Close to You”). Both “Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun” have been voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
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The Carpenters got an unexpected shout-out on a global stage in March 2023. While accepting an Academy Award for best original song for “Naatu Naatu” from RRR, M.M. Neeravaani said, “Thank you, Academy. I grew up listening to the Carpenters, and now here I am with the Oscars.” He then proceeded to sing his acceptance remarks to the tune of the duo’s Billboard Hot 100-topping smash “Top of the World,” a move that charmed the audience at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and the global TV viewing audience.
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Here’s the track listing for the CD edition of Christmas Once More.
1. “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”
2. “Happy Holiday”
3. “The Christmas Waltz”
4. “Sleigh Ride”
5. “It’s Christmas Time / Sleep Well, Little Children”
6. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
7. “Christ Is Born”
8. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
9. “Merry Christmas, Darling” (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Version)
10. “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”
11. “(There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays”
12. “Little Altar Boy”
13. “The First Snowfall / Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
14. “My Favorite Things”
15. “White Christmas”
16. “Ave Maria”
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