christmas

A select 16 shiny holiday hits have hung like ornaments in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10.

The Chipmunks’ “The Chipmunk Song,” with David Seville, became the first Yuletide track to reach the region, logging for four weeks at No. 1 in the 1958 holiday season.

Two other carols have spent time upon the Hot 100’s highest bow: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” from 1994, for 17 total weeks at No. 1 beginning in 2019, and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” from 1958, for three weeks over the 2023 holiday season.

The two most recently released holiday hits to jingle to the Hot 100’s top 10 do so on the Dec. 28, 2024, dated chart: Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me,” released in 2014, and Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree,” from 2013.

Previously, superstar saxophonist Kenny G boasted the most recently released holiday top 10: his take on “Auld Lang Syne,” released at the end of 1999, hit No. 7 in the Y2K holiday season. (A mix including news clips of noteworthy 20th century events added to the original instrumental’s reach.)

The most vintage seasonal song to have reached the Hot 100’s top 10? Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You).” He unveiled the chestnut in 1946.

Notably, the bulk of holiday hits that have dashed to the Hot 100’s top 10 have done so in the 2020s, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists. (Further, for much of the Hot 100’s history, holiday songs were not eligible to make the list, appearing instead on seasonal surveys.)

As for the titles of the 16 top 10 Hot 100 holiday entries, five feature “Christmas” and one “Navidad.” “Tree” has appeared in two titles. (Plus, fittingly per their sleigh positions, “Rudolph” reached the top 10, over the 2020 holidays, before “Santa.”)

Here’s a recap of every holiday song that has made a holly jolly journey to the Hot 100’s top 10, listed from the most recently released to the earliest.

“Santa Tell Me,” Ariana Grande

Two modern original holiday hits each dash merrily into the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time: Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me,” released in 2014 (14-9), and Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree,” from 2013 (15-10). Both songs previously peaked at No. 11 last holiday season.
“Santa Tell Me” totaled 27.7 million official streams (up 17% week-over-week), 8.9 million in radio airplay audience (up 3%) and 1,000 sold (up 12%) in the U.S. Dec. 13-19, according to data tracker Luminate. “Underneath the Tree” rang up totals of 28.4 million streams (up 19%), 9.2 million in radio reach (up 16%) and 2,000 sold (down 1%).

(Despite higher raw streaming totals for “Underneath the Tree,” “Santa Tell Me” ranks higher on the Hot 100 and the Streaming Songs chart due to the application of weighting to all titles’ paid/subscription and ad-supported on-demand streams and programmed/radio streams.)

Grande notches her 22nd career Hot 100 top 10, and her third this year, following two No. 1s: “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” in March, and “Yes, And?” in January. She first hit the top 10 with her debut entry, “The Way,” featuring Mac Miller (No. 9, June 2013).

Clarkson posts her 12th Hot 100 top 10 and first since “Piece by Piece” hit No. 8 in March 2016. The inaugural American Idol winner soared in with her debut coronation anthem “A Moment Like This,” which led for two weeks in October 2002.

Reflecting that contemporary traditions have a home during the holidays, “Santa Tell Me” becomes the most recently released seasonal song to reach the Hot 100’s top 10, while “Underneath the Tree” is the second-newest. Prior to this week, Kenny G boasted the most recently released holiday top 10: His take on “Auld Lang Syne,” released at the end of 1999, hit No. 7 in the Y2K holiday season. (A mix including news clips of noteworthy 20th century events added to the original instrumental’s reach.)

Mariah Carey’s 1994 carol “All I Want for Christmas Is You” – at the Hot 100’s highest bough for a 17th total week at No. 1 – is the only other holiday song from the ‘90s to have hit the top 10. New Kids on the Block’s “This One’s for the Children,” from 1989, is now the fifth most recently released holiday-themed top 10, having risen to No. 7 that Yuletide season.

The other seasonal songs that have reached the Hot 100’s top 10 were released between 1946 (Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song [Merry Christmas to You]”) and 1984 (Wham!’s “Last Christmas”). The bulk of holiday hits that have hit the top 10 have done so this decade, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Dec. 28, 2024) will update on Billboard.com Tuesday (Dec. 24). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter and Instagram.