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Mariah Carey proved once again that she’s the reigning Queen of Christmas when she bumped a superfan who will be attending her Friday night (Dec. 16) “Merry Christmas to All” gig at Madison Square Garden to the front row.
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It all started when a Twitter user named Jordan Faso took to Twitter to reveal that they are planning to attend Carey’s show despite an injury. “Having a sprained foot is not going to stop me from seeing @MariahCarey on friday! i will crawl in MSG,” they tweeted along with a string of laughing emojis.
Carey, upon seeing the post, sweetly replied, “I wouldn’t want you to crawl!! Maybe instead you can sit in the front row for tomorrow’s show???”
Of course, Faso was thrilled over the news. “GUYS IM SHAKING LOL,” the fan wrote.
GUYS IM SHAKING LOL— 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 #𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐡𝐒𝐙𝐍 (@JordanFaso) December 16, 2022
The interaction came just two days after Carey upgraded another member of her Lambily fanbase, who traveled from Uruguay to New York just to the the show, to front row. “Today I’m traveling from my country, which is 8.598km (5.342,55miles) away from NY, just to see my idol @MariahCarey,” the fan named Mai wrote on Monday (Dec. 12). “I remember when I started saving for this day 5 years ago, wishing and hoping for this day. Words can’t describe my happiness rn, love u forever Mimi!”
“I am so happy you’re going to be here!!!,” Carey responded along with a snowflake and Christmas tree emoji. “How would you like to sit in the front row for tonight’s concert??”
Look, there are a LOT of holiday songs out there. And we have our chart-based list of the 100 Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs, as well as our staff picks for 100 Best Christmas Songs of All Time. And even that’s just scratching the seasonal surface. For every “All I Want for Christmas Is You” or “White Christmas,” there are a hundred half-assed holiday songs you hear once and happily let jingle off into oblivion. Songs that would have better served the public by exemplifying what is described in “Silent Night.”
But this list isn’t about the seasonal songs that soar or the ones that bore. This roundup is about the freaky festive fare that hits you like a fruitcake: It might leave you with a queasy feeling in your stomach, but its distinct flavor is going to linger for a while. And sometimes it’s the oddball tunes that light up the cloudy night like Rudolph’s nose.
Which is why we’re pressing pause on tasteful recordings from artists such as Bing Crosby and Vince Guaraldi for a moment and spotlighting these 10 Weird Christmas Songs. That means everything from a metal version of a religious classic (by a British knight!) to an instrumental Xmas reggae by a Beatle (who is also a British knight!).
Here are 10 bizarro holiday tracks that will either enrapture your wondering eyes or send you fleeing up the nearest chimney for escape. And if you dig these but want to go even deeper into the wild wintery world of Xmas oddities, check out this Christmas mixtape where long-lost gems and stone-cold classics sit comfortably side by side at the fireplace.
Considering that Christmas music takes over the airwaves, streaming services and charts for much of December, it’s only fitting that Christmas music has expanded over the years to include a whole lot more than just carols and church hymns. Even beyond the expansion of Christmas music into the pop culture realm, holiday music sometimes takes us beyond ice sheets and into the bed sheets. Yes, we’re talking about XXXmas – and that includes dirty holiday tunes that needn’t come just once a year.
When you think about inappropriate Christmas songs, your mind probably wanders to those bluesy Christmas jams about Santa wantin’ some satisfaction. Or maybe you think of parody tracks from LGBTQ artists who do their damndest to make the yuletide gay. Of course, there is also a myriad of hip-hop and rock songs that gleefully inject sex n’ swears into seasonal fare. And sure, we have all those on our list, but we also have a lot more… okay, we have a little bit more (including one erudite takedown of crass Christmas commercialization) but don’t get greedy. More than 10 songs would put us on Santa’s naughty list.
If you want the biggest Christmas songs, check out our Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs list. If you want the best of the season, from classics to deep cuts, dive into our staff list of the 100 Best Christmas Songs of all Time. But if you want some seasonal songs that aren’t exactly appropriate for your family’s fireside, check out 10 XXXmas tracks below.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.Shopping for a PlayStation 5 for Christmas? Getting your hands on a coveted PS5 console doesn’t have to cost a fortune — even during the holidays.
According to a new report, Sony’s PS5 is one of the hottest Christmas gifts for 2022, and finding one for the $499 retail price can be a little stressful, despite the growing number of retailers that sell the hard-to-get game console.
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Thankfully, there are a few different retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart that have PS5 consoles available right now, while others — including GameStop — are out of stock but could be restocking before the new year.
To make your search easier, we put together a list of a few places where you can purchase a PS5 online. PS5 consoles can run you anywhere from the current $500 list price up to $1,200. Keep reading for more details, links and pricing information.
Amazon
PS5 consoles restocks tend to sell out extremely fast at Amazon (and everywhere else, to be honest). For gamers who have been waiting to snag a console for $500 (or $549.99 for the Horizon Forbidden bundle), Amazon is offering customers an option to sign up for a chance to buy a PS5 at the regular retail price. The newest wave of invites were sent to qualifying customers starting on Monday (Dec. 12). Click here to request an invitation.
PS5 Console (Amazon) $from $610
Unfortunately, the invite-only option doesn’t guarantee that you will secure the console, as not all requests will be granted. However, exclusive offers allow Amazon to ensure that as many “genuine customers as possible” can buy an item that is in high-demand. If you are selected to purchase, you will receive an email when the PS5 is available. For those who don’t want to go that route, there are other PS5 consoles available on Amazon, but they’re usually marked up above the list price.
Playstation – 5 Console – God of War Ragnarök Bundle (Best Buy) $559.99
Best Buy sold out of the PS5 consoles but the God of War Ragnarok PS5 bundle ($559.99) is available for in-store pickup. The bundle is expected to sell out soon, so you’ll have to act fast to get your hands on one. The digital bundle is $459.99 and also in high demand.
Walmart launched a members-only PS5 restock back in February, and it sold out within hours, which means the price went right back up. On the plus side, you can currently find a PS5 console at Walmart for less than $700.
PS5 Console (Walmart) $668.30
When restocks sell out, PS5 consoles can cost hundreds more than you would usually pay. Because there are no regular-priced PS5s at Best Buy and other retailers, we searched for some of the cheaper options. Stock X, for example, has consoles for around $577 and up, which is a bit less than on some of the other websites. Ebay is another resource for PS5 consoles for $550 and up.
PS5 Console (StockX) $577
If you’re comfortable with high price points, Daily Steals has a PS5 with an extra controller for $1,043.99 and QVC has a PS5 available for $829.
Bundles are another way to ensure that you get a console — and maybe even save a little on the back end. Walmart has several bundles, such as this PS5 Disc Version Console with gaming headset bundle ($859), or this Sony PlayStation 5 Disc Version Console with Pro Gamer Starter Pack Bundle ($719).
‘Tis the season to spread a little joy and love and nobody knows that better than Christmas queen Mariah Carey. A few days after making a South American fan’s dreams come true by bumping her up to the front row of her Madison Square Garden “Merry Christmas to All” show, MC did it again on Wednesday (Dec. 14) when she heaped praise on a young singer’s enthusiastic performance of “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
It all started when proud mom Jen White-Johnson posted a video on Tuesday of her fourth grade son Knox singing Mariah’s perennial December No. 1 hit with his school choir at a school holiday concert with the inspiring message: “Timeline cleanse if you need one! Knox tonight at his 4th grade school winter concert singing @MariahCarey ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ #AutisticJoy on full display! My kid is everything! I hope Mariah sees this!!”
In the clip, Knox, wearing a seasonal-appropriate red sweater, can be seen happily singing along with his peers before taking a killer solo that drew howls of delight from the audience. Mariah saw it and responded with a joyful message of her own.
“Your kid IS everything!!!!!! Knox, you made my day,” she tweeted. “Your JOY gives me and everyone watching JOY. THANK YOU for reminding me why I wake up in the morning and do what I do. I love you.” White-Johnson, whose Twitter bio describes her as an “Neurodivergent Mama” and “ADHD artist + educator for disability culture + justice,” was, of course, overjoyed by the note from Carey.
“So this just happened. @MariahCarey just said Knox’s name,” she responded after Carey’s post. “We thank you Mariah for giving us the best Christmas ever. We appreciate you showing us your amazing love and light this holiday season and for amplifying Knox’s #AutisticJoy#BlackBoyJoy This made our world!”
Billboard caught up with White-Johnson on Thursday morning (Dec. 15) and she revealed that Carey did more than just let Knox know he was seen and loved. “Mariah sent me a DM saying she knows it might be a bit too late for a fourth grader, but she would be happy if we would join her on Friday (Dec. 17) for front row seats [at her second MSG holiday concert],” White-Johnson says, adding that the singer also acknowledged that it might be a bit loud for Knox, but that the invite was open if they could make it.
“The fact that she was so caring in paying attention to the fact that he’s autistic and that he would need accommodations? It’s last minute for us and we probably can’t make it, but I love the fact that she invited us,” White-Johnson says. “She’s really taking her role as the queen of Christmas very seriously and that’s what this is about. I feel like because she’s a mother she understand the joy kids are innately going to give the world with all this negativity around us.”
White-Johnson,42, says it was a “full-circle” moment for her, since she grew up listening to Carey’s music and sang her songs in talent shows in high school. As for how Knox reacted to the shout-out from the pop superstar, she says he was super excited and definitely zeroed in on the part of the tweet where Mariah said she loved him. “He was looking at the screen and out of everything that she said, that stuck out,” she says.
“‘She loves me? She loves me? And she doesn’t even know me!’,” she says Knox responded, adding that she told her son that his joy is infectious and that “she loves everyone. I believe she’s waiting and hoping for these little moments and gems to drop and her Christmas spell is working. Her fairy dust is happening. The spirit she’s illumination is working in the world.”
Check out the heart-warming exchange below.
Your kid IS everything!!!!!! Knox, you made my day. Your JOY gives me and everyone watching JOY. THANK YOU for reminding me why I wake up in the morning and do what I do. I love you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/iW19QQxBOP— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) December 14, 2022
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Over-the-ear headphones have a way of helping you sink even deeper into your favorite tunes, and 2022 has been a great year for music fans.
SZA, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Drake and Beyoncé are some of the artists who have blessed the music world with new albums this year, and with holiday sales heating up, now would be a great time to find headphones at a discount.
To make the search a little easier, we’ve rounded up seven of the best over-the-ear, noise-canceling headphones on the market. The list includes options from Best Buy, Amazon and other major retailers who are offering last-minute holiday sales on select brands and fast and free shipping in many cases.
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Below, find headphones from Sony, Apple, JBL, Bose and other top brands starting at $59.99 and up. For more product recommendations, be sure to check out our roundup of the best wired headphones and our Ultimate Gift Guide.
JBL
JBL Live 660NC Headphones
$99.99 $199.99 50% off% OFF
Enhance your soundscape with JBL Live 660NC headphones. These affordable headphones are equipped with 40mm drivers delivering JBL’s signature, booming sound while adaptive noise cancelling and smart ambient technologies lets you choose which sounds to let in and which to keep out. These headphones feature voice assistant capabilities (with a tap on the ear cup) and up to 50 hours of uninterrupted listening time. If you want a cheaper JBL design, the Live 460NC headphones are on sale for $64.99 (regular $129.99).
Amazon
Soundcore by Anker Life Q30 Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones
$59.99 $79.99 25% OFF
Soundcore by Anker Life Q30 headphones are one of the better, over-ear options that you can find for under $80 — and they’re even cheaper for the holidays. The Life Q30 headphones, on sale for just $59.99 at Amazon, are equipped with active noise cancellation, multiple sound modes and up to 40 hours of playtime.
Marshall
Marshall Major IV Over-Ear Headphones
$149.99
Major sound at a great price. Marshall’s Major IV Over-Ear Headphones provide unrivaled sound quality with custom tuned, dynamic drivers and a whopping 80+ hours of listening time – that’s three solid days of battery life before you need to charge them again. You can even fold the Major IV for easy storage and they’e available in brown or black colorways. Purchase the Major IV headphones online at Marshall.com and SSENSE and on sale for $99 at Amazon.
Best Buy
Bose QuietComfort 45 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Headphones
$249 $329 24% off% OFF
Bose 45 wireless, noise cancelling, headphones are currently discounted $80. These top-rated headphones provide up to 24 hours of playtime (they charge via USB in up to two-and-a-half hours, while a 15-minute charge gives you up to three hours of juice) and plush ear cushions make it easy to wear them for hours at a time. Bose 45 headphones have six external microphone and are available in several colors including midnight blue, triple black, eclipse grey and white smoke.
Best Buy
Sony WH-100XM5 Noise Cancelling Headphones
$349.99 $399.99 13% off% OFF
“Sony’s best headphones yet!” Save $50 on Sony’s WH-1000XM5, noise-cancelling headphones. Available in black or silver, these top-of-the-line headphones provide crystal clear sound by way of four microphones and the battery lasts up to 30 hours on a single charge making them great for travel but you can, of course, use them at the office, home, school and the gym.
Amazon
Apple AirPods Max Wireless Over-Ear Headphones
$449.00 $549.00 18% OFF
Apple’s AirPods Max are basically like a larger version of the AirPods, but you can get them in cool colors like sky blue, space gray, green, pink and silver. AirPods Max discounts rarely drop below $50, so if you want to score an even deeper discount, renewed headphones are priced at around $415 and up at Amazon and $240+ on Ebay.
Amazon
Focal Bathys Over-Ear Hi-Fi Bluetooth Wireless Headphones with Active Noise Cancelation
$799.00
For audiophiles who don’t mind splurging, Focal offers a wide selection of high-end, high-fidelity headphones such as the Bathys over-the-ear headphones. These $800 headphones blend active noise cancellation with hi-fi sound providing a truly dynamic listening experience that can last for up to 30 hours at a time. Bathy’s feature an aluminum-magnesium M-shaped dome (made in France) along with wired and Bluetooth connectivity. Click here for more Focal headphones and speakers.
TORONTO — At her first live concert since the pandemic, the Queen of Christmas herself, Mariah Carey, brought out her princess, Monroe, to duet with her at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on Friday night on the 19th-century carol “Away in a Manger,” and the 11-year-old is cut from the same tulle cloth as her mom. In other words, she can sing.
Both mom and daughter, resplendent in sparkly white dresses and tiaras, sat for the song on a set that included Christmas trees, presents and toy soldiers.
“This is my baby girl, here,” Carey said in her introduction. “Eleven years ago, I got the greatest gift. You know what, I don’t have birthdays, but the birthing day was the greatest gift ever, when I had my twins Roc and Roe [Moroccan and Monroe], and once again I’d like to introduce you to my daughter, Monroe.
“This is our first duet,” Carey told the sold-out crowd, before asking her daughter if her dress is OK. “Alright, this is a beautiful, beautiful hymn called ‘Away in a Manger.’ We’ve been working on this one for a minute,” she says, gently patting her daughter’s back.
Carey started the song with some notes showing off her inimitable upper range before Monroe — not looking the least bit nervous — started with the lyric, smoothly and indeed beautifully, to roars of approval from the impressed audience of 13,000. “My daughter, Miss Monroe,” she said proudly at the end of the 90-second song.
The family-friendly Merry Christmas to All! Concert was Mimi’s first of four, two in Toronto and two in New York City at Madison Square Garden, Dec. 13 and 16. On Saturday (Dec. 10), her stage has been dismantled for the night’s Maple Leafs vs. Flames game and will go back up again for Sunday night.
Carey kept referring to the show as a dress rehearsal and trial run, but with her killer band and dancers, and festive stage design, there were no lumps of coal in this hour and 45-minute set.
She was also funny, endearing, self-deprecating, gracious and warm, discussing the hardships of the lockdown, soaking in the audience, telling a fan she would keep the handmade pillow embroidered with her likeness, praising her band, and playing up her vanity by blotting her face with tissues and bringing her makeup artists out on the stage to do touch-ups.
The setlist was mostly comprised of Christmas songs, including the highly anticipated finale of her perennial Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” for which she received a diamond-certification plaque onstage.
And for those unable to catch any of the four shows, Carey’s two-hour concert special Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All! airs Dec. 20 on CBS and Paramount+.
Watch a fan-shot video of the moment below:
The holiday season is upon us, and one song has stood the test of time throughout the festive months.
José Feliciano‘s “Feliz Navidad,” originally released in 1970, celebrates the most wonderful time of the year in both English and Spanish. The repeating chorus, “Feliz Navidad / Próspero año y felicidad,” means “Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness.”
If you need a guide to follow along with José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad,” find the lyrics below:
Feliz NavidadFeliz NavidadFeliz NavidadPróspero año y felicidad
Feliz NavidadFeliz NavidadFeliz NavidadPróspero año y felicidad
I wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasFrom the bottom of my heart
I wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasFrom the bottom of my heart
Feliz NavidadFeliz NavidadFeliz NavidadPróspero año y felicidad
Feliz NavidadFeliz NavidadFeliz NavidadPróspero año y felicidad
I wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasFrom the bottom of my heart
I wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasFrom the bottom of my heart
Feliz NavidadFeliz NavidadFeliz NavidadPróspero año y felicidad
Feliz NavidadFeliz NavidadFeliz NavidadPróspero año y felicidad
I wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasFrom the bottom of my heart
I wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasI wanna wish you a Merry ChristmasFrom the bottom of my heart
Feliz NavidadFeliz NavidadFeliz NavidadPróspero año y felicidad
Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Songtrust Ave
Written by: Jose Feliciano
Christmas is a time for giving. And for boy bands, that usually means putting on their chunkiest sweaters, adhering to all the chestnut-roasting and kissing under the mistletoe cliches and complementing their multi-part harmonies with enough sleigh bells to give Santa Claus tinnitus.
But which pin-ups over the years have delivered the best musical present?
It could be argued that Wham!’s “Last Christmas” – a song so ubiquitous it sparked a survival game based on avoiding it throughout the whole of December – was the progenitor of the trend. But to avoid the debate about whether George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley’s chart-topping duo could really be described as a boy band, our Christmas list only focuses on the heartthrobs who emerged from the late 1980s onward, when the concept of the all-singing, all-dancing, all-male group truly kicked in.
To narrow things down further, were only rewarding those who came up with something original. That means there’s no place for The Wanted’s take on Bing Crosby’s classic “White Christmas” or The Vamps’ cover of Wizzard’s “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.” And to prevent the domination of those who truly committed to the season by recording a full-length holiday album, we’re being Scrooge-like and limiting each boy band to just one track.
So if you’ve grown sick of the yuletide staples that clog up the Hot 100 at the end of every year, here are ten teenybopper-friendly alternatives.
And to check out our list of stone-cold candy cane classics, head here for Billboard’s 100 Best Christmas Songs of All Time.
Sabrina Carpenter is bringing the heat to the holiday season with a spicy new remix of her Emails I Can’t Send fan-favorite, “Nonsense.”
In “A Nonsense Christmas,” the 23-year-old pop star switches up the goofy lyrics to take on a more festive, flirty spin. Think I only want you under my mistletoe / I might change your contact to ’Has a huge North Pole’ / You said you like my stockings better on the floor / Boy, I’ve been a bad girl, I guess I’m getting coal,” she sings in the opening verse, later noting in the chorus that “Lookin’ at you got me thinkin’ Christmas.”
“y’all made me do this,” Carpenter tweeted announcing the single on Wednesday (Dec. 7). “‘A Nonsense Christmas‘ is out now on all streaming platforms happy hoelidays!!”
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Last month, the star revealed to Billboard on the American Music Awards red carpet that the original version of “Nonsense” was the “most fun” song to write. “It’s just the silliest song,” she continued of the track, “and when we were writing it, I was like, ‘It’s never gonna be put out.’ … At first I was like, ‘It doesn’t make sense with the album,’ and then I kind of realized that there’s a lot of dual feelings to heartbreak and grieving and moving on, and it can happy and sad and confident and insecure. So yeah, that’s one of my favorites too.”
Emails I Can’t Send as a whole peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard 200 upon its release, giving Carpenter the highest chart entry of her career.
Listen to “A Nonsense Christmas” below.