Billboard Christmas Holiday Charts

After only one Christmas single (Harry Belafonte's "Mary's Boy Child", Top 100 #12) and only one Christmas album (Lawrence Welk's Merry Christmas, Best Selling Pops Albums #8)[1] charted Billboard's major record surveys in 1956, seasonal entries began to increase the following year. The Top 100 charted 9 Christmas singles in 1957, including the debut of the standard "Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms (Top 100 #6).[2] Gene Autry's newly recorded version of his 1949 original "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer"[3] made the chart at #70. The Best Selling Pop LP's had 11 seasonal albums chart including the debut of Elvis' Christmas Album that topped the survey for 3 weeks.

Bing Crosby's all-time best-selling single[4] "White Christmas" returned to the Top 100 in 1957 at #34 after peaking at #7 on the chart's first year in 1955. His holiday classic has charted Billboard's surveys almost annually since it first spent 11 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on their Best Selling Retail Records chart beginning Oct. 31, 1942 [5] and reached the top spot again in 1945 and 1947.[6] Crosby's previously charted "Silent Night" (Top 100 #54) and "Silver Bells" (Top 100 #78) also made the Top 100 in 1957. All 3 of these titles are included on his Merry Christmas which returned to #1 in January 1958 after charting Billboard's album surveys since its debut in 1945.

Seven holiday singles charted on the first year of Billboard's Hot 100 in 1958 including the debut of "The Chipmunk Song" (Hot 100 #1 for 4 weeks)[7] and Harry Simeone's "Little Drummer Boy" (Hot 100 #13). Eight holiday albums charted on Billboard' s Best-Selling LP's survey in 1958 including the debut of Johnny Mathis' Merry Christmas that peaked at #3 on December 27.[8] Mitch Miller & The Gang's album Christmas Sing Along with Mitch peaked at #1 on January 8, 1959. Bing Crosby's "White Crosby" made its first Hot 100 appearance in 1959 at #59.

Perry Como debuted his second holiday album Season's Greetings from Perry Como on The Billboard's TOP LP'S on Jaunary 8, 1960 peaking at #22.[9] The 1960 Hot 100 had 10 seasonal singles including the debut of Brenda Lee's standard "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" (Hot 100 #14)[10] and the return of Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)" (Hot 100 #80).[11] Bing Crosby's "Silent Night" (Hot 100 #54) also returned in 1960 and he made his first charting of "Adeste Fidelis" (Hot 100 #45) which is also from his 1945 Merry Christmas album.

Crosby returned to the Hot 100 with "White Christmas" charting at #12 in 1961 and #38 in 1962. Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" and Harry Simeone's "Little Drummer Boy" had returned to the Hot 100 every year after their initial release just as Christmas Sing Along with Mitch and Johnny Mathis' Merry Christmas album had on Billboard's Best-Selling LPs chart.

In 1962, 21 holiday albums charted Billboard's TOP LP's such as Mitch Miller Gang peaking at #1 again with his latest Christmas album Holiday Sing Along with Mitch.[12] and 1959's Season's Greetings from Perry Como re-charting again (TOP LP's #74).[13] Twelve seasonal singles charted the Hot 100 including new releases like The 4 Seasons' "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" (Hot 100 #23) and re-charting holiday standards like Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" (HOT 100 #65). Billboard debuted their first annual Christmas Records charts the following year.

Beginning with the issue dated November 30, 1963, Billboard magazine no longer charted Christmas albums or singles on its existing music charts. For the next 10 years, these titles could only be found in their new Christmas Records section (retitled Billboard Best Best for Christmas in 1966).[14] The 5-position survey ranking of top-selling Christmas (45) Singles and Christmas (LP) Albums ran for 3–5 weeks each holiday season expanding in size as sales activity increased.[15]

The Andy Williams Christmas Album was the first number one album and his version of "White Christmas" from the same album was the first number one single, both peaking at No. 1 for the 5 week entirety of the section run in 1963.[16] The chart size increased each holiday season until peaking at 38 singles and 117 LPS in 1967.[17] In 1971, Billboard began running the surveys only 2–3 weeks a year and listing significantly less titles with the singles chart only having 3 positions on December 18 of that year.[18]

None of the titles on these Christmas surveys appeared on any of the other Billboard music charts at the time until 1973 when "Please Daddy" by John Denver and "If We Make It Through December" by Merle Haggard both appeared on the Best Selling Christmas Singles chart as well as the Hot 100 and Hot Country Singles charts.[19] Many singles and albums have re-charted over the years, but hundreds of titles only appeared in these best-seller sections. Their data is only available in back issues of Billboard magazine and research books such as Joel Whitburn's extensive Christmas in the Charts which contains the chart data of each appearance of every Christmas single and album on all the Billboard chart surveys.[20]

Billboard Magazine's December 22, 1973 "Best Bets For Christmas"

From 1974 until 1976, Billboard sporadically provided a section entitled New Christmas Selections that alphabetically listed titles of holiday records, but Christmas music charts were not published again after the December 22, 1973 Best Bets For Christmas until the section continues in 1983 retitled as Christmas Hits. Seasonal hit singles such as the Eagles' 1978 cover of "Please Come Home For Christmas" (Hot 100 #18)[21] and Dan Fogelberg's 1980 "Same Old Lang Syne" (Hot 100 #9)[22] as well as albums like John Denver's 1975 Rocky Mountain Christmas (Top LPs & Tapes #14)[23] and Kenny Rogers' 1981 Christmas (Top LPs & Tapes #34)[24] appeared on Billboard's other music surveys during that time.

Billboard December 17, 1983 "Christmas Hits"

Billboard began publishing the best-selling Christmas Album and Single chart survey section again on December 17, 1983, under the title Christmas Hits. Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" returned to the top of the Christmas singles chart that week. Kenny Roger's 1981 Christmas was #1 on the album chart for the first two weeks of the survey. The top 10 charts ran for two weeks each holiday season for 3 years.[25]

Albums that charted Christmas Hits would also appear on other Billboard surveys, such as Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton's 1984 Once Upon A Christmas (Top 200 Albums #31) and 1985's Alabama Christmas (Top 200 Albums #75), but there were no single crossovers. Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" reached number 13 on the Hot 100 in 1984 and had sold an estimated 2.5 million copies in the U.S. by January 1985, but did not appear on the Christmas Hits chart.[26]

Billboard published the last Christmas Hits single survey on December 28, 1985. An alphabetical listing of Christmas singles would be featured in the magazine's "Reviews and Previews" section, but a seasonal weekly album chart would be the only Christmas survey published by Billboard until the introduction of the Holiday Songs chart in 2001. Hit holiday singles like New Kids On The Block's 1989 HOT 100 Top 10 "This One's For The Children"[27] and Christina Aguilera's 1999 cover of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (HOT 100 #18)[28] would only appear on Billboard's weekly single and song surveys during that 15-year period.

The Best Bets For Christmas and Christmas Hits single sales survey charted 128 titles during the 52 weeks it ran in Billboard magazine from 1963 until 1973 and from 1983 until 1985. These are the top ranking Christmas 45 rpm records.[29]

The following artists had at least 3 singles chart the Best Bets For Christmas and Christmas Hits surveys.

After no holiday charts were published in 1986, the Christmas Hits section resumed December 12, 1987 with a 30-position album survey that ran for 2 weeks, but Billboard stopped publishing the singles sale chart.[97] A Very Special Christmas topped the chart for the first 3 weeks of its return. Billboard only published alternate weeks of the survey in the magazine, then started running the chart 2-3 inconsecutive weeks each holiday season in 1988.

The album-only Christmas Hits section was retitled simply Top Christmas Albums in 1990.[98] Billboard begins running the chart 5 consecutive weeks each holiday season in 1991, but all weeks are still not available in print. After a 7-week run in 1992 and then 6 weeks in 1993, Billboard increased the survey size to 40 positions and ran the chart for 7–10 weeks beginning with the 1994 holiday season.

Billboard renamed the survey Top Holiday Albums in 2000 then increased the chart size to 50 positions in 2002.[99] The survey run increased to 11 weeks in 2006.[100] Ever since 2007, Billboard begins publishing the chart online in October for 14–15 weeks each holiday season until they reduced it to 12 weeks in 2022.[101]

For 60 years, Billboard has provided a Christmas holiday album survey, 35 consecutively since the 1987 Christmas Hits chart. The following albums have spent at least 5 weeks at the #1 position since the first week of the Christmas Records survey on November 13, 1963, until the latest Top Holiday Albums chart. They have been ranked by the total weeks charted during those dates.[102][103]

The following albums have charted over 200 weeks on Billboard's Christmas Holiday Album surveys.

Billboard introduced the 25-position Holiday Songs survey online December 8, 2001. The chart differed from the previous best-sellers in stores Christmas singles survey by ranking songs regardless of commercial single availability and based solely on radio airplay of Adult Contemporary and a few Adult Top 40 stations, most of which switch to all or nearly all Christmas music around Thanksgiving.[141] In the mid-1990's, holiday songs with no commercial single availability had begun appearing more often on these charts such as "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Hot Adult Contemporary #34) and "The Chanukah Song" by Adam Sandler (Hot Adult Contemporary #35). These titles would continue to re-chart each Christmas season along with older titles such as Paul McCartney's 1979 "Wonderful Christmastime" (Hot Adult Contemporary #29) and John & Yoko's 1971 "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" (Hot Adult Contemporary #32).[142]

The first number one Holiday Song was 1977's "Celebrate Me Home" by Kenny Loggins.[143] The initial Holiday Songs chart had a 3-week run, then expanded to 6 weeks in 2002. Starting 2006, Billboard increased the survey to 30 positions and ran the chart 6–9 weeks each holiday season.[144] The top 15 has occasionally appeared in the print magazine.[145] Since December 4, 2010, only Brenda Lee's 1958 "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree",[146] Burl Ives' 1964 "A Holly Jolly Christmas",[147] Jose Feliciano's 1971 "Feliz Navidad"[148] and Mariah Carey's 1994 "All I Want for Christmas Is You"[149] have alternated the #1 position on this chart.

The Holiday Digital Song Sales survey of music download purchases debuted on October 16, 2010. Billboard published the 50-position chart for at least 12 weeks each holiday season similar to the Top Holiday Albums chart, until they reduced it to a 7-week run at the beginning of December 2021 and then 6 weeks in 2022.[150] Holiday Digital Song Sales has charted significantly more songs and has the most weeks of all the Holiday Songs and Christmas Singles surveys at 154 weeks. The top 15 occasionally appear in the print magazine.[151]

On December 10, 2011, Billboard expanded the Holiday Song chart to 50 positions, reduced it back to a 5-6 week run and renamed it Holiday Airplay. The newly reconfigured Hot Holiday Songs, like the Hot 100, ranks holiday tracks based on a formula blending airplay, download sales and streaming data as tracked by Nielsen Entertainment.[152] The 50-position chart survey begins to appear in print and Billboard.com in early December for 5–6 weeks each year. On December 14, 2013, Holiday Songs was expanded to 100 positions and renamed the Holiday 100, although only the top 50 remain in print.[153]

Topping the Hot Holiday Songs inaugural ranking was Mariah Carey's Hot 100 Airplay Christmas classic, "All I Want for Christmas Is You".[154] As of January 7, 2023, this song has been #1 for 57 of the chart's 62 total weeks, consecutively since December 12, 2015.[155] It has also been #1 for 74 weeks on the Holiday Digital Song Sales chart[156] and 49 weeks on the Holiday Airplay chart.[157] The only songs that have taken the #1 spot away from her on the Holiday 100 are Justin Bieber's "Mistletoe",[158] Ariana Grande's "Santa Tell Me"[159] [160] and both Pentatonix's "Little Drummer Boy"[161] and "Mary, Did You Know?"[162].[163] Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" has been holding at #2 for 38 weeks.[164]

Mariah Carey Billboard Magazine Cover 12/21/19

Billboard also began publishing their 25-position Holiday Streaming Songs survey for 5–6 weeks each holiday season on December 14, 2013.[165] They increased the chart to 50 positions in 2016.[166] Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" has been #1 for 46 of the survey's 53 total weeks.[167] Besides Carey's hit, the only other songs that have topped the Holiday Streaming Songs charts are Pentatonix's "Mary, Did You Know?",[168] Ariana Grande's "Santa Tell Me"[169] and Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree".[170][171] Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and other titles that top Billboard 's Holiday Song surveys every year have met criticism.[172][173]

In 2022, Billboard launched the Holiday 100 Songwriters and Producers charts that run during the same seasonal period as the Holiday 100. The weekly songwriter and producer charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on a specific chart. The Holiday 100 Songwriters and Producers charts join Billboard’s 26 other songwriter and producer rankings covering all “Hot”-named genre charts. These encompass the Hot 100 and the country, R&B/hip-hop, R&B, rap, rock & alternative, rock, alternative, hard rock, Latin, Christian, gospel and dance/electronic genres. On the inaugural Holiday 100 Songwriters chart, Johnny Marks (who died in 1985 at age 75) was #1 thanks to seven songwriting credits on the Holiday 100. Lee Gillette (who died in 1981 at age 68) topped the inaugural Holiday 100 Producers survey, thanks to six production credits.[174]

As of January 7, 2023, Billboard's Holiday 100 has charted 300 songs. The following ranked by peak position have consecutively charted every 62 weeks since its debut on December 10, 2011.

The following songs debuted on the Holiday 100 after December 20, 2011, and consecutively charted every week following for at least two holiday seasons.

The following artists have had at least 4 songs chart the Holiday 100.

• Best Bets for Christmas 1963–1973
• Christmas Hits 1983–1989
• Top Christmas Albums of the 1990s
• Number one Holiday Songs 2001-2010
• Number one Holiday Season Digital Song Sales 2010-2019
• Number one Holiday Season Digital Song Sales of the 2020s
• Number one Top Holiday Albums of the 2000s
• Number one Top Holiday Albums of the 2010s
• Number one Top Holiday Albums of the 2020s

• Billboard Charts
• Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits CD Collection
• Billboard Magazine
• Christmas Music
• List of best-selling Christmas albums in the United States
• List of best-selling Christmas singles in the United States
• List of Christmas hit singles in the United Kingdom
• List of popular Christmas singles in the United States

• AllMusic: A comprehensive and in-depth resource for finding out more about the albums, bands, musicians and songs you love.
• Billboard's Greatest of All-Time Holiday 100 Songs
• Billboard's Greatest of All-Time Top Holiday Albums
• Billboard's most recent week of Holiday 100 Producers
• Billboard's most recent week of Holiday 100 Songwriters
• Billboard's most recent week of Holiday Airplay Songs
• Billboard's most recent week of Holiday Season Digital Song Sales
• Billboard's most recent week of Holiday Streaming Songs
• Billboard's most recent week of Hot Holiday 100 Songs
• Billboard's most recent week of Top Holiday Albums
• Billboard’s Top 25 Holiday Albums, From Crosby & Cole to Bublé & Bocelli By Paul Grein
• Discogs: A platform for music discovery and collection
• Internet Archive: a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.
• MusicVF.com: US & UK hits charts
• Records That Made Billboard's Christmas Singles Charts 1963-1985 (45cat.com)
• The 100 Best Christmas Songs of All Time: Billboard Staff List
• WorldRadioHistory.Com: A non-profit free online library