The Best Christmas Songs, According To Data
"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." So said Buddy the Elf — and we couldn't agree more! It simply wouldn't be Christmas without those festive songs blasting from the speakers. Everybody has their favorite tunes, of course, but what are objectively the best Christmas songs of all time? Luckily, the experts at Billboard have figured it out for us...
This list is based on Billboard's "Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs." The ranking takes into account each song's performance on Billboard‘s weekly Holiday 100 chart between December 2011 and January 2021. The songs are ranked using a point system that gives the most points for weeks spent at number one. Different eras are also given different weightings.
40. "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" (1959)
Artist: Perry Como With Mitchell Ayers And His Orchestra
It's telling that Perry Como's 1959 version of "Home for the Holidays" is the one that people return to year after year. After all, this track has been covered by everyone from the Carpenters to Miss Piggy.
The song was written by Robert Allen and Al Stillman in just one day. Producer Mitch Miller wanted a holiday song for Como ASAP, so Allen penned the music in one afternoon before Stillman handed in the lyrics the same night.
39. "Jingle Bells"
Artist: Frank Sinatra
Surprisingly, "Jingle Bells" was not written about December 25. If you listen carefully to its lyrics, there is no mention of Christmas, December, or even the holidays. You only know it's winter because of the snow.
"Jingle Bells" was written in 1857 by James Pierpont, apparently as a Thanksgiving song for his father's Sunday school. And here's another fact to impress your friends: the song was first called "One-Horse Open Sleigh."
38. "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
Artist: Bing Crosby with Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires & John Scott Trotter & his Orchestra
The first version of Meredith Wilson's "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" was performed by Perry Como in 1951. And you'll find that rendition of the track a little bit higher on this ranking.
Bing Crosy's cover of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" arrived just two months after the release of Como's version. But while it's clearly beloved, it's only the fourth-most-popular version of this song.
37. "Run Rudolph Run"
Artist: Chuck Berry
Secondhand Songs states that there are an incredible 180 different versions of Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run." So it's amazing that such a popular song took so long to break into the top ten of the charts.
"Run Rudolph Run" was only a minor hit when it was first released in December 1958, landing at number 69. Then 62 years later, in January 2021, the song reached its peak position of number ten on the Billboard chart. This time difference is a record, according to Song Facts.
36. "Where Are You Christmas?"
Artist: Faith Hill
Most people will know that "Where Are You Christmas?" was written for the Jim Carrey movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas. But a lot of people don't know that unofficial Christmas Queen Mariah Carey is listed as a writer of the song.
The story goes that Carey couldn't record the vocals for "Where Are You Christmas?" because of a dispute between the label and Carey's ex-husband and former Sony Music CEO Tommy Mottola. Whatever the real story, Faith Hill knocked it out of the park.
35. "Little Saint Nick"
Artist: The Beach Boys
Co-writer Mike Love told The Times that "Little Saint Nick" is a song in the vein of other early Beach Boys records "Surfin' U.S.A." and "409." He said, "It's a car song all about Santa on his hot-rod sled."
Love also revealed that the band was never afraid of diving into Christmas tunes "because a lot of the Beach Boys' singing originally was at Christmas parties." He recalled that for him, Christmas "was always about music," so "it just felt very natural to do a Christmas album."
34. "Linus And Lucy (Peanuts Theme)"
Artist: Vince Guaraldi Trio
In 2022 the Vince Guaraldi Trio's soundtrack album for A Charlie Brown Christmas was certified five times platinum. It's no surprise, then, that the signature theme tune from the album and movie should feature on this ranking.
It undoubtedly helps that A Charlie Brown Christmas is a beloved festive movie that's played in households throughout the U.S. in December. In fact, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving pretty much means that Charlie Brown owns the holiday season!
33. "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
Artist: Perry Como And The Fontane Sisters With Mitchell Ayres And His Orchestra
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" was written in 1951 so it's full of references to things that are no longer relevant. It's still a classic, of course, but we thought we could clear some things up.
One of the lyrics says to "look at the Five-and-ten." Five-and-ten stores were shops that used to sell stuff for a dime or less: a concept that is basically inconceivable now! As for the "Hopalong boots" that the kids want, these refer to the forgotten cowboy Hopalong Cassidy.
32. "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
Artist: Band Aid
It's a frequent, though not unusual, phenomenon that some Christmas songs are pretty dark. "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is perhaps the best example of this, with its jaunty tune juxtaposed to its frankly stark lyrics.
There aren't many songs that can pull off the line, "The Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom." But "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity single, and its position on this ranking proves that it's stood the test of time.
31. "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
Artist: Darlene Love
Darlene Love had no idea that "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" would become a perennial favorite when she recorded it in 1963. “Who writes, records, and sings an original Christmas song?” she told The New York Times. “You’ve already got ‘Silent Night’ and ‘White Christmas.'”
Yet "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" eventually proved to be a massive success. “When I’m singing it, I’m telling everybody to come home to their loved ones,” Love said. “I’m inviting families to get back together again. This is the time to do it.”
30. "Santa Baby"
Artist: Eartha Kitt With Henri Rene And His Orchestra
There are almost 400 versions of "Santa Baby" out there, but you'll only find Eartha Kitt's original on this list of best-selling Christmas songs. One cover you definitely won't find here is Michael Bublé's effort.
Bublé took the questionable decision to alter the lyrics of "Santa Baby" and instead sing things such as "Santa buddy," "Santa pally," and "I'll wait up for you, dude." People have argued that this says more about the singer's fragile masculinity than perhaps he wanted to reveal.
29. "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
Artist: Johnny Mathis
This one again? We're afraid so — and it's not the last time you'll see "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" on this ranking. It seems that there is a cover of this song for every listener.
Johnny Mathis released his version in 1986; it was the opening track of his album Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis. His cover may have got a bump from being included on the soundtrack to Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
28. "Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)"
Artist: Gene Autry
Gene Autry was apparently inspired to write "Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)" in 1946 after he competed in what's now called the Hollywood Boulevard Christmas Parade. Autry was riding his famous steed, Champion, but the crowd wasn't interested in him.
The story goes that the crowd ignored Autry and instead cheered for Santa Claus, who was a few places behind the Western star. "Here comes Santa Claus! Here comes Santa Claus!" the crowd reportedly cheered. Then a classic Christmas song was born.
27. "Christmas Time Is Here"
Artist: Vince Guaraldi Trio
We've already seen the theme tune from A Charlie Brown Christmas on this ranking, and here's another track from the soundtrack album. "Christmas Time Is Here" is the song the Peanuts gang sings in the movie.
We assume the version on the Billboard chart is the vocal version of the track, which runs to a little under 3 minutes. But there is also an instrumental version of "Christmas Time Is Here," and that runs a mighty 6 minutes long.
26. "Hallelujah"
Artist: Pentatonix
The most surprising thing about seeing "Hallelujah" on this list is that it's not the original Leonard Cohen version. Or the Jeff Buckley version. Or the Bob Dylan version. It's an a cappella version performed by Pentatonix in 2016.
This cover of "Hallelujah" peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Holiday 100 after its release, helped undoubtedly by a viral music video. It was also boosted by what Bob Dylan called "a beautifully constructed melody that steps up, evolves, and slips back, all in quick time."
25. "Please Come Home For Christmas"
Artist: Eagles
"Please Come Home For Christmas" first appeared on Charles Brown Sings Christmas Songs in 1960, but it was the Eagles cover version that brought it to wider attention. In 1978 the song peaked at number 18 on the Billboard chart.
Many other singers and bands have tried their hand at "Please Come Home For Christmas," too. A lot of people are fond of Bon Jovi's take, for example, and a more modern example came from George Ezra in 2021.
24. "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"
Artist: Thurl Ravenscroft
The original 1966 holiday special How The Grinch Stole Christmas remains a Christmas tradition for many families in 2023. It's hardly surprising, then, that "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" — which plays three times in the movie — is a fixture here.
Thurl Ravenscroft provided the vocals for this original version, and his voice would've been familiar to anybody watching television in the 1960s. He was the voice of Kellogg's Tony the Tiger, after all, and said the oft-imitated slogan, "They're grrreat!"
23. "Happy Holiday"/"The Holiday Season"
Artist: Andy Williams
Andy Williams has a legitimate claim to being the official voice of Christmas. He has four songs on the Billboard "Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs," including "Silver Bells" at 90 and "Do You Hear What I Hear?" at 91.
The most beloved Andy Williams Christmas song is still to come, but the medley of "Happy Holiday"/"The Holiday Season" is the gift that keeps on giving. It first cropped up in 1964 on The Andy Williams Christmas Album, and it is still charting in the Holiday 100 today.
22. "Underneath the Tree"
Artist: Kelly Clarkson
When in 2013 she released Wrapped in Red, Kelly Clarkson told Billboard, "I've been dying to make a Christmas album." Her record included both originals and covers, and "Underneath the Tree" was the lead single.
She wrote the album with Greg Kurstin and took inspiration from Christmas classics of old. These included A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector, and White Christmas. Then they set about making their own thing and breaking free of any expectations.
21. "Christmas Canon"
Artist: Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra used Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel as the base of "Christmas Canon," but they weren't the first to be inspired by this composition: The Bee Gees and Kylie Minogue have also used it in their music.
But Trans-Siberian Orchestra was the only one to use it to create a Christmas classic. “You want to present music that is going to touch people’s souls and a lot of people wrote in saying that ‘Christmas Canon’ was their favorite song,” the band's Bob Kinkel told Billboard in 2004.
20. "Wonderful Christmastime"
Artist: Paul McCartney
In "Wonderful Christmastime," Paul McCartney created a song that feels both of its time and out of time. So while the synthy, electropop noises throughout the song are dated, we'd happily listen to this every Christmas. And we do!
"The song is what we in the industry call an evergreen because it gets played all the time," entertainment attorney Bernie Resnick told Forbes in 2010. "[McCartney's] publishing royalty check every fourth quarter probably has a lot of zeros on the end."
19. "Santa Tell Me"
Artist: Ariana Grande
If you ever doubted that the best ideas come to you in the shower, Savan Kotecha revealed to Songwriting Magazine that the idea for "Santa Tell Me" came to him while having a wash. "I just stepped out of the shower, got water all over the phone and I recorded it," he said.
The final songwriting credit goes to Kotecha, Ilya, and Ariana Grande. Yet while the song is Christmassy, it's not full of Christmas spirit. Grande said that the song is "sort of about being fed up with Santa because he doesn't necessarily pull through all the time."
18. "Blue Christmas"
Artist: Elvis Presley
Elvis apparently didn't have high hopes for "Blue Christmas." Backing singer Millie Kirkham said in 2012 that the King was not happy to record the track and grumbled to the band, "Let's get this over with."
Elvis also encouraged his team to "do something silly" while making the song. "When we got through, we all laughed and said, 'Well, that's one record that the record company will never release,'" said Kirkham.
17. "Mistletoe"
Artist: Justin Bieber
A young Justin Bieber had his Christmas wishes come true when his 2011 album, Under the Mistletoe, debuted at number one on the Billboard chart. This was the first time ever that a Christmas album had gone straight to the top spot.
"Mistletoe" was the lead single from Under the Mistletoe, and it proved similarly successful. Bieber said at the time he hoped the song was one people were "going to be singing every Christmas." It seems as though his festive wish has come true.
16. "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"
Artist: John & Yoko/The Plastic Ono Band With The Harlem Community Choir
There were two major inspirations behind "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." The first came in 1969 when John Lennon and Yoko Ono paid for billboards around the U.S. that read, "War is over! (If you want it)."
The second inspiration was that Lennon was simply "sick of 'White Christmas.'" We imagine the first reason was more powerful than the second, but whatever the case, Lennon certainly put his own haunting stamp on the classic Christmas song.
15. "Mary, Did You Know?"
Artist: Pentatonix
Pentatonix captured the zeitgeist in 2014 with the release of their album That's Christmas to Me. They have six songs on Billboard's "Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs" ranking, with this one charting the highest.
"Christmas is such a great time, especially for a cappella music," Pentatonix's Kevin Olusola told Artist Direct. "People are more willing to listen to that style. We realized that after our Christmas single 'The Little Drummer Boy.' It did so well. We knew we wanted to do something more extensive."
14. "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
Artist: Michael Buble
We promise this is the last time we'll have to talk about "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas." The highest-ranked version of the song came from Michael Bublé and his 2011 album, Christmas.
"I knew what I was doing when I made the record," Bublé told Billboard's Pop Shop podcast in 2022. "I had high hopes. I was quite ambitious. Because I really genuinely love the songs. I never had any idea that it would be like this ever, ever."
13. "Sleigh Ride"
Artist: The Ronettes
Leroy Anderson famously penned the "Sleigh Ride" tune during a scorching hot July in 1946. The lyrics came four years later, courtesy of Mitchell Parish, and artists have seemingly not stopped covering the song since.
Anderson's version of "Sleigh Ride" appears at number 53 in Billboard's "Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs" ranking. But it's the Ronettes' 1963 cover that people return to year after year. It first appeared on the album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector.
12. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
Artist: Gene Autry
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" started its life as a promotional booklet for Montgomery Ward department stores. The story in the booklet was written by Robert L. May in 1939 and later developed into a song by Johnny Marks in 1949.
Gene Autry recorded the song first, and it was an immediate smash hit. And despite some competition from Burl Ives — whose cover appears at number 54 of this ranking — it is Autry's version that we return to every single year.
11. "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)"
Artist: Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra was once the side hustle for the heavy-metal band Savatage, and band members Jon Oliva, Robert Kinkel, and Paul O'Neill originally wrote "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" for Savatage. The problem was that they couldn't get radio stations to play it, because they assumed it would be heavy metal.
"They never even listened to it," Oliva told Song Facts. "You know how we know? Because the next year we sent the exact same song and put a Christmas tree on the cover and an angel and called it Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and it was number 1 on 500 radio stations."
10. "White Christmas"
Artist: Bing Crosby
The movie Holiday Inn is a controversial one these days, but we can at least be thankful that it gave us the song "White Christmas." Bing Crosby's Christmas ditty went straight to number one in 1942 and won an Oscar for Best Song.
Fun fact: Irving Berlin, the writer of "White Christmas," presented himself with the Oscar for this song. That is the only time this has ever happened. "I'm glad to present the award," he quipped on stage. "I've known him for a long time."
9. "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow"
Artist: Dean Martin
Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne wrote "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" during a heatwave in 1945. Perhaps that's why this Christmas favorite actually contains no references to Christmas whatsoever.
Dean Martin made "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" his own — but he did have some competition from a fellow member of the Rat Pack. Frank Sinatra's version of the song appears at number 57 in this ranking.
8. "Last Christmas"
Artist: Wham!
"Last Christmas" had the dubious honor of being a Christmas favorite that failed to reach number one in the U.K. chart. But it managed to overcome this in 2021 when, 36 years after its release, it finally hit the top spot.
At the time, this was a record for the longest time between release and reaching number one. Unfortunately, that record was broken — with a little help from Stranger Things — by Kate Bush and "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" in 2022.
7. "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year"
Artist: Andy Williams
For Andy Williams and his estate, Christmas undoubtedly is the most wonderful time of the year. This song — written by George Wyle and Eddie Pola — was written for 1963's The Andy Williams Christmas Album.
It was far from the only time Williams recorded a version of "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year," though. He sang the song for each of his seven Christmas albums! That's part of the reason why he got the nickname Mr. Christmas.
6. "Feliz Navidad"
Artist: Jose Feliciano
José Feliciano taught the world how to say "Merry Christmas" in Spanish, but if he'd left the song in its original language, we might have been deprived of its brilliance. He told Billboard that no one was playing Spanish songs on the radio in 1970.
"I decided to write an English lyric, 'I want to wish you a merry Christmas,'" he said. "And then there was no way the stations could lock that song out of the programming." He was right, and we can only thank him for it.
5. "A Holly Jolly Christmas"
Artist: Burl Ives
"A Holly Jolly Christmas" might not have come into existence without "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." The song became such a festive favorite that a TV special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, was created by the animators Rankin-Bass.
Burl Ives was brought on to provide the voice of Sam the Snowman, and he got to sing a couple of new Christmas songs written by Johnny Marks. One song in the show was "Silver and Gold," and one was "A Holly Jolly Christmas."
4. "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)"
Artist: Nat King Cole
"The Christmas Song" shares a few characteristics with other Christmas songs on this list. It was, for example, written in July by a pair of Jewish writers, Mel Torme and Bob Wells. But the song itself is different from your usual Christmas fare.
This record is slow, without a chorus, and yet it celebrates the holiday season with glee. That goes against the conventional wisdom that downbeat Christmas songs are mournful songs, while only upbeat ones are celebratory.
3. "Jingle Bell Rock"
Artist: Bobby Helms
Bobby Helms introduced a bit of rock 'n' roll to Christmas with his 1957 song "Jingle Bell Rock." He was mostly known as a country artist at the time, but that didn't stop "Jingle Bell Rock" from taking the charts by storm.
Helms had success with the song in 1957, 1958, and 1960 and he has proved the only artist capable of having a hit with it. We also just learned that the original B-side was a song called "Captain Santa Claus and his Reindeer Space Patrol," so we have to go and check that one out!
2. "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree"
Artist: Brenda Lee
Incredibly, Brenda Lee was only 13 years old when she sang "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" in 1958. So she was still only 78 years old when, in November 2023, she released a new music video to celebrate the song's 65th anniversary.
The record has stood the test of time despite being filled with dated lyrics. Nobody goes to a sock hop these days, of course, and caroling and mistletoe aren't really things, either. But if you can't be old-fashioned at Christmas, then when can you?
1. "All I Want For Christmas Is You"
Artist: Mariah Carey
Could there ever have been a different number one for this ranking? "When I wrote [it], I had absolutely no idea the impact the song would eventually have worldwide," Mariah Carey told Billboard in 2021. "How could I?"
"When writing [it], I was tapping into a bittersweet mixture of longing and festiveness," Carey said. "I had grown up wishing I could have a functional family Christmas like the ones I saw on TV or in the movies, but the truth is… that never happened! So, I wrote the song for the little girl in me filled with holiday spirit."