The founders of one of our favorite wine brands, Fresh Vine Wine, offer you to celebrate the New Year together! Nina Dobrev and Julianne Hough are sending warm wishes to ALL this season and bringing you a sale to relax and enjoy award-winning wine!
A special offer for buying 6 or 12 bottles makes your holiday shopping lovely!
1. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey (1994)
Mariah Carey told EW about the song’s 25th anniversary in 2019, “I rebuke time. I have a thing where I just live outside the traditional realm of how we measure [it]. So in that way, Santa and myself are very similar. But I’m excited about the 25th anniversary. It’s like everything coming together to give the song a celebratory moment. It’s hard for me to know how much people celebrate this song other than what I hear from friends and just what I read online, or just other things, of people saying that they really get into the spirit with it. That, for me, particularly as a songwriter, is huge. So I do want to celebrate this year in an even bigger way than usual.”
2. “Last Christmas” by Wham! (1986)
The song was written by George Michael in his childhood bedroom. Says his Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley, “We went to his old room, the room in which we had spent hours as kids recording pastiches of radio shows and jingles, the room where he kept a keyboard and something on which to record his sparks of inspiration, and he played me the introduction and the beguiling, wistful chorus melody to Last Christmas. It was a moment of wonder. George had performed musical alchemy, distilling the essence of Christmas into music. Adding a lyric which told the tale of betrayed love was a masterstroke and, as he did so often, he touched hearts.”
3. “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande (2014)
You’ll be humming this one for hours. One of the best pop Christmas songs to exist, and it continues to solidify its position as a Christmas classic: “Santa Tell Me” has continued to chart every year since its release in 2014.
4. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee (1958)
Talk about one of the ultimate classic Christmas songs. You can’t hear this song without thinking of classic Christmas movies like Home Alone and The Holiday. However, the song wasn’t a hit when it was first released as a single in 1958. But as Lee grew in popularity, the song started to catch on. “It was magic, and I think we all knew it,” Lee has said. “It took a few years to take off, but once it did, it really did.”
5. “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas” by Michael Bublé (2011)
Say what you want about Michael Bublé, but he has a voice that transports you to a speakeasy in the 1940s. And that’s exactly the vibe you want in Christmas music. His 2011 Christmas album is actually the singer’s most successful album to date, with more than 12 million copies sold worldwide. Those numbers also make it one of the best-selling Christmas albums ever.
6. “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms (1970)
Remember when The Plastics danced to this in Mean Girls? History! Fun fact: In 2019, the song entered the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time. It only took 60 years, four months, and two weeks.
7. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams (1963)
Though the song was first introduced in the 1962 Christmas episode of The Andy Williams Show, this song specifically brings up in our mind the scene in Just Friends where all the Christmas decorations get ruined.
8. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” by Andy Williams (1965)
Williams’s Merry Christmas album was so popular it charted for six consecutive holiday seasons and was the number-one best-selling holiday album of 1966 and 1969.
9. “Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson (2013)
“Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Underneath the Tree’ is the most recent thing to make a play for [Mariah Carey’s] ‘All I Want’ crown,” Elizabeth Milch, deputy director of content at annotated lyrics site Genius, told Vogue.
10. “Sleigh Ride” by The Ronettes (1963)
This version of “Sleigh Ride” is the hands-down most successful cover of the popular orchestra standard.
11. “Feliz Navidad” by José Feliciano (1970)
“For some reason, this little song has united everyone,” Feliciano told Today. “Nobody can get angry that you made them sing ‘Feliz Navidad’ because it’s in Spanish. Nobody can get angry because you made them sing the English part. I wanted to wish you a merry Christmas. And I think it’s wonderful.”
12. “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by Brett Eldredge and Meghan Trainor (2016)
We’re all in agreement that the message of this song is problematic, right? And yet, this song seems to live on. Eldredge and Trainor are just the latest artists to release their take on the holiday standard.
13. “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Michael Bublé (2011)
The song was originally written by Johnny Marks in 1962, and Burl Ives’s version was famously featured in the Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special in 1964.
14. “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber (2011)
Awww. baby Biebs! This set a record for the highest debut for a Christmas song in Billboard Hot 100 history when it was released in 2011.
15. “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney (1979)
This song is just deliriously happy. Written in about 10 minutes, “Wonderful Christmastime” has earned Paul McCartney an estimated $15 million.
16. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow” by Frank Sinatra and B. Swanson Quartet
While Frank Sinatra didn’t write this song, nor was he the first or last to record it, his version is one of the most popular takes.
17. “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by Band Aid (1984)
But wait…do they know? We kid—but this song does win for most famous people on one track. Band Aid was a charity supergroup made up of artists like Bono, Sting, Boy George, and others.
18. “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea (1989)
Careful! The roads may be icy. Fun fact: This song was originally written with Van Morrison in mind, before Chris Rea recorded it himself.
19. “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” (1973) by Wizzard
Story about this song: To create a wintry feel in the recording studio, the song’s engineer reportedly decorated the room with Christmas decorations and turned the AC down to the lowest setting. Method!
21. “The First Noël” by Faith Hill and Josh Groban (2007)
J.Lo on a Christmas song? A serve! A win! A Grammy!
21. “The First Noël” by Faith Hill and Josh Groban (2007)
And while you’re on a Faith Hill kick, listen to her 1999 hit “The Way You Love Me,” one of the best songs on the planet.
22. “Christmas C’mon” by Lindsey Stirling and Becky G (2017)
Have a holly, boppy Christmas. While this may never reach the chart levels of some of the other singles on this list, it does add a nice peppy moment on the Christmas playlist.
23. “Merry Christmas Baby” by Otis Redding (1968)
Thanks, Otis! You too! We love this version, but did you know the Christmas standard was originally recorded in 1947 by Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers?
24. “Take Me Home for Christmas” by Dan + Shay (2020)
Sorry, Dan + Shay. Wish we could have, but there was a pandemic in 2020. This is the first holiday single from the country music duo.
25. “Under the Mistletoe” by Kelly Clarkson and Brett Eldredge (2020)
An updated request for my Kelly Clarkson Christmas residency: a joint Kelly Clarkson–Mariah Carey residency!
26. “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)” by Pentatonix (2020)
This song comes from the a cappella group’s fourth Christmas album, We Need a Little Christmas.
27. “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by Idina Menzel and Michael Bublé (2014)
Again, amazing singers. Problematic song. Moving on!
28. “Holidays” (feat. Earth, Wind & Fire) by Meghan Trainor (2020)
A good one to play while you work on that holiday art.
29. “Mistletoe and Wine” by Cliff Richard (1988)
Mistletoe and wine? Honestly, a great combination. Just don’t get behind the wheel—“Mistletoe and Wine” was even used in a British public information film about the dangers of drunk driving.
2. “Last Christmas” by Wham! (1986)
The song was written by George Michael in his childhood bedroom. Says his Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley, “We went to his old room, the room in which we had spent hours as kids recording pastiches of radio shows and jingles, the room where he kept a keyboard and something on which to record his sparks of inspiration, and he played me the introduction and the beguiling, wistful chorus melody to Last Christmas. It was a moment of wonder. George had performed musical alchemy, distilling the essence of Christmas into music. Adding a lyric which told the tale of betrayed love was a masterstroke and, as he did so often, he touched hearts.”
30. “Naughty List” (with Dixie D’Amelio) by Liam Payne (2020)
The TikTok generation deserves a Christmas song too. Not much else to say!
31. “Christmas Without You” by Ava Max (2020)
Ava Max is bringing back Christmas pop, and we’re forever grateful. “As far as modern Christmas anthems go, this is one of the best,” wrote Idolator reviewer Mike Wass.
32. “2000 Miles” by Pretenders (1983)
A bit more somber than most Christmas hits, but you can always follow this up with Vanessa Carlton’s seminal classic “A Thousand Miles.”
33. “My Kind of Present” by Meghan Trainor (2020)
Okay, why do we want to steal all of Meghan Trainor’s holiday looks?! This should be entered into a book of Christmas hymns.
34. “Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas” by Dolly Parton and Michael Bublé (2020)
A Holly Dolly Christmas is the greatest album name of all time, considering this peaked at number one on the Billboard Holiday Albums chart.
35. “Lonely This Christmas” by Mud (1974)
If this title doesn’t reflect the past few holiday seasons, then what does? During a performance on Top of the Pops, vocalist Les Gray ended the song by saying to the camera, “Merry Christmas, darling, wherever you are.”
36. “Please Come Home for Christmas” by Eagles (1978)
Ooof, another title that feels all too real. It was originally released in 1960 by blues singer Charles Brown.
37. “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Mariah Carey (1994)
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” gets all the shine, but this is a classic too and equally deserving of a spot on your Christmas music playlist.
38. “Let It Snow” by Tori Kelly and Babyface
More, more snow!
39. “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love (1963)
Carey’s version of this song may be more popular, but let’s not forget the queen who first gave it life.
40. “I Need You Christmas” by Jonas Brothers (2020)
A JoBros Christmas! This song is all about the joy of spending Christmas with family—a sentiment many people were feeling nostalgic about when the song was released in 2020 during the peak of the pandemic.
41. “Jingle Bell Rock” by Daryl Hall and John Oates (1983)
So much rocking to jingle bells on this Christmas songs list! There are actually two music videos: one with Daryl Hall and another with John Oates signing lead.
42. “My Only Wish (This Year)” by Britney Spears (2000)
This Britney Spears Christmas song is a sacred text. It’s easily one of the best Christmas songs of all time. Yup!
43. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Sam Smith (2014)
And when you’re done sobbing to Sam Smith, you can dance to their bop “Diamonds.”
44. “Santa Baby” by Ariana Grande and Liz Gillies (2013)
Two Ariana Grande holiday songs on this list but none from her EP, Christmas & Chill? A travesty! Still, it never gets old hearing traditional Christmas songs covered by modern pop stars.
45. “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Perry Como and The Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra (1951)
The perfect first song of the holiday season! Did you know: The song was originally titled “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas.” Funny how tweaking just a few words can make a world of difference.
46. “A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Burl Ives (1965)
Give the original a spin after you’ve exhausted Michael Bublé’s version. A safe choice for any kids’ Christmas songs playlists.
47. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” by Michael Bublé (2011)
Speaking of Bublé, here he—and this hit album—is again! One of the most famous Christmas songs for a reason.
48. “Winter Wonderland” by Tony Bennett (1968)
Fun fact: He rerecorded this song with Lady Gaga in 2014. One of the best Christmas songs ever.
49. “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono (1971)
The only Christmas song on this list that doubles as a protest anthem against the Vietnam War.
50. “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)” by Nat King Cole (1946)
Nothing more on point than something literally called “The Christmas Song.” You’ll appreciate the winter vibes even more when you learn it was written in the heat of July as writer Mel Tormé envisioned all the ways he wished he could cool off.
