50 of the Best Christmas Songs of All Time
- 1/38
50 of the Best Christmas Songs of All Time
Now that the holiday season is in full swing, it's time to make sure your Christmas playlist is equipped with all the right songs. From timeless classics to new hits, these holiday tunes are necessary listens every year.
- 2/38
“Dear Santa (Bring Me A Man This Christmas)” by The Weather Girls
Historically known for the absolute banger that is “It’s Raining Men,” The Weather Girls returned to put a seasonally-appropriate spin on the same sentiment for the equally roaring “Dear Santa.”
- 3/38
“Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” by The Ramones
For all of the PG-13, family friendly, Hallmark-type imagery surrounding the holidays, there’s something perversely refreshing about seeing the black, grey, and blood-like red on the cover of The Ramones’ Brain Drain record. “Merry Christmas” is the artwork’s sonic match: an unhinged, punk take on the holidays, as the Ramones’ address what many others won’t—that oh-so-specific seasonal stress that inevitably leads to an influx of arguments.
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- 4/38
“Frosty the Snowman” by Gene Autry
“Frosty The Snowman” is the fantastical tale of a come-alive snowman, sung in Gene Autry’s jolly baritone. With seemingly hundreds of iterations now, the 1969 classic stuck around with its non-specific, holiday-neutral mass appeal.
- 5/38
“Santa Claus” by The Sonics
If for nothing else than the shocking portrayal of a seemingly selfish Santa Claus, The Sonics’ garage rock Christmas cut is a playlist-ready party-pleaser.
- 6/38
“River” by Joni Mitchell
With a melody just adjacent to “Jingle Bells,” Joni Mitchell’s “River” is a melancholic flurry of emotion.
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- 7/38
“Merry Christmas Baby” by Otis Redding
Otis Redding’s rendition of “Merry Christmas Baby” is technically simple: aside from his vocals, the track is backed by nothing but some guitar strums and a few horns. It’s this stripped-back take, paired with Otis’ usual powerfully raspy pipes, that makes for a pleasantly perfect soul standard on a Christmas classic.
- 8/38
“Merry Xmas Everybody” by Slade
Slade’s “Merry XMas Everybody” doesn’t try to be emotional, romantic, nor especially seasonal. Slade is just here to celebrate having fun on Christmas, and it’s a drunken campaign that I support earnestly.
- 9/38
“Christmas In Harlem” by Kanye West feat. Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Vado, Cyhi Da Prynce, Teyana Taylor, and Pusha T
At nearly a decade old, Kanye’s “Christmas In Harlem” dropped at a much-less complicated era in the Kanye West timeline. But for what it’s worth, the braggadocious cut is a gleaming relic of GOOD Music’s past. Donning a star-studded, New York lineup, the track is a six-minute-long rap fest meant for hip-hop heads looking for a break from the usual old timey standards.
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- 10/38
“The Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth” by Bing Crosby and David Bowie
In what is now the stuff of legend—and in some ways still seems like a fictional fever dream—family-favorite Bing Crosby and other-wordly superstar David Bowie came together for a fusion of yuletide classics on Bing’s 42nd Christmas Special.
- 11/38
"The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole
Cole croons about comforting scenes of the season and heartwarming holiday nostalgia.
- 12/38
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey
Mariah might say she doesn't accept her title as Queen of Christmas, but her hit is ubiquitous all season long, year after year.
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- 13/38
“Santa Claus Is Comin to Town” by Bruce Springsteen
- 14/38
"Last Christmas" by Wham!
Holiday breakups become a little more tolerable with George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley's bittersweet Christmas anthem.
- 15/38
“Do You Hear What I Hear” by Whitney Houston
The music icon's booming voice breathes new life into this Christmas classic.
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- 16/38
“Carol of the Bells” by Destiny’s Child
Beyoncé, Kelly, and Michelle ring in the season with crisp harmonies and soulful riffs—all a cappella.
- 17/38
“Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney
The former Beatle best sums up the lightheartedness of the season with a hint of psychedelia.
- 18/38
“Run Rudolph Run” by Chuck Berry
Only Chuck Berry can make Santa's favorite reindeer this cool.
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- 19/38
“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” by The Jackson 5
Young Michael Jackson's impressive range gets us amped for the holidays.
- 20/38
“This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway
Hathaway's blues-, soul-, and gospel-inspired holiday track is still magical, decades and counting after its release.
- 21/38
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono
The couple combines peace activism with their seasonal celebration.
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- 22/38
“Grown-Up Christmas List” by Amy Grant
Grant delivers an eye-opening ballad reminding us that Christmas is about more than material gifts.
- 23/38
“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love
Love's track is catchy and sweet, released decades before Mariah's popular cover.
- 24/38
“Little Saint Nick” by The Beach Boys
The rock group adds a much-needed vintage Californian flair to the world of Christmas tunes.
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- 25/38
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid 1984
David Bowie, George Michael, Sting, Duran Duran, and more artists joined forces to promote famine relief during the holiday season.
- 26/38
"Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms
Once you hear that iconic guitar intro, you know what's about to go down.
- 27/38
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee
Lee's retro hit is nearly 60 years old and still going strong—and she was only 13 when she recorded it.
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- 28/38
“Blue Christmas” by Elvis Presley
- 29/38
"Someday at Christmas" by Stevie Wonder
Stevie's soulful '67 track never loses its charm; and his 2015 cover with Andra Day is just as lovely.
- 30/38
"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" by Dean Martin
Martin's romantic tune makes even the harshest winter seem enjoyable.
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- 31/38
"Christmastime Is Here" by Vince Guaraldi Trio
- 32/38
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” by The Temptations
There’s been seemingly hundreds of iterations of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” but there has never been anything remotely as soulful as The Temptations’ take on the classic.
- 33/38
“It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams
One of the most unadulterated, purest celebrations of the holiday season ever.
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- 34/38
“Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” by *NSYNC
This modern boy band bop for the holidays includes a young Justin Timberlake falsetto and an amazing early 2000s video.
- 35/38
“Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses
The Waitresses were somehow able to nail the fusion of '80s pop and Christmas music, mixing their post-punk sounds with some incredibly relatable lyrics about being a little too overwhelmed by all the holiday commotion.
- 36/38
“Christmas in Hollis” by Run DMC
In 1987, Run DMC gave Queens their very own Christmas song. Frontmen Rev Run and DMC exchange some iconic verses about the best kind of cozy holiday meals and big-time monetary gifts under the tree.
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- 37/38
“White Christmas” by The Drifters
This has to be widest range of vocal range in any holiday song ever. Skip to somewhere around 1:10 for an impossible family karaoke challenge.
- 38/38
“What Christmas Means to Me” by Stevie Wonder
This isn’t the only Stevie Wonder song on the list, but it feels wrong not to add one of the cheeriest, most uptempo Christmas songs of all time.
In other words, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" plus 49 other songs.
