103 Of The Best Christmas Songs For Merry Holidays

Christmas music is basically the world’s most socially-acceptable time machine. One chord andboomyou’re back in a
childhood living room, a mall parking lot, or a kitchen that smells like cinnamon and questionable decisions. The best
Christmas songs don’t just “sound festive.” They do something: they set a mood, pull out memories, and make even
folding laundry feel like a Hallmark montage.

This list of the best Christmas songs is curated by synthesizing common classics, chart-toppers, and
modern favorites frequently highlighted across major U.S. music and culture outletsespecially Billboard’s holiday
rankings and charts, ASCAP’s most-played and “new classic” holiday song reports, and widely-cited editorial lists from
publications like Rolling Stone and Paste.

What Makes a Christmas Song “The One”?

The holiday canon is weirdly competitive. Every year, the same songs sprint back into the spotlight like they’ve been
training at altitude. Here’s why certain tracks stay on repeat:

• Instant imagery: snow, bells, lights, fireplaces, sleighs, mistletoeyour brain fills in the rest.
• Singability: even if you can’t sing, you can still commit.
• Tradition + surprise: a familiar melody, but a twist in arrangement, voice, or groove.
• Seasonal timing: holiday songs get a yearly “re-release” in culture, radio, playlists, and charts.

That last point is measurable: holiday hits return to the charts every season, and songs like Mariah Carey’s
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” have become modern chart phenomena.

How to Use This List (So It Doesn’t Become 103-Song Chaos)

Different December moments require different musical “spice levels.” Try these quick playlist formulas:

Playlist Recipe 1: The “Company’s Coming” Starter Pack (45–60 minutes)

1. Start with 2–3 warm classics (crooners or gentle pop).
2. Add 3–5 upbeat crowd-pleasers (Motown, rock, jingle-bell pop).
3. Drop 1 novelty track for laughs (carefullydon’t start a family debate).
4. Close with one “aww” ballad or carol for cozy landing.

Playlist Recipe 2: The Cozy Night In

Go slower: jazz, choir, orchestral, soft pop, and a couple of tear-jerkers. (You’re not crying. It’s just… holiday air.)
Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas vibe is basically a scented candle in song form.

The List: 103 Of The Best Christmas Songs

These are the staples, the chart legends, the party-starters, the carols, and the newer “modern classics” that keep
showing up on annual rankings and performance reports.

Classic Pop & Chart Royalty

1. Mariah Carey “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
2. Brenda Lee “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
3. Wham! “Last Christmas”
4. Bobby Helms “Jingle Bell Rock”
5. Nat King Cole “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)”
6. Andy Williams “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”
7. Bing Crosby “White Christmas”
8. Judy Garland “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
9. José Feliciano “Feliz Navidad”
10. Dean Martin “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
11. Perry Como “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”
12. Gene Autry “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
13. Gene Autry “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)”
14. Elvis Presley “Blue Christmas”
15. The Ronettes “Sleigh Ride”
16. Darline Love “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
17. Chuck Berry “Run Rudolph Run”
18. Eartha Kitt “Santa Baby”
19. Paul McCartney “Wonderful Christmastime”
20. John Lennon & Yoko Ono “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”
21. The Beach Boys “Little Saint Nick”
22. Band Aid “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
23. Bruce Springsteen “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”
24. Jackson 5 “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
25. U2 “(Please Come Home for Christmas)”

Motown, Soul, and Big-Feeling Holiday Grooves

26. Stevie Wonder “Someday at Christmas”
27. The Temptations “Silent Night”
28. The Supremes “My Christmas Tree”
29. Otis Redding “Merry Christmas Baby”
30. Donny Hathaway “This Christmas”
31. Whitney Houston “Do You Hear What I Hear”
32. Ray Charles “That Spirit of Christmas”
33. Aretha Franklin “O Holy Night”
34. The Drifters “White Christmas”
35. The Drifters “Winter Wonderland”
36. Ronnie Spector & The Ronettes “Frosty the Snowman”
37. Gladys Knight & the Pips “That’s What Christmas Means to Me”
38. The Jackson 5 “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”
39. Nat King Cole “O Come All Ye Faithful”
40. Sam Cooke “Christmas Blues”

Rock, Alt, and Loud-Tree Energy

41. Queen “Thank God It’s Christmas”
42. The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl “Fairytale of New York”
43. Ramones “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)”
44. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers “Christmas All Over Again”
45. Run-D.M.C. “Christmas in Hollis”
46. Trans-Siberian Orchestra “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24”
47. Coldplay “Christmas Lights”
48. The Killers “Don’t Shoot Me Santa”
49. My Chemical Romance “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (cover)
50. blink-182 “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas”
51. Sufjan Stevens “Christmas Unicorn”
52. Phoebe Bridgers “If We Make It Through December”
53. Jimmy Eat World “Last Christmas” (cover)

Modern Pop “New Classics”

These tracks show up again and again in modern-holiday roundups and songwriter/performance reportingsongs that weren’t
around “back in the day,” but now feel unavoidable (in a good way).

54. Kelly Clarkson “Underneath the Tree”
55. Ariana Grande “Santa Tell Me”
56. Justin Bieber “Mistletoe”
57. Sia “Snowman”
58. Taylor Swift “Christmas Tree Farm”
59. Michael Bublé “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”
60. Michael Bublé “Holly Jolly Christmas”
61. Gwen Stefani feat. Blake Shelton “You Make It Feel Like Christmas”
62. John Legend “What Christmas Means to Me”
63. Pentatonix “Mary, Did You Know?”
64. Meghan Trainor “I’ll Be Home”
65. Kelly Clarkson & Ariana Grande “Santa, Can’t You Hear Me”
66. Katy Perry “Cozy Little Christmas”
67. Britney Spears “My Only Wish (This Year)”
68. Destiny’s Child “8 Days of Christmas”
69. John Williams “Somewhere in My Memory” (from Home Alone)

Carols & Traditional Standards (The “Goosebumps Section”)

70. “Silent Night” traditional
71. “O Holy Night” traditional
72. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” traditional
73. “O Come All Ye Faithful” traditional
74. “Joy to the World” traditional
75. “The First Noel” traditional
76. “Angels We Have Heard on High” traditional
77. “Away in a Manger” traditional
78. “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” traditional
79. “Carol of the Bells” traditional
80. “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” traditional
81. “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” traditional
82. “We Three Kings” traditional
83. “Little Drummer Boy” traditional
84. “Go Tell It on the Mountain” traditional

Holiday Story Songs & Cozy Nostalgia

85. Vince Guaraldi Trio “Christmas Time Is Here”
86. Vince Guaraldi Trio “Skating”
87. Vince Guaraldi Trio “Linus and Lucy”
88. Andy Williams “Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season”
89. Burl Ives “A Holly Jolly Christmas”
90. Burl Ives “Silver and Gold”
91. The Carpenters “Merry Christmas Darling”
92. Frank Sinatra “The Christmas Waltz”
93. Frank Sinatra “Jingle Bells”
94. Ella Fitzgerald “Winter Wonderland”
95. Louis Armstrong “Christmas Night in Harlem”
96. Louis Armstrong “Zat You, Santa Claus?”

Country Christmas (Boots, Bells, and a Little Bit of Heart)

Country holiday music ranges from reverent to hilarious to “why is this making me emotional in a truck commercial way?”
Country outlets and major playlists regularly highlight these staples.

97. Willie Nelson “Pretty Paper”
98. Alan Jackson “Let It Be Christmas”
99. Martina McBride “O Holy Night”
100. Brad Paisley “Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy”
101. Amy Grant “Tennessee Christmas”
102. Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton “Christmas Without You”
103. Garth Brooks “The Old Man’s Back in Town”

How to Build a “No-Skips” Holiday Playlist (Even for Picky Relatives)

If you want a playlist that works in real lifeduring cooking, hosting, driving, decorating, or the annual “where’s the
tape?” gift-wrapping Olympicsthink like a DJ:

• Rotate eras: one classic (’40s–’60s), one mid-era (’70s–’90s), one modern.
• Control the tempo: don’t stack five slow ballads unless you’re actively trying to make people nap.
• Use “signature sounds” sparingly: too many choir tracks can feel like you’re trapped in a snow globe.
• End strong: close with something warm, familiar, and a little cinematic.

Pro tip: sprinkle in “most played” staples (the ones that reliably top annual performance lists) to anchor the vibesongs
like “Sleigh Ride,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” and “The Christmas Song” tend to appear again and again in songwriter/performance
reporting and holiday rankings.

of Holiday Listening Experiences (The Stuff That Makes These Songs Stick)

A funny thing happens when you press play on Christmas music: you’re not just hearing a songyou’re stepping into a
shared seasonal script. The opening notes of a familiar classic can flip the mental switch from “regular Tuesday” to
“holiday mode,” even if you’re wearing sweatpants and your to-do list is longer than a December receipt.

Think about the first song of the season. For some people, it’s a big dramatic moment: the tree goes up,
lights click on, and suddenly a crooner is telling you it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. For others, it’s
accidentaloverheard in a grocery aisle while debating whether eggnog is a beverage or a lifestyle choice. Either way,
that first track becomes a bookmark in your brain: “Okay, we’re doing this.”

Then come the ritual moments. Decorating tends to match upbeat songs with strong hooksbecause hanging
ornaments is basically a tiny workout, and you need musical encouragement. Wrapping gifts leans cozy: softer pop,
gentle jazz, or carols that sound like warm lighting. Driving at night often calls for something nostalgic and steady,
especially if you’re looking at houses that went full “North Pole showroom.” (Some neighborhoods don’t decorate. Some
neighborhoods declare a glitter arms race. Both are valid.)

Holiday songs also show up in the social momentsthe ones with people. At a party, a song like “Last
Christmas” can turn into a full-room singalong where half the crowd knows the words and the other half confidently
invents them. Novelty tracks become inside jokes. Classic soul tracks make the kitchen feel like the true main stage of
the evening, because everyone ends up there eventually. And if someone plays a particularly tender carol or a nostalgic
TV-special theme, the room often quiets for a secondnot because anyone planned it, but because the song pulled a
memory everyone recognizes.

That’s the magic: the best Christmas songs are portable experiences. They turn boring errands into
mini-movies, long drives into reflection time, and ordinary rooms into places that feel “seasonal.” Even people who
claim they don’t like holiday music usually have one exceptionthe track that reminds them of someone, somewhere,
or some version of themselves. And once a song earns that kind of emotional real estate, it doesn’t really leave. It
just waits for December, then shows up like an old friend who never texts first but always brings cookies.

Conclusion: Your Holiday Soundtrack, Upgraded

Whether you want timeless classics, modern pop favorites, cozy carols, or a country Christmas that sounds like a
Hallmark movie set in a small town with suspiciously great lightingthis list gives you a deep bench of
best Christmas songs to mix and match. Pick a lane (party, cozy, nostalgia, road trip), build your set in
waves, and remember: the “best” holiday playlist is the one that makes your December feel like your December.