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White Christmas (song)
Encyclopedia
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting
White Christmas
A white Christmas refers to the presence of snow on Christmas Day. This phenomenon is most common in the northern countries of the Northern Hemisphere...
. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
is the best-selling single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.
Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song. One story is that he wrote it in 1940
1940 in music
-Events:*July 20 - Billboard magazine publishes its first "Music Popularity Chart".*May 27 - Quartetto Egie make their debut performance.*August - Edmundo Ros forms his own rumba band.*November 23 - Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Quintet is premièred....
, poolside at the Biltmore hotel in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. He often stayed up all night writing — he told his secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I've ever written — heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody's ever written!"
Bing Crosby version
The first public performance of the song was by Bing CrosbyBing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, on his NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
radio show The Kraft Music Hall
Kraft Music Hall
The Kraft Music Hall was a popular variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired on NBC radio and television from 1933 to 1971....
on Christmas Day, 1941; the recording is not believed to have survived. He subsequently recorded the song with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers for Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in just 18 minutes on May 29, 1942, and it was released on July 30 as part of an album of six 78-rpm songs from the film Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn (film)
Holiday Inn is a 1942 American musical film starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, with music by Irving Berlin. The film has twelve songs written expressly for the film, the most notable being "White Christmas"...
. At first, Crosby did not see anything special about the song. He just said "I don't think we have any problems with that one, Irving."
The song initially performed poorly and was overshadowed by the film's first hit song: "Be Careful, It's my Heart". By the end of October 1942, however, "White Christmas" topped the "Your Hit Parade" chart. It remained in that position until well into the new year. (It has often been noted that the mix of melancholy — "just like the ones I used to know" — with comforting images of home — "where the treetops glisten" — resonated especially strongly with listeners during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The Armed Forces Network was flooded with requests for the song.)
In 1942 alone, Crosby's recording spent eleven weeks on top of the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
. The original version also hit number one on the Harlem Hit Parade for three weeks, Crosby's first-ever appearance on the black-oriented chart. Re-released by Decca, the single returned to the #1 spot during the holiday seasons of 1945 and 1946 (on the chart dated January 4, 1947), thus becoming the only single with three separate runs at the top of the U.S. charts. The recording became a chart perennial, reappearing annually on the pop chart twenty separate times before Billboard magazine
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
created a distinct Christmas chart for seasonal releases.
Following its prominence in the musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
Holiday Inn, the composition won the Academy Award for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
in 1942. In the film, Bing Crosby sings "White Christmas" as a duet with actress Marjorie Reynolds
Marjorie Reynolds
Marjorie Reynolds was an American film actress. She appeared in more than 70 films.Born Marjorie Goodspeed, in Buhl, Idaho, as her parents made the cross-country trip from Maine to settle in California, she was featured as a child actressin silent films such as Scaramouche...
, though her voice was dubbed by Martha Mears
Martha Mears
Martha Mears Martha Mears was the female singing voice in the renditions of "White Christmas" in the movie Holiday Inn , and for two of Lucille Ball's songs in the MGM musical version of DuBarry Was a Lady...
. This now-familiar scene was not the moviemakers' initial plan; in the script as originally conceived, Reynolds, not Crosby, was to sing the song.
The version of "White Christmas" most often heard today is not the original 1942 Crosby recording, as the master had become damaged due to frequent use. Crosby re-recorded the track on March 18, 1947, accompanied again by the Trotter Orchestra and the Darby Singers, with every effort made to reproduce the original recording session. There are subtle differences in the orchestration, most notably the addition of a celesta and flutes to brighten up the introduction.
Crosby was dismissive of his role in the song's success, saying later that "a jackdaw
Jackdaw
The Jackdaw , sometimes known as the Eurasian Jackdaw, European Jackdaw or Western Jackdaw, is a passerine bird in the crow family. Found across Europe, western Asia and North Africa, it is mostly sedentary, although northern and eastern populations migrate south in winter. Four subspecies are...
with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully." But Crosby was associated with it for the rest of his career. Another Crosby vehicle — the 1954 musical White Christmas
White Christmas (film)
White Christmas is a 1954 Technicolor musical film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular "White Christmas"...
— was the highest-grossing film of 1954.
Sales figures
Crosby's "White Christmas" single has been credited with selling 50 million copies, the most by any release and therefore it is the biggest-selling single worldwide of all time. The Guinness Book of World Records 2009 Edition lists the song as a 100-million seller, encompassing all versions of the song, including albums. Crosby's holiday collection Merry Christmas was first released as an LP in 1949, and has never been out-of-print since.There has been some confusion and considerable debate on whether Crosby's record is or is not the best-selling single in the world, due to a lack of information on sales of "White Christmas," because Crosby's recording was released before the advent of the modern-day US and UK singles charts. However, after careful research, Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
in 2007 concluded that, worldwide, Crosby's recording of "White Christmas" has, in their estimation, sold at least 50 million copies, and that Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
's recording of "Candle in the Wind 1997
Candle in the Wind 1997
"Candle in the Wind 1997" is a rewritten and rerecorded version of Elton John's own 1973 hit "Candle in the Wind" that was released as a tribute single to the late Diana, Princess of Wales....
" has sold 33 million, making Crosby's recording the best-selling single of all time. However, an update in the 2009 edition of the book decided to further help settle the controversy amicably by naming both John's and Crosby's songs to be "winners" by stating that John's recording is the "best-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s," while maintaining that "the best-selling single of all time was released before the first pop charts," and that this distinction belongs to "White Christmas," which it says "was listed as the world's best-selling single in the first-ever Guinness Book of Records (published in 1955) and - remarkably - still retains the title more than 50 years later."
Historic influence
"ItsRanked" ranked Crosby's "White Christmas" as the number one Christmas song on its Top 40 Christmas Songs of all time. In 1999, National Public Radio included it in the "NPR 100", which sought to compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century. Crosby's version of the song also holds the distinction of being ranked #2 on the "Songs of the CenturySongs of the Century
The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America , the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage" in American schools...
" list, behind only Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
's "Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
," as voted by members of the RIAA. In 2002, the original 1942 version was one of 50 historically significant recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
to be added to the National Recording Registry
National Recording Registry
The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording...
.
The recording was broadcast on the radio on April 30, 1975, as a secret, pre-arranged signal precipitating the U.S. evacuation of Saigon (see Fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
).
Original introduction
Irving Berlin's opening bars are often dropped in recordings, but are included on A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records, sung by Darlene LoveDarlene Love
Darlene Love is an American popular music singer and actress. She gained prominence in the 1960s for the song "He's a Rebel," a #1 American single in 1962, and was part of the Phil Spector stable that produced a celebrated Christmas album in 1963....
, on Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
's A Christmas Album
A Christmas Album (Barbra Streisand album)
- Side two :- Personnel :* Barbra Streisand – singer* Marty Paich – arranger, conductor* Ray Ellis – arranger, conductor * Jack Gold – producer* Rafael O. Valentin – recording engineer* Jack Lattig – recording engineer...
, and on Libera
Libera (music)
Libera is a non-profit all-boy English vocal group directed by Robert Prizeman. Most members come from the parish choir of St. Philip's, Norbury, in South London. The albums, tours and TV appearances they do as Libera are in addition to their regular singing as part of the full choir of men and...
's Christmas Album.
This opening verse was also included on country singer Collin Raye
Collin Raye
Floyd Collin Wray Floyd Collin Wray Floyd Collin Wray (born August 22, 1959 or 1960,Although multiple online sources all indicate Raye's date of birth as 1959, Raye's MySpace lists his date of birth as 1960. Furthermore, the 2004 Deseret News article cited in this article indicates the singer as...
's version of the song, as featured on his 2004 album, Christmas: The Gift
Christmas: The Gift
Christmas: The Gift is an album released in 1996 by country music artist Collin Raye. It was Raye's first Christmas album. It is composed largely of cover songs, except for "It Could Happen Again", which was newly written and recorded for this album....
. British band Keane's version of the song also included this introduction, but with changed lyrics to give the song a melancholic feeling:
Other versions
In 1942, Gordon JenkinsGordon Jenkins
Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer and pianist who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements...
and his Orchestra (with Bob Carroll
Bob Carroll (singer/actor)
Bob Carroll was a big band singer and stage, film, and television actor.As a singer, he sang with a number of famous orchestras, including Charlie Barnet, Jimmy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller in the 1940s and Gordon Jenkins in the 1950s. In the 1960s he turned to acting...
on lead vocal) released a version of the song that reached number 16 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart.
Also in 1942, Charlie Spivak
Charlie Spivak
Charlie Spivak was an American trumpeter and bandleader, best known for his big band in the 1940s.-Biography:...
and his Orchestra (with Garry Stevens on lead vocal) released a version of the song that reached number 18 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart.
Also in 1942, Freddy Martin
Freddy Martin
Frederick Alfred Martin was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist.-Early life:Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised largely in an orphanage and with various relatives, Martin started out playing drums, then switched to C-melody saxophone and later tenor saxophone, the latter the one...
and his Orchestra (with Clyde Rogers on lead vocal) released a version of the song that reached number 20 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart (this same version charted on the Billboard pop singles chart again in December 1945, reaching number 16).
In 1944, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
released a version of the song (with backing orchestration by Axel Stordahl) that reached number 7 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart (this same version charted on the Billboard pop singles chart two more times: in December 1945, reaching number 5, and in December 1946, reaching number 6).
In 1946, Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
(with backing vocals by the Lyn Murray Singers and backing orchestration by Paul Weston
Paul Weston
Paul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer and conductor. Weston was born Paul Wetstein in Springfield, Massachusetts...
) released a version of the song that reached number 9 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart.
In 1947, Eddy Howard
Eddy Howard
Eddy Howard was an American vocalist and bandleader who was popular during the 1940s and 1950s.-Biography:...
and his Orchestra released a version of the song that reached number 21 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart.
In 1947, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
(with backing orchestration by Lloyd Shaffer) released a version of the song that reached number 23 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart.
In 1948, the R&B vocal group The Ravens
The Ravens
The Ravens were an American R&B vocal group, formed in 1946 by Jimmy Ricks and Warren Suttles. They were one of the most successful and most influential vocal quartets of the period, and had several hits on the R&B chart in the late 1940s and early 1950s....
released a version of the song that reached number 9 on Billboard magazine's Rhythm & Blues Records
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart in January 1949. Their version was released as the flip-side of a single that included their version of "Silent Night
Silent Night
"Silent Night" is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" were written in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, by the priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber...
".
In 1949, country singer Ernest Tubb
Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...
(with female backing vocals by The Troubadettes) released a version of the song that reached number 7 on Billboard magazine's Country & Western Records
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart.
On July 15, 1952, singer Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
with Hugo Winterhalter
Hugo Winterhalter
Hugo Winterhalter was an American musician.An easy listening arranger and composer, Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Mount St. Mary's near Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1931, where he played saxophone for the orchestra and sang in two of the choirs...
's orchestra & chorus recorded a version of the song at Manhattan Center, New York City, New York. The song was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4910 (in USA) and by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10779 and JO 420.
Also in 1952, Mantovani
Mantovani
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani known as Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before The Beatles .....
and His Orchestra released a version of the song that reached number 23 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart.
In 1954, The Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
released a cover version of the song that showcased the talents of lead singer Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
and the bass of Bill Pinkney
Bill Pinkney
Bill Pinkney was an American performer and singer. Pinkney was often said to be the last surviving original member of The Drifters, who achieved international fame with numerous hit records. He was chiefly responsible for its early sounds...
. Their recording of the song peaked at number 2 on Billboard
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Carson Culkin is an American actor. He became widely known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He is also known for his roles in Richie Rich, Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Pagemaster, and Party Monster...
) is applying his father's aftershave
Aftershave
Aftershave describes a lotion, gel, balm, powder, or liquid used mainly by men after they have finished shaving. It may contain an antiseptic agent such as denatured alcohol or stearate citrate to prevent infection of cuts...
while mouthing the lyrics. Radio stations formats as diverse as oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
, adult contemporary, Top 40, and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
began playing the Drifters' version of the song, which was also featured in the 1994 film The Santa Clause
The Santa Clause
The Santa Clause is a 1994 American fantasy-dramedy film directed by John Pasquin, it is distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. and starring Tim Allen. In the film, Allen plays Scott Calvin, an ordinary man who accidentally causes Santa Claus to fall from his roof on Christmas Eve...
.
In 1957, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
recorded the song for his first holiday album
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
, Elvis' Christmas Album
Elvis' Christmas Album
Elvis' Christmas Album is the fourth album by Elvis Presley on RCA Victor Records, LOC 1035, a deluxe limited edition, released in October 1957, and recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It has been reissued in numerous different formats since its first release...
.
Before he emigrated to this country, Italo-American tenor Sergio Franchi
Sergio Franchi
Sergio Franchi was an Italian tenor.Franchi was born in Cremona, Italy. His father wanted him to become an electrical engineer, so he studied both music and engineering simultaneously. The family moved to South Africa in 1952, where Sergio worked part-time as a draftsman, while continuing to study...
recorded an Italian language version "Bianco Natale." It was recorded in Italy and produced in Canada (Durium DC 26099).
In 1961, Mitch Miller
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller was an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive...
included the song on his album Holiday Sing Along with Mitch. Instead of the lyrics, Miller printed a disclaimer on the album cover stating "The publisher assumes everyone knows the lyrics to this song!"
Also in 1961, David Seville covered the song for the first holiday album by Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...
, Christmas with The Chipmunks
Christmas with The Chipmunks
Christmas with The Chipmunks is a Christmas music album by Alvin and the Chipmunks, released in 1961, and contains 12 tracks. The tracks from this and its follow-up album, Christmas with The Chipmunks, Vol. 2 have been in continuous circulation since their original releases...
.
Also in 1961, Haunani Kahalewai sang the song, including some lyrics in Hawaiian language, on the holiday album A Merry Hawaiian Christmas by the Hawaii Calls
Hawaii Calls
Hawaii Calls was a radio program that ran from 1935 through 1975 that featured live Hawaiian music conducted by Harry Owens, the composer of "Sweet Leilani"...
Orchestra and Chorus.
In 1963, Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
recorded a version of the song that was included on his first holiday album, The Andy Williams Christmas Album
The Andy Williams Christmas Album
The Andy Williams Christmas Album is the first Christmas holiday album released by singer Andy Williams. It was issued by Columbia Records in 1963, and it would prove to be the first of eight Christmas albums released by Williams...
. This version of "White Christmas" was also released as a single, and reached number 1 on Billboard
The Christmas Song
"The Christmas Song" is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and vocalist Mel Tormé and Bob Wells. According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer...
"). This same version of "White Christmas" charted again on Billboard
Also in 1963, Darlene Love recorded the song for the Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
-produced holiday album, A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records.
Also in 1963, Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
& The Miracles
The Miracles
The Miracles are an American rhythm and blues group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation . Their single "Shop Around" was Motown's first million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's signature...
recorded the song for their holiday album, Christmas with The Miracles
Christmas with The Miracles
Christmas with The Miracles is a seasonal favorites' album by Motown soul group The Miracles recorded in 1963. It features traditional Christmas songs, with one Smokey Robinson original, "Christmas Everyday".The entire album was produced by Miracles member Ronnie White. Miracle Pete Moore was...
.
Also in 1963, Jimmy McGriff
Jimmy McGriff
James Harrell McGriff was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who developed a distinctive style of playing the Hammond B-3 organ.-Early years and influences:...
recorded the song for his holiday album, Christmas with McGriff.
Also in 1963, Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
recorded the song for his holiday album, Twelve Songs of Christmas.
In 1964, Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
recorded the song for her holiday album, The Doris Day Christmas Album
The Doris Day Christmas Album
The Doris Day Christmas Album was an album of Christmas songs performed by Doris Day, released by Columbia Records on September 14, 1964 as a monophonic LP album and a stereophonic LP album .-Track listing:...
.
In 1965, The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
recorded the song for their holiday album, Merry Christmas.
Also in 1965, Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
recorded the song with The Wailers and released it as a single. This version later appeared on his compilation album, Destiny: Rare Ska Sides from Studio 1.
In 1966, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
recorded the song for his holiday album, The Dean Martin Christmas Album.
In 1967, Barbra Streisand's version of the song, recorded for her first holiday album A Christmas Album, contains the seldom-heard verse.
In 1968, Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
's version of the song was released as a single (posthumously), and reached number 12 on Billboard magazine's special, year-end, weekly Christmas Singles chart in December of '68.
Also in 1968, Lana Cantrell
Lana Cantrell
Lana Eleanor Cantrell AM is an Australian-American singer and entertainment lawyer. She was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in the Grammy Awards of 1968.-Music career:...
released a version of the song on the various artists holiday album, Christmas Day with Colonel Sanders. This version was later included on other various artist Christmas albums.
In 1971, The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
recorded a version of the song for their holiday album, A Partridge Family Christmas Card.
In 1979, Stiff Little Fingers
Stiff Little Fingers
Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977, at the height of the Troubles. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star , doing rock covers, until they discovered punk. They split up after six years and four albums, although they...
covered the song and released it as part of the "Silly Encores" B-side to their UK 7" single, "At the Edge". This version also appeared as a bonus track on the American 2005 CD reissue of the band's 1980 live album, Hanx!
Hanx
Hanx! is a live Punk album by the band Stiff Little Fingers, released in 1980 . Originally intended for the American market to introduce the band before they toured there, it was subsequently released at a budget price in the UK as the band were concerned that a lot of their fans would insist on...
In 1984, Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
and Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
recorded a version of the song for their holiday album, Once Upon a Christmas.
In 1985, The Canadian Brass recorded an instrumental version for their holiday album, A Canadian Brass Christmas.
In 1989, New Kids on the Block
New Kids on the Block
New Kids on the Block are an American boy band from Boston, Massachusetts, assembled in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr. The band currently consists of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood.New Kids on the Block enjoyed success in the late 1980s and...
recorded a version of the song for their holiday album, Merry, Merry Christmas
Merry, Merry Christmas
- Singles :* "This One's for the Children" – August 12, 1989* "Funky, Funky Xmas" – December 20, 1989- Chart positions :...
.
In 1991, Marco T. La Voz del Rock and Roll in Colombia recorded the song for his album Pequeño Pueblo de Belen is an Elvis cover in Spanish.
In 1992, Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
covered the song for his non-holiday album, Timeless: The Classics. This version of the song reached number 73 on Billboard
Hot 100 Airplay
The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard...
chart in January 1993.
Also in 1992, Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
covered the song for his first holiday album, Beyond the Season
Beyond the Season
Beyond the Season is the first Christmas album by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released on August 25, 1992, and peaked at number 2 on both of Billboard magazine's Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums sales charts that year...
. This version of the song reached number 70 on Billboard
In 1994, Kenny G
Kenny G
Kenneth Bruce Gorelick , better known by his stage name Kenny G, is an American, adult contemporary and smooth jazz saxophonist. His fourth album, Duotones, brought him breakthrough success in 1986...
recorded an instrumental version of the song for his holiday album, Miracles: The Holiday Album
Miracles: The Holiday Album
Miracles: The Holiday Album is the first holiday album by saxophonist Kenny G. It was released by Arista Records in 1994, and peaked at number 1 on the Billboard 200, Contemporary Jazz Albums and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts...
.
In 1996, Michie Tomizawa
Michie Tomizawa
is a Japanese voice actress born in Nagano and raised in Takasaki, Gunma. Her real name is .She is most known for the roles of Matsuzaka-Sensei , Linna Yamazaki , Rei Hino/Sailor Mars , Sumire Kanzaki , and Emi Ogasawara .Tomizawa retired from voice acting before getting married in 2002...
(as Sailor Mars) covered the song on the holiday album, Sailor Stars Merry Christmas!
In 1998, Martina McBride
Martina McBride
Martina McBride is an American country music singer and songwriter. McBride has been called the "Céline Dion of Country Music" for her big-voiced ballads and soprano range....
covered the song for her holiday album, White Christmas
White Christmas (Martina McBride album)
- 1999 re-release:- 2007 re-release:-Album:-Singles:-Release history:-References:...
. This version of the song charted twice: reaching number 75 on Billboard
Also in 1998, Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
recorded the song for their first Christmas album, Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album
Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album
Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album is an album of Christmas songs by American rock band Chicago, released in 1998 on the band's Chicago Records label...
.
In 1999, A1
A1 (band)
A1 are a British-Norwegian boyband. They were originally made up of Mark Read, Ben Adams, Christian Ingebrigtsen and Paul Marazzi. Their first single, "Be the First to Believe", entered the UK singles chart at #6 in early 1999. They had a huge amount of success worldwide and charts with two number...
released an a cappella version of the song that was included on their "Ready or Not/Everytime
Ready or Not/Everytime
"Ready or Not" and "Everytime" are two songs by British-Norwegian boy band A1, both taken from their debut album, Here We Come. The songs were released in a double A-side single in November 1999, and the single release peaked at #3 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the most successful of four...
" CD single.
In 2000, Rockapella
Rockapella
Rockapella is an American a cappella musical group formed in 1986 in New York City. Their name is derived from the words "rock" and "a cappella". They sing original vocal music and a cappella covers of pop and rock songs; over time, their sound has evolved from high-energy pop and world music...
recorded the song for their holiday album, Christmas
Christmas (Rockapella album)
Christmas is the eleventh overall, sixth North American, and third holiday album released by the a cappella group Rockapella. It was re-released on Shakariki Records in 2004...
.
Also in 2000, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
recorded the song for her holiday album, A Merry Little Christmas.
In 2001, Mannheim Steamroller
Mannheim Steamroller
Mannheim Steamroller is an American music group founded by Chip Davis and Jackson Berkey, known primarily for its modern recordings of Christmas music. The group has sold 28 million albums in the U.S. alone.-Beginnings:...
included the song on their holiday album, Christmas Extraordinaire
Christmas Extraordinaire
Christmas Extraordinaire was the sixth Christmas album released by New Age musical group Mannheim Steamroller. The album was originally released in 2001...
.
In 2003, Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
covered the song for her non-holiday album, Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook
Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook
Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook is an album by the American singer Bette Midler. It was produced by Barry Manilow and marked the first time that Midler had worked with Manilow in more than twenty years...
. This version of the song reached number 15 on Billboard
In 2004, LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
recorded the song for her first holiday album, What a Wonderful World
What a Wonderful World (LeAnn Rimes album)
What a Wonderful World is a Holiday/Christmas album by LeAnn Rimes. This is a jazz inspired holiday album. Rimes released four singles from this album: "O Holy Night", "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree", "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, and "A Different Kind Of Christmas." LeAnn also...
.
Also in 2004, Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
recorded the song for her holiday album, My Favorite Time of the Year.
Also in 2004, Tina Sugandh
Tina Sugandh
Tina Sugandh is an Indian born writer, singer, tabla player, dancer, guitarist, and actress.-Biography:Sugandh was born in Mumbai, but moved with her family to New Jersey in the United States at age five months...
recorded the song for the Columbia/Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
film Christmas With the Kranks
Christmas with the Kranks
Christmas with the Kranks is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Joe Roth and starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. The screenplay by Chris Columbus is based on the 2001 novel Skipping Christmas by John Grisham.-Plot:...
with Indian/Bollywood elements added to the song.
In 2005, Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
covered the song and included it as a B-side on their single, "When You Tell Me That You Love Me
When You Tell Me That You Love Me
"When You Tell Me That You Love Me" is a 1991 song released as a single by American soul singer Diana Ross. The song was subsequently covered by various artists....
."
In 2006, the song was covered by Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...
featuring Doro Pesch
Doro (musician)
Dorothee Pesch , popularly known as Doro Pesch or Doro, is a female rock vocalist, formerly of the German heavy metal band Warlock ....
and was released on their holiday album, A Twisted Christmas
A Twisted Christmas
A Twisted Christmas is a Christmas album from US heavy metal group Twisted Sister, released on October 17, 2006. The album features classic Christmas songs performed in Heavy metal versions.-Track listing:...
, with German/English lyrics.
In 2007, Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
recorded the song for her holiday EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection
Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection
The EP received generally positive critical reception. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said the songs on Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection were "all crisp, cheerful arrangements that are suitably seasonal but also faithful to her bright country-pop." Craig Shelburne of...
.
In 2008, Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts is an American country music band that originated in Columbus, Ohio, United States of America. Since its inception, Rascal Flatts has been composed of three members: Gary LeVox , Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney...
included a version of the song as a bonus track on a limited edition version of their compilation album, Greatest Hits Volume 1
Greatest Hits Volume 1 (Rascal Flatts album)
Greatest Hits Volume 1 is the title of the first greatest hits album released by the American country music group Rascal Flatts. It was released on October 28, 2008 on Lyric Street Records...
.
Also in 2008, Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
recorded the song for his first-ever holiday album, The Miracle of Christmas.
Also in 2008, Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
recorded the song for his holiday album, Christmas.
Also in 2008, Edyta Górniak
Edyta Górniak
Edyta Górniak is one of the most popular female singers from Poland.- Beginnings :At the age of 14 Górniak formed a band and was playing at private parties and evening dances. After taking singing lessons, in 1989, aged 16, she gave her first public appearance on a Polish television talent show...
recorded the song for her holiday album, Zakochaj się na Święta w kolędach (Fall in love for Christmas in carols), with Polish/English lyrics.
Also in 2008, Italian singer Irene Grandi recorded an Italian version of the song, titled "Bianco Natale", for her Christmas album, Canzoni per Natale.
Also in 2008, Rick Astley
Rick Astley
Richard Paul "Rick" Astley is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and radio personality. He is known for his 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was a #1 hit single in 25 countries...
sang the song at the DR Christmas Show.
In 2009, Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....
recorded the song for his first holiday album, My Christmas
My Christmas
My Christmas is the thirteenth studio album and first holiday album released by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.The album is a compilation of seasonal holiday favorites, mainly in English, with a few selections in Italian, German, and French, produced by multiple Grammy Award winner David Foster,...
. The song debuted at No. 30 on the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
Singles Chart; it spent the following two weeks at No. 19, then rose to No. 18 in its forth week, before reaching No. 16 in its fifth week. The song also debuted at No. 7 on the Hungarian Singles Chart
Mahasz
Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary....
.
Also in 2009, Boy George
Boy George
Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...
recorded a cover of the song that was released as a single in digital download format.
In October 2010, Argos
Argos (retailer)
Argos is the largest general-goods retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland with over 800 stores. It is unique amongst major retailers in the UK in that it is a catalogue merchant...
released an advert appearing to show Crosby beatboxing to the tune of the song.
In 2011, Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
recorded the song for his holiday album, Christmas
Christmas (Michael Bublé album)
Christmas is the fifth studio album and first full-length Christmas album by Canadian crooner Michael Bublé. The album was released on October 21, 2011 in Ireland in Brown Thomas Dublin, October 24, 2011 in the United Kingdom, and October 25, 2011 in the United States. On the week ending 10...
(this version also features Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
).
Also in 2011, Jackie Evancho
Jackie Evancho
Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho is an American child singer described as a classical crossover artist. After entering some talent competitions, issuing an independent album, Prelude to a Dream, and attracting interest on YouTube, she gained wider popularity in 2010 with her performances in the...
recorded the song for her holiday album, Heavenly Christmas.
Also in 2011, Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
recorded a version of the song for her holiday television special, A Very Gaga Thanksgiving
A Very Gaga Thanksgiving
A Very Gaga Thanksgiving is a Thanksgiving television special that originally aired on November 24, 2011 in the United States on ABC. Conceived and directed by Lady Gaga, it discusses the personal life of Gaga and the inspiration behind her music...
.
External links
- Lyrics to White Christmas