Mariah Carey performs "Christmas Time is in The Air" from her 25th Anniversary album reissue of Merry Christmas during 'The Late Late Show with James Corden' on Dec. 18, 2019.
Terence PatrickIt’s the first day of December, which means one thing: It’s finally and officially time for Christmas music. Sure, there’s the endless debate about soundtracking Thanksgiving or whether to start the day after, but with the turn of the calendar page, there’s no denying it’s time to crank up the Christmas tunes.
To usher in the holiday season, the Billboard staff broke down their picks for the 100 best Christmas songs of all time, and now we want to know which festive holiday track is your absolute favorite.
We’ve got the usual pop suspects, from Britney Spears‘ turn-of-the-century classic “My Only Wish (This Year)” and Ariana Grande‘s “Santa Tell Me” to the infectious inescapability of Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” as well as annual standards like “Last Christmas” by Wham!, Brenda Lee‘s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and Donny Hathaway‘s “This Christmas.”
Plus, Billboard‘s rankings don’t skip celebrating the holiday across plenty of other genres, including Latin (El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico’s “No Hay Cama Pa’Tanta Gente”), hip-hop (“Christmas in Harlem” from Kanye West’s GOOD Music collective), kids music (“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” anyone?), dance-punk (!!!’s 2013 single “And Anyway It’s Christmas”) and more.
See the full list here, then vote for the Christmas song that makes your holiday memories the most merry and bright below.
NEWS
Lola Young has joined forces with Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) to release a new T shirt for the charity’s Lifelines collection.
The shirt supports CALM’s suicide prevention work, with proceeds helping to fund vital resources such as its helpline and CALMzone mental health app.
CALM introduced the Lifelines range last year, with Fontaines D.C., Blossoms and Inhaler also contributing their own designs to the collection.
Young’s design includes the words, “There’s a flicker of light. There’s always morning after the night”, taken from her track ‘Flicker Of Light’.
“I wrote this song about realising there is hope. I have often felt like there isn’t, but there is always a reason to keep going,” Young said. “That’s even when you don’t want to get out of bed, you do, and that is amazing, and you’re still here, and you’re still alive, and if anything, that’s something to be proud of.”
CALM CEO Simon Gunning also shared his appreciation for the collaboration, saying: “We couldn’t be more grateful to Lola for supporting ‘Lifelines’ and showing just how powerful music can be as a force for good.”
Priced at £30, the T shirts come in both standard and boxy fits and are available to purchase here.
Young has regularly spoken about her experiences with mental health. She returned to performing earlier this year after calling off her 2025 tour because of exhaustion. The decision followed her collapse during a performance in New York City. During her time away, she later discussed receiving support for addiction and attending AA meetings as part of her recovery.
In an interview with NME in May, Young explained that she believes “all healing journeys are never ending”, although she is now “definitely in a much better place”. She also said she feels “excited and ready to perform and to release music”.
Reflecting on the encouragement she received after publicly discussing those challenges, Young said: “My fans inspire me in the same way I hope to inspire them. I feel like I’ve never tried to be especially honest… it just comes very naturally to me.”
“I don’t really have any other choice but to be honest, so if people connect to that, and that’s amazing.”
Several musicians have also applauded the ‘Messy’ singer for honestly addressing the pressure placed on touring performers. Lily Allen said she was “in awe” of the BRIT and Grammy winner, while Victoria Canal credited Young with bringing greater attention to the damaging impact demanding tour schedules can have on artists’ mental wellbeing.
When NME asked whether musicians were beginning to establish firmer boundaries around their health, Young replied: “I never intended it to start a movement, but I hope that it does in some way.”
