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
A$AP Rocky has revealed that it took years of persistence before Tim Burton agreed to create the cover artwork for his upcoming album, Don’t Be Dumb. The rapper reflected on how the unlikely collaboration finally came together during a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday.
Going into detail about the process, Rocky confessed that he “basically had to stalk and harass him for a few years” before things clicked. He explained, “I reached out and told him I would love to hang out, play him some vibes and just connect. I ended up going to Malibu while he was on a break, and he was feeling it. I played him an early version of the album and he really liked it. That’s when I asked, ‘Do you think you might want to do the illustration for this?’ He was open to it, but then suddenly he had Wednesday and Beetlejuice 2 going on. I realized this was going to take a lot longer than I thought.”
A$AP Rocky went on to describe a moment that really stuck with him during that visit. “While I was there, I noticed a sketch sitting on the table and asked if he drew it,” he said. “He told me that every morning he and his daughter work on drawings together. He starts one, then she comes in and finishes it or changes it. It’s something they practice daily. I saw it as their bond, and to me, that felt priceless.”
On Tuesday, A$AP Rocky also released a double music video for his tracks “WHISKEY” and “BLACK DEMARCO.” Tim Burton appears in the visual and contributed multiple illustrations that tie into the project.
Alongside the release of the “WHISKEY” and “BLACK DEMARCO” video, Rocky officially unveiled the Don’t Be Dumb World Tour. The run will include 42 dates across North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom, with shows scheduled throughout 2026.
