Christmas music

18 Stories

Next Christmas, Mariah Will Shoot for 23,701,698

Carey sets the Spotify record for single-day streams with, of course, 'All I Want for Christmas'

(Newser) - Mariah Carey is doing her best to cement the designation as "Queen of Christmas." On Christmas Eve, she busted her own Spotify single-day streaming record with 23,701,697 streams of "All I Want for Christmas," reports TMZ . That eclipsed the record she set last year...

A 65-Year-Old Christmas Classic Finally Hits No. 1

Brenda Lee's 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' from 1958 tops the Billboard Hot 100

(Newser) - Brenda Lee released "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" in 1958, but the classic holiday tune never hit No. 1 on the charts—until now. The song, which made it to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 each year for the past four holiday seasons, finally made it to...

Jimmy Fallon Releases COVID Christmas Song With 2 Big Names

Ariana Grande and Megan Thee Stallion join

(Newser) - Yes, he’s the host of the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. And sure, he’s starred in movies, been a Saturday Night Live regular, and just launched a new show, That’s My Jam. But Jimmy Fallon has always wanted his That Thing You Do! movie moment when he...

Mariah Gets 'One of the Best Christmas Gifts' Ever

More than 50 stars appear in her new video for 'All I Want for Christmas Is You'

(Newser) - Who could round up Ariana Grande, Snoop Dogg, Olivia Newton-John, Katy Perry, James Corden, and dozens of other stars to appear in one music video? None other than Mariah Carey herself, who on Monday posted a "festive celebration" of her holiday hit, "All I Want for Christmas Is...

Lawyer Sues to Stop Christmas Tunes Playing 16 Hours a Day

NYC attorney Nick Wilder says he can't take socialite Lisa Maria Falcone's display anymore

(Newser) - Nick Wilder says he enjoys a rousing rendition of holiday songs like "Jingle Bell Rock" as much as the next guy—but maybe just one rendition at a time, not around the clock every single day. That's the gist of the New York City attorney's suit he'...

Most-Played Holiday Song in Retail? No Longer Mariah

Carey is dethroned by The Shins

(Newser) - Everywhere you go this holiday shopping season, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" will be played. There's no escaping it—but, for the first time in decades, there's another song you might hear more often. That's right: For the first year since...

We Haven't Had a Real Christmas Hit in 19 Years

Chris Klimek blames nostalgia, iTunes

(Newser) - It has apparently become impossible to write a new Christmas classic. The holiday canon "isn’t just closed—it’s a location-undisclosed black site that’s locked down tighter than Santa’s workshop," observes Chris Klimek at Slate . The last song that really fits the bill is Mariah...

The Reason Rudolph's Nose Is So Bright

Lots of blood vessels, researchers explain

(Newser) - Everyone knows Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has "a very shiny nose" that even, some might say, "glows." But why? A new—and, The Local notes, tongue-in-cheek—investigation explains. Researchers in Norway and the Netherlands compared reindeer noses to human noses and found that reindeer have 25% more...

Best Part of Ghastly Travolta Video? The Reactions

Travolta, Newton-John team up for 'I Think You Might Like It'

(Newser) - This somehow came to pass: John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John channel Grease's Danny and Sandy in a new video as they line dance and twang about Christmas together before ultimately driving off in a bright turquoise convertible. That description doesn't exactly sum up how awful the pair's...

Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey Ruin Christmas in New 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' Music Video
 Mariah, Bieber Ruin Christmas 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 4, 2011 10:53 AM CST

Mariah, Bieber Ruin Christmas

New music video not exactly well-received

(Newser) - Justin Bieber teamed up with Mariah Carey for a new version of her '90s holiday classic, "All I Want for Christmas Is You," and the results are just about as bad as you'd expect. A sampling of the reactions:
  • "Why has the Bieb launched a
...

Christmas Caroling: Quaint Tradition Begun By Drunks

Also, Santa? Didn't start out being so jolly

(Newser) - Cheerful church groups love Christmas caroling, but the tradition was actually started by a bunch of lushes. Back when "Christmas" was actually a celebration of the winter solstice, poor carolers would go from house to house singing ... and also threatening to break windows if they were not plied with...

Christmas Is Here... Way Too Early

Six signs that the holiday season has gotten too impatient

(Newser) - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... even though we're not yet past Thanksgiving. The Week pores through local papers to find six tales of Christmas coming too early this year:
  • It's never too early for eggnog lattes: In Seattle , at least one Starbucks started selling seasonal drinks right
...

How 'White Christmas' Stole Our Hearts—and Ears

Classic tune recalls America's loss of innocence on entering WWII

(Newser) - The best-selling record of all time is a deceptively simple 15-line song about longing for home, writes Roy J. Harris for the Wall Street Journal , in a look at how the Bing Crosby-crooned, Irving Berlin-penned "White Christmas" has managed to sell an estimated 100 million copies over the last...

Bob Dylan's Xmas Album 'Sort of Insane'
 Bob Dylan's 
 Xmas Album 
 'Sort of Insane' 
MUSIC REVIEW
Oct 26, 2009 11:13 AM CDT

Bob Dylan's Xmas Album 'Sort of Insane'

Even so, the 'beloved iconoclast' puts together an interesting collection

(Newser) - With the announcement of Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart, “smirkers got smirkier”—you try picturing Dylan singing the lyric, “How’d ya like to hang a stocking on a great big coconut tree?” without smirking—but in the end, the collection is interesting, if a...

5 Best Songs You Didn't Hear in 2008
 5 Best Songs You 
 Didn't Hear in 2008 
OPINION
Dec 11, 2008 12:34 PM CST

5 Best Songs You Didn't Hear in 2008

Esquire picks this year's best under-the-radar songs

(Newser) - Test your indie chops, courtesy of Esquire, which rounds up the five best tunes you probably didn’t hear this year:
  • “Jingle Bells,” Julian Koster: There's not a single bell in this holiday classic, just a harrowing singing saw.
  • “One Last Round,” Ron Sexsmith: Sharp commentary
...

Ditch the Bells, It's Time for a New Jingle
Ditch the Bells, It's Time
for a New Jingle
HOLIDAY MUSIC GUIDE
Dec 7, 2008 7:46 PM CST

Ditch the Bells, It's Time for a New Jingle

Chronicle compiles list of reworked holiday faves

(Newser) - Chestnuts may still be roasting on an open fire, but that doesn’t mean you can’t refresh your Christmas playlist. The San Francisco Chronicle compiles a list of new twists on old favorites to help you give the jingle bells a rest:
  • Sufjan Stevens, "That Was the Worst
...

Video Spoofs Jews on Christmas
Video Spoofs Jews on Christmas
Dec 18, 2007 11:20 AM CST

Video Spoofs Jews on Christmas

Baltimore teacher strikes a chord with song about Chinese food

(Newser) - A band teacher at a Baltimore yeshiva is the latest YouTube celebrity thanks to his holiday spoof on the Jewish dilemma of what to do on Christmas. His video, "Chinese Food on Christmas," in which a rock band of faux Hasidic Jews jams for fellow members of the...

Christmas Carol Arms Race Hits Chicago Radio

Stations compete to kick off holiday programming earlier and earlier

(Newser) - Apparently not content to subject listeners to "The Little Drummer Boy" in the traditional Thanksgiving-to-Christmas window, two Chicago radio stations switched to the all-fa-la-la-la-la, all-the-time holiday format today. The move is both the latest volley in a hot rivalry and a repeat of a strategy that paid off in...

18 Stories