Top 10 Selling Christmas Albums Of All Time
by Sheldon Rocha Leal
Christmas is my favorite time of the year. There is something mysterious and magical about the epoch. I love how the human race seems to unite to celebrate this essentially Christian holiday, which actually has pagan roots, but now has become largely a secular celebration. I, therefore, usually dedicate one of my articles to “the season” and in this COVID19 year, it seems like we need the season more than ever. I feel, however, like many people have adopted the Christmas spirit throughout 2020 in order to get through this crazy year. I have heard of people, around the world, putting up Christmas lights and decorations as early as June, as a means to uplift their spirits in the midst of the chaos of 2020.
Last year I wrote an article which documented the biggest selling Christmas singles of all-time and in the scope of that research I encountered the various albums from which these songs emanated. That article aroused my interest to determine the biggest selling Christmas albums of all-time. The process has been interesting, but challenging at the same time. It is not always easy to unearth world sales figures for an album, especially considering that some of the albums I have included in the article are from before the beginning of the Rock era. I have, therefore, done my best to assemble this Top 10 list, consulting various sources, articles and websites.
I don’t think many of the revelations in this article will be much of a surprise, but it is interesting to see how some of one’s favorite albums measure up against each other. My idea of a successful Christmas album is a product that includes all the Christmas fairy dust: lush arrangements, sleigh bells, orchestras, key changes, full harmonies and phenomenal lead vocals. I have heard over 500 Christmas albums and I have reached the point where I’m no longer impressed by an album that includes the stock standard Christmas songs: “Silent Night”, “O Tannenbaum”, “White Christmas” and “Joy The World”. For me a Christmas album is a success if it includes a healthy combination of Christmas standards and new compositions of Christmas themed songs, that will be a legacy for Christmases to come. Similar to what George Michael and Wham! did in 1984 with “Last Christmas” and Mariah Carey 10 years later with “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, both of which have become perennial hits. It is now up to the new generations of music makers to develop a perennial Christmas hit for the new millennium.
Christmas albums are not part of an artist’s delivery requirements, in a record deal, they are considered novelty or additional albums and labels don’t like releasing them, as they don’t usually make money. Traditionally these albums didn’t contain any new songs and because their shelf life is short, only really selling in the months preceding Christmas, they didn’t usually sell well. Therefore, recording labels used to only consider allowing an artist to release a Christmas album later in their careers as a way to revive their popularity and record sales. There have, however, been a few exceptions in the history of popular music and in recent years record labels have seen the worth of releasing Christmas albums earlier in an artist’s career life cycle. That being said, it is clear that these albums do not sell as well as mainstream studio albums, but historically there have been some amazing exceptions, which will be elucidated in this article.
Here we go…
10. Mannheim Steamroller: A Fresh Aire Christmas (1988) (6million)
Mannheim Steamroller is an American band from Omaha, Nebraska who specialize in neo-classical new-age music (a hybrid of Classical and New-Age music). The band has been active since 1974 and have released nearly 40 albums of which 12 have been Christmas albums, shipping over 28million albums in the USA alone. This was their 2nd Christmas album. The band’s leader, Chip Davis, in doing background research for the album requested that fans submit a list of 3 of their favorite Christmas songs. He then tabulated the results, re-arranged the tracks, compiled the album and sent all the fans that submitted a list a copy of the completed album. “A Fresh Aire Christmas” peaked at No36 on the mainstream album’s chart in the USA (Billboard 200), No1 on the US holiday chart and No4 on the US New-Age chart. To date the album has shifted 6million units in the USA alone.
9. Mannheim Steamroller: Mannheim Steamroller Christmas (1984) (6million)
The band name came from an 18th century German musical technique popularized by musicians from the Mannheim school of composition and commenced as an alias for the record producer/composer Chip Davis. Although the band had been around for about 10 years before they released “Mannheim Steamroller Christmas”, they attained their greatest success with this album, becoming their first album to chart on the Billboard 200. The album features modern contemporary interpretations of Christmas classics and traditional Yuletide songs from France and England. The radio friendly approach to these Christmas songs resulted in the band becoming one of the most in demand Christmas artists of all-time and a slew of subsequent Christmas albums ensued. “Mannheim Steamroller Christmas” peaked at No50 on the Billboard 200, No2 on the US Holiday chart, No8 on the US New Age chart and has to date shipped over 6million units in the US alone.
8. Nat King Cole: The Magic of Christmas (1960) (6million)
Nat King Cole was a famous Jazz pianist and crooner and is considered one of the greatest stars of the Jazz era. He was also one of the first African American artists to attain mainstream success in the country and the first to host his own show on national television. By the time he released “The Magic of Christmas” he had been in the business for 16 years and released 26 studio albums. Although he had released a few Christmas singles in the past, including the very successful “The Christmas Song” in 1946, he had never released a full Christmas album, this was his first. The album was produced by Lee Gillette and the orchestra was conducted and arranged by Ralph Carmichael. The album only peaked at No187 on the Billboard 200, but subsequently peaked at No1 on the Billboard Holiday chart and has shipped over 6million units in the USA alone. The album was released in 1963 under a new title: “The Christmas Song”. Over the years it accumulated over 6million units in sales, making it one of the biggest selling Christmas albums of all-time.
7. Josh Groban: Noël (2007) (6.7million)
Josh Groban is a Operatic Pop artist who rose to prominence in the early 2000s after making appearances on the Rosie O’Donnell Show on the “Ally McBeal” television series in 2001. He was a student of Seth Riggs (the famous vocal coach) and was mentored by the iconic Canadian producer, David Foster. “Noël” was his 4th studio album, released in 2007 and produced by his mentor, David Foster and Humberto Gatica, both of whom were instrumental in the success of many artists including Céline Dion. When promoting the album he appeared on the famous “Oprah’s Favorite Things” episode which helped drive the sales of the album. The album peaked at No1 in the USA and Canada and has to date shipped over 6.7million units internationally. It became the first Christmas album to spend 4 consecutive weeks at No1 on the Billboard 200 chart and tied the record for longest run at No1 for a festive album with Elvis Presley’s “Elvis’ Christmas Album”. It would go on to spend a 5th week at No1 on the Billboard 200 and break Elvis Presley’s record. It became the No2 overall selling album of 2007 in the USA and was the best selling Christmas album of 2007 and 2008.
6. Céline Dion: These Are The Special Times (1998) (12million)
The Canadian Chanteuse is one of the biggest selling female artists of all time, having shipped over 200million records worldwide in her career. “These Are The Special Times” was her 6th English language album and 17th overall studio album. The album was produced by a long list of luminaries including the usual suspects: David Foster and Humberto Gatica. It contains new compositions written by Bryan Adams, R. Kelly, Carole Bayer Sager, Diane Warren and Céline herself. It also consists of appearances by Bryan Adams, Diana Krall, Andrea Bocelli, R. Kelly and a chorus of her family members on an amazing rendition of “Feliz Navidad”. The albums contains all the bells and whistles one would expect on a Christmas album and is probably one of the most comprehensive Festive albums I have ever heard. It only peaked at No2 in the USA, but was No1 on the US holiday chart and Canadian albums chart. The album holds the distinction of being the biggest selling Christmas album by a female artist in the year of its release in the USA.
5. Kenny G: Miracles: The Holiday Album (1994) (13million)
Kenny G is one of the biggest selling instrumentalists of all time, having shipped over 75million records worldwide in his career. The Jazz Saxophonist, who started his career in the 1970s as a member of Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra, was at the height of his success in the 1990s. “Miracles: The Holiday Album” was his 7th studio album, it peaked at No1 on 3 US album charts, Billboard 200, Contemporary Jazz and R&B/Hip-Hop and has to date shipped over 13million units internationally. The album was also the biggest selling festive album of 1994 and 1996 in the USA. It followed the success of his biggest album to date “Breathless” released in 1992, which has to date shipped just over 16million units internationally. He released a follow up festive album, “Faith: A Holiday Album” in 1999 which has shipped 3million units in the USA alone and was nominated for a Grammy award. “Miracles: The Holiday Album” holds the record for the highest sales for a Christmas album in a week, 819,000 units, which it attained in the Christmas week of 1994.
4. Bing Crosby: Merry Christmas (1945) (15million)
The King of Christmas has shifted over 100million Christmas records, including 50million units of the single “White Christmas”, 30million of “Silent Night” and 6million of “Jingle Bells” a duet with The Andrew Sisters. “White Christmas” is considered the biggest selling single of all-time and “Jingle Bells” the third. If one then adds the 15million units shipped of the “Merry Christmas” album, the figure jumps to 101million shipped units. In total it is reputed that Bing Crosby shipped between 300million-1billion records in his lifetime, but verifying the numbers on such old albums is really difficult. This would make him one of the biggest selling artists of all-time. Over the years the “Merry Christmas” album has been re-released in many different guises and has spent over 39 weeks at No1 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts. When it was originally released it peaked at No1 on the Billboard 200. “White Christmas” has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for its contribution to popular music culture.
3. Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas (1994) (15million)
This was the Mariah’s 4th studio album and when she approached her management with the idea they were not keen to pursue it as Christmas albums were considered albums has-been artists released to revive their careers. She was at the zenith of her career at the time and the label wasn’t sure if they were willing to take the risk. The album contains 3 new songs and 7 covers of traditional Christmas classics arranged in a traditional Gospel style. The album features the biggest session talent in the music industry at the time: Kelly Price, Greg Phillinganes, Randy Jackson, Dann Huff, Loris Holland, Omar Hakim, David Cole and Robert Clivillés (of C+C Music Factory Fame). The album has only ever peaked at No3 on the Billboard 200 and was only the 2nd biggest selling Christmas album of 1994 behind Kenny G’s “The Holiday Album”. It has, however, spent 97 cumulative weeks in the Billboard 200 over the years and was No1 on the Billboard Holiday chart. In Japan alone it shipped over 2.8million units and has peaked at No1 in three countries: Japan, Lithuania and Latvia. It just proves that attaining the big positions on the charts is not always the secret to success, sometimes longevity and consistency is more important.
2. Michael Bublé: Christmas (2011) (16million)
The Canadian Big Band Jazz crooner has to date shipped over 50million units worldwide and “Christmas”, which was his 7th studio album, is his biggest selling album to date. The album was produced by the usual suspects, David Foster, Humberto Gatica and Bob Rock. It was released after the relative success of a 5 track EP he released in 2003, “Let It Snow”, which shipped over 1million units. The album contains duets with Country music legend Shania Twain, The Puppini Sisters and Latin star Thalía. “Christmas” peaked at No1 in at least 16 countries, including the USA, Canada, UK and Australia and has shipped over 16million units internationally. Michael Bublé promoted the album with appearances on the X-Factor, General Hospital and “A Michael Bublé Christmas” special, which was viewed by over 7million people. My favorite track on the album is “Cold December Night” which is an amazing Christmas original, co-written by Bublé himself. Since it’s original release it has become an annual Christmas feature, re-emerging on album charts around the world.
1. Elvis Presley: Elvis’ Christmas Album (1957) (20million)
The King of Rock ‘n Roll released this as his 3rd studio album, at the height of his success. Elvis Presley released two Christmas themed albums, the other titled “Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas” released in 1971. The album has been released in various formats, but in its original manifestation it peaked at No1 on the US albums’ chart and spent 4 weeks at the summit. It became Elvis’ first diamond certified (signifying 10million units sold) album in the USA and this album along with all its reissues have shipped over 20million units worldwide. The original incarnation of this album contained 6 popular songs, 2 traditional carols and 4 gospel songs. Although “Blue Christmas” had been recorded previously in 1948 by Doye O’Dell, Elvis’ version became a hit single for the King and a perennial hit. Elvis commissioned Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to write an opening number for his album and they came up with “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” which has become another Yuletide classic. All-in-all this album is Christmas perfection.
Although the sales of the above albums are not comparable to those of more mainstream pop albums it needs to be considered that they do have a shorter period of time in which to operate. That being said, however, if the album is good it can be a perennial hit and chart annually during the festive season, such as Michael Bublé’s album, which since its release has charted every December.
It can safely be said that Mariah is the Queen of Christmas with the success of her mega album “Merry Christmas” and single “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, which combined have shifted over 31million records worldwide, and counting. She has followed the success of the two with a whole Christmas franchise. It includes Christmas Specials, residences and an additional album “Merry Christmas II You”, which was released in 2010 and peaked at No1 on the Billboard Holiday Chart and No4 on the Billboard 200.
With over 100million Christmas records shifted Bing Crosby is the undisputed King of Christmas, Kenny G is the King of Yuletide instrumentalists and Mannheim Steamroller are the festive band. The band has shifted over 23.5million Christmas albums in their career. David Foster is probably the king of festive producers. He has produced Yuletide tracks and albums for Céline Dion, Dolly Parton, Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Mary J Blige and Jessie J to name but a few. But for the purposes of this article the King is THE King, who possesses the biggest selling Christmas album of all time, an album that paved the way for many future holiday albums and introduced mainstream pop audiences to many beloved Christmas standards. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 🎄
