Arguably one of the best parts of the holiday season is the music. Music about snow, Santa and celebrating has been echoing through our computers, earphones and radios since Black Friday, and I don’t know a single person not loving it (except maybe The Grinch). And while every year artists come up with tunes relevant only to the season, there are undoubtedly classics that will forever be holiday favorites. Here are a few things you might not know (and some you definitely didn’t know) about your favorite Christmas songs:
1. Bing Crosby’s “Winter Christmas” has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, and is the world’s best selling single ever, across all genres.
2. Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas, featuring the 1994 hit “All I Want for Christmas is You,” is the #1 best-selling Christmas album of all time.
3. “The Chipmunk Song” is the only Christmas song to ever reach #1 on a Billboard Hot 100 chart, and it won three Grammy Awards.
4. In Great Britain, your true love sent you all of the gifts you get in “The 12 Days of Christmas”; in America, your true love gives them to you.
5. Tony the Tiger (Thurl Ravenscroft) sings the original “You’re a Mean One, Mister Grinch.”
6. “Jingle Bells” was intended to be a Thanksgiving song.
7. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” was originally recorded by 13-year-old Brenda Lee.
8. “Last Christmas” by Wham! is the most successful Christmas song in Germany.
9. Christmas in the Stars was a holiday album released in 1980 specifically for fans of LucasFilm’s Star Wars. It includes a song titled “What Can You Get A Wookie For Christmas (If He Already Owns a Comb)?”
10. “Where Are You, Christmas” in the 2000 remake of How The Grinch Stole Christmas is sung on the soundtrack by Faith Hill, but the original performing artist was Taylor Momsen, who would later play Jenny in Gossip Girl.
11. “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” performed by boy band sensation *NSYNC was actually co-written by members Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez.
12. “Joy to the World’s” first verse is actually about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not his birth.
13. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” became the first ringtone to ever get RIAA Certified with sales over 500,000 units in December 2006.
Sources:
http://www.neatorama.com/2012/12/24/Christmas-Carols/#!pRpnn
http://mix1041.cbslocal.com/2013/12/06/90s-rewind-when-christmas-songs-were-crazy-sexy-cool/
http://www.neatorama.com/2012/12/13/The-Only-Christmas-song-to-hit-1-on-the-Charts/#!pRndh
https://twitter.com/XmasCarolFacts
http://mentalfloss.com/article/26574/quick-10-10-strange-christmas-songs
http://mentalfloss.com/article/26552/quick-10-facts-about-10-christmas-hits