Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of Jesus Christ, traditions such as gift-giving and merrymaking, cultural figures such as Santa Claus, or other topics. Many songs simply have a winter or seasonal theme, or have been adopted into the canon for other reasons.
A Partridge Family Christmas Card is a Christmas album by the Partridge Family, released in November 1971. The album's case contains a reproduction of a Christmas card signed by the whole Partridge Family, the stars of a 1970s sitcom. The song "My Christmas Card to You" was original, but the remainder of the tracks were standards. Like most of the Partridge Family songs, the lead vocals are sung by David Cassidy, who played Keith Partridge in the show. The album also features one of the few Partridge Family recordings featuring Shirley Jones as the lead singer.
Delta Lea Goodrem AM is an Australian singer, songwriter, television personality and actress. Goodrem signed a recording contract with Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut studio album, Innocent Eyes (2003), topped the ARIA Albums Chart for 29 non-consecutive weeks. It is one of the highest-selling Australian albums and is the second-best-selling Australian album of all time with over four million copies sold.
A Muppet Family Christmas is a Christmas musical television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets. It first aired on December 16, 1987, on the ABC television network in the United States. Its teleplay was conceived by longtime Muppet writer Jerry Juhl, and directed by Peter Harris and Eric Till. This television special was filmed at 9 Channel Nine Court in Toronto, Ontario. The special features various Muppets from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Muppet Babies. It also stars Gerard Parkes as Doc from the North American wraparound segments of Fraggle Rock, and Henson as himself in a cameo appearance at the end. In the plot, the Muppets surprise Fozzie Bear's mother with a Christmas visit to her farmhouse, unaware of her planned getaway to Malibu.
A Chipmunk Christmas is a 1981 animated Christmas television special based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. Produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Chuck Jones Enterprises, it first aired on NBC December 14, 1981, nine years after the death of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian Sr.. This was the first time that Alvin, Simon and David Seville were voiced by Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and the first time that Theodore was voiced by Janice Karman.
Christmas Songs by Sinatra is the third studio album by the American singer Frank Sinatra. It was released in 1948 as a 78 rpm album set and a 10" LP record featuring a collection of eight holiday songs. A compilation album was released in 1994 including the songs released on the 1948 album along with other Christmas songs from his years recording at Columbia.
The Spirit of Christmas 2006 is the 13th compilation album of Christmas-associated tracks in the annual Spirit of Christmas series. It was released in Australia on 10 November 2006 with proceeds going to The Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal, which supports at-risk children and youth throughout the country. The compilation has contributions from various Australian artists and was produced by Lindsay Field and Glenn Wheatley. It was issued on CD by Sony BMG and distributed at Myer Stores.
The Spirit of Christmas 2003 is the tenth compilation album of Christmas-associated tracks in the annual Spirit of Christmas series. It was released in Australia in mid-November 2003 with proceeds going to The Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal, which supports at-risk children and youth throughout the country. The compilation has contributions from various Australian artists and was produced by Lindsay Field and Glenn Wheatley. It was issued on CD by Myer Grace Bros. and distributed by Sony BMG.
Waiting for Santa is a direct-to-video Christmas Eve special. Released on video on April 30, 1990 as part of the Barney & the Backyard Gang series, it features an array of traditional Christmas songs as well as new arrangements. The video had sold almost five million copies by 1999.
Winter Songs is the sixth studio album released by Irish singer/songwriter and Boyzone frontman Ronan Keating. It was released by Polydor Records on 16 November 2009 in the UK and Ireland, debuting at number 16 and 12 in each respective album chart. The first single, a cover of Grammy Award-winning American country music duo Sugarland's hit "Stay", was released digitally on the same day.
Winter Loversland is the first Christmas album, and third studio album overall, by American recording artist Tamar Braxton. The album was released on November 11, 2013, by Epic Records and Streamline Records.
The Christmas Album is the tenth studio album and first Christmas album by Australian pop vocal group Human Nature, released in November 2013.
Merry Christmas is the first Christmas album recorded by Australian recording artist Kate Ceberano and was certified Gold by ARIA. The album includes a duet with Ronan Keating.
Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas is a 1977 Christmas television special starring Bing Crosby and his family with special guests Twiggy, David Bowie, Ron Moody, Stanley Baxter and Trinity Boys Choir. It includes a duet by the unusual pairing of Crosby and Bowie on "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy".
Christmas Jollies is the third album released by Vincent Montana Jr. and his first Christmas album. It was recorded and released on Salsoul Records in November 1976. The album includes a few new Christmas tunes, co-written by Vincent Montana Jr. himself, entitled, "There's Someone Who's Knocking" with the children's chorus singing, "Merry Christmas All" with his daughter, Denise Montana, singing the lead and "Christmas Time" with the sweet honeyed-voices of the session girl-group, The Sweethearts of Sigma, that features group members Barbara Ingram, Evette Benton and Carla Benson. This highly successful album also includes disco renditions of "The Little Drummer Boy", "Sleigh Ride" and so on, plus the orchestrated instrumental version of "Silent Night". Side two is semi-instrumental with two different medleys, such as "Christmas Medley" with the family chorus singing and "New Year's Medley" with The Salsoul Singers singing in the background. Christmas Jollies went on to become the best-selling holiday albums of 1976 and 1977.
The 2020 ARIA Music Awards are the 34th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards and consist of a series of awards, including the 2020 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Hall of Fame Awards, ARIA Fine Arts Awards and the ARIA Awards. The ARIA Awards ceremony occurred on 25 November 2020, with Delta Goodrem as host. However, due to COVID-safe restrictions, it was without an audience and was broadcast from the Star Event Centre, Sydney on the Nine Network around Australia. In place of the usual Red Carpet event, a pre-show was broadcast from The Star's backstage and was hosted by Ash London and Mitch Churi. The pre-show had 16 awards presented ahead of the main ceremony.
Only Santa Knows is the sixth studio album and the first full-length Christmas album by Australian singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem. It was released on 13 November 2020 through Sony Music Australia. It is Goodrem's second Christmas release, after 2012's Christmas EP. The album includes two original tracks and 11 covers, including "Silent Night" with Gurrumul, which was recorded in 2014 and included on The Spirit of Christmas 2014.
Blue Christmas is the twentieth studio and first Christmas album by Scottish Australian musician Jimmy Barnes, released on 25 November 2022 through Bloodlines. Speaking on his motivations to release a Christmas album, in a press statement, Barnes said, "One of the greatest surprises I ever got from our children was when they all snuck away into the garage and secretly recorded themselves singing carols for me. On Christmas morning, when I awoke, they proudly gave me the recording and sat eagerly waiting for me to listen to it. That year I received lots of great gifts from various family members, but that recording had me weeping like a baby. It was the most beautiful gift I ever got. This album is my gift back to the kids, the grandkids and everyone out there who just wants to sit and sing with their family on Christmas. These songs take me back and they remind me why I'm here right now. I hope they do the same for you."
Billboard magazine only charted Christmas singles and albums along with the other popular non-holiday records until the 1958 holiday season when they published their first section that surveys only Christmas music.
