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Star Bright | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 5, 1996 | |||
Recorded | 1993, 1995–1996 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 52:17 | |||
Label | Mercury | |||
Producer |
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Vanessa Williams chronology | ||||
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Singles from Star Bright | ||||
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Star Bright is the fourth studio album and first Christmas album by Vanessa Williams, released on November 5, 1996, on Mercury Records. It achieved success as one of the best-selling holiday albums of 1996 and '97. It peaked at #36 on the Billboard 200, #24 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and #5 on the Top Holiday Albums. The album went on to be nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album [1] and was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 copies.
Although no official singles were released from the album, "Do You Hear What I Hear/The Little Drummer Boy" reached #15 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.[ citation needed ] A video was shot in 1993 for "What Child Is This?" that was originally featured on the A&M Records Christmas compilation A Very Special Christmas 2 . The album was re-released in 2003 as The Christmas Collection: 20th Century Masters: The Best of Vanessa Williams.
The Christmas Collection: 20th Century Masters: The Best of Vanessa Williams | |
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Studio album by | |
Released | 2003 |
Genre |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
Chart (1996) | Peak position |
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US Billboard 200 [2] | 36 |
US Top Holiday Albums (Billboard) [3] | 5 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [4] | 24 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United States (RIAA) [5] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
American singer Mariah Carey has released 88 official singles, 22 promotional singles, and has made 30 guest appearances. Her self-titled debut album in 1990 yielded four number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, the first being "Vision of Love", a song credited with revolutionizing the usage of distinguished vocal stylings, predominantly the practice of melisma, and effectively influencing virtually every female R&B performer since the 1990s. Subsequent singles "Emotions" (1991) and Carey's cover of the Jackson 5 track "I'll Be There" (1992) continued the singer's streak of US number-one singles, with the latter becoming her fourth chart-topper in Canada and first in the Netherlands. With the release of Carey's third studio album, Music Box (1993), the singer's international popularity surged upon release of "Hero" and the album's third single, her cover of Harry Nilsson's "Without You", which became the singer's first number-one single in several countries across Europe.
Wishes: A Holiday Album is the third Christmas album and twelfth studio album by saxophonist Kenny G. It was released by Arista Records on October 22, 2002, and peaked at number 1 on the Contemporary Jazz chart, number 2 on the Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, number 29 on the Billboard 200, number 34 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number 64 on the Internet Albums chart. It was the second best-selling Christmas album in the US for 2002 with sales of 501,000 copies for the year.
"Do You Hear What I Hear?" is a song written in October 1962, with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne. The pair, married at the time, wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Regney had been invited by a record producer to write a Christmas song, but he was hesitant due to the commercialism of Christmas. It has sold tens of millions of copies and has been covered by hundreds of artists.
8 Days of Christmas is the fourth studio album and only Christmas album by American R&B girl group Destiny's Child, released on October 30, 2001 by Columbia Records.
Silver & Gold is the sixth studio album and second Christmas album by American singer and actress Vanessa Williams, originally released in the United States on October 12, 2004, by Lava Records and purchased by YMC Records in 2005. It gained critical acclaim like its predecessor, Star Bright, did in 1996, although not a major success, selling only 100,000 copies to date. The album peaked at number 120 on the Billboard 200, number 46 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, number 24 on the Top Holiday Albums, and number two on the Top Gospel Albums. "Merry Christmas Darling" and the title track became decent hits that holiday season due to airplay, the former reaching number 18 and the latter reaching number four on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.
WOW Gospel Christmas includes thirty songs on a double CD album. In 2007 it reached #78 on the Billboard 200 chart, took first place on the Top Gospel Albums chart, and 20th spot on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In 2008 it reached 24th spot on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
The Real Thing is the eighth studio album by American singer and actress Vanessa Williams. It was released by Concord Records on May 27, 2009. The album features productions by Keith Thomas, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Rob Mathes, and Rex Rideout. The Real Thing peaked at number 91 on the US Billboard 200. It also reached number one on the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, number two on the Top Jazz Albums chart, and number 36 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits is a set of two Christmas-themed compilation albums released by Rhino Records in 1989, each featuring ten popular Christmas recordings from 1935 to 1983, many of which charted on the Billboard record charts. Both volumes were certified Gold by the RIAA in the U.S., with the second volume being certified Platinum.
The Magic of Christmas is a 1960 album by Nat King Cole, arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael.
The Andy Williams Christmas Album is the first Christmas holiday album released by singer Andy Williams and his twelfth studio album overall. It was issued by Columbia Records in 1963, the first of eight Christmas albums released by Williams. Though it was also the album that introduced Williams's perennial holiday classic "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", Columbia instead released Williams's cover of "White Christmas" as the album's promotional single at the time.
Merry Christmas is the second Christmas album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released by Columbia Records in 1965, and his seventeenth studio album overall. This seasonal LP is focused exclusively on 20th century compositions, unlike 1963's The Andy Williams Christmas Album, which, of its 12 tracks, had six with origins predating the turn of the century.
Merry Christmas II You is the thirteenth studio album and second Christmas album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released by Island Records on November 2, 2010. Recording began in April 2010 and continued while Carey became pregnant. She was the executive producer of Merry Christmas II You and worked with various record producers, including Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Randy Jackson, James Poyser, Marc Shaiman, James "Big Jim" Wright and Johnny "Sev" Severin of RedOne. The album features Carey's mother Patricia Carey as a guest vocalist on "O Come All Ye Faithful" / "Hallelujah Chorus". The album serves as a sequel to her fourth studio album Merry Christmas (1994). It is composed of original songs and covers, ballads and uptempo tracks, incorporating R&B, soul, and house music in its composition.
Give Me Your Love for Christmas is the third Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis and was released by Columbia Records on October 13, 1969. The oldest song selected for this project was the 1934 classic "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", which meant there were not the traditional hymns that could be found on his previous Christmas outings. He did, however, cover several other contemporary Christmas favorites along with a few new and lesser-known songs, such as the title track, which was a reworking of an unreleased recording of his from 1961, and "Christmas Day", which came from the then-current Broadway musical Promises, Promises. New versions of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "The Little Drummer Boy", which he also recorded in 1963 for his previous Christmas LP, Sounds of Christmas, made the final track list here as well.
Winter Loversland is the first Christmas album, and third studio album overall, by American singer Tamar Braxton. The album was released on November 11, 2013, by Epic Records and Streamline Records.
What Christmas Means is the fourth studio album by American singer Kem. It was released by Motown Records on October 16, 2012 in the United States. His first Christmas album, the album features traditional Christmas songs, along with original material. Guests on the album features Ledisi and the Detroit Gospel Choir. What Christmas Means peaked at number 64 on the US Billboard 200 and number six on the US Top Holiday Albums. A deluxe edition with four additional bonus tracks was issued on October 29, 2013.
A Legendary Christmas is the seventh studio album and first Christmas album by American singer John Legend, it was released on October 26, 2018. Featuring artists such as Esperanza Spalding and Stevie Wonder, the album was promoted by a tour of the same name from November to December 2018. It received a nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards.
40 Christmas Classics is a digital compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released on October 31, 2014, and includes all of the songs from his first three solo holiday LPs, The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Merry Christmas, and Christmas Present. Three tracks not originally appearing on holiday albums by Williams are also included: "My Sweet Lord" from his 1971 album Love Story, "Amazing Grace" from his 1972 album Alone Again (Naturally), and the Latin Catholic Prayer version of Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria", which Williams recorded in honor of Senator Robert F. Kennedy just days after his funeral in 1968.
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.
"Drummer Boy" is a cover of Katherine Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone's Christmas song "The Little Drummer Boy" by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, featuring American rapper Busta Rhymes, from his second studio album and first Christmas release, Under the Mistletoe (2011). Leaked days before the album's November 1, 2011, date on October 28, "Drummer Boy" is an uptempo hip-hop techno club track where Bieber sings the original song's lyrics and melody while rapping about himself, poverty and charity. Contemporaneously, the track was met with polarization and confusion from professional critics, who perceived it as bizarre and silly and bastardizing the meaning of the original song.