Highest-charting Christmas song on the Billboard US Hot 100

Since the US Billboard Hot 100 was inaugurated on 4 August 1958, three Christmas songs have made it all the way to No.1. The first-ever festive chart-topper was “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late!)”, written and performed by Ross Bagdasarian (USA, 1919–72) as his alter ego David Seville, alongside Alvin & The Chipmunks (his virtual band of anthropomorphic rodents), which spent four weeks at No.1 from 22 December 1958. On 21 December 2019, Mariah Carey’s (USA) “All I Want for Christmas Is You”, co-written with the Grammy-winning producer Walter Afanasieff and first released in 1994, finally completed its 25-year journey to the top. Since its coronation, the festive favourite has logged a total of 14 weeks at No.1, most recently on 30 December 2023. Three weeks earlier, on 9 December, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee (USA, b. Brenda Tarpley) had become the third Christmas song to crown the Hot 100, 65 years after it was first released (1958) and 63 years since it first charted (1960). Written by Johnny Marks, Lee’s upbeat classic had stalled at No.2 for four holiday seasons in a row (2019–22) before climbing to the summit in 2023.

“Rockin’…” and “All I Want…” traded weeks at No.1 during the 2023 holiday season, with Lee having the last laugh and returning to the top on 6 January 2024.