Who is the KING of Christmas?

[johnm1120]

We hear a lot about the queen of Christmas, but who is the King?

[Nasarati]

I think Michael Buble is a pretty good answer; it also feels suitable because he's roughly contemporaneous with Mariah Carey, who we've more or less established as the queen, and also one of the only few living/active artists on this list.

[jdanton2]

Nat KING Cole obviously.

[Me. I Am l!nk!nfan815...]

Mariah Carey

[jenglisbe]

For the past decade or so, Michael Buble for sure.

If we're talking all-time or whatever, it has to be between Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, or Andy Williams. All have multiple classic holiday songs. I know Crosby did holiday films like Holiday Inn and White Christmas, so that helps his status. Did Cole or Williams do other holiday stuff?

[gikem]

I chose Bing Crosby because technically speaking, he still holds the record for the most popular holiday recording of all time in White Christmas.

I could also make a case for Bobby Helms since Jingle Bell Rock is consistently the holiday song by a male artist that peaks the highest on the Hot 100 every year.

[SabrinaFan]

Michael Bublé but the way the question is worded makes me want to choose Elvis lol.

[Deleted]

Didn’t vote for them but Sam Smith should also be on the list too I think

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

Oct 15, 2022 23:51:39 GMT -5 jdanton2 said:

Nat KING Cole obviously.

[notgoodenglish]

In Latinoamerica for sure and undoubtedly is Luis Miguel and his album "Navidades" is on repeat everywhere.
Funny thing is that he's Mariah Carey's ex. a Christmas couple.

[jenglisbe]

Oct 16, 2022 11:57:21 GMT -5 @imhappy259 said:

Didn’t vote for them but Sam Smith should also be on the list too I think

Why? I must have missed something as I don't think I've seen Smith do much of anything holiday.

[Deleted]

Oct 16, 2022 13:56:19 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Oct 16, 2022 11:57:21 GMT -5 @imhappy259 said:

Didn’t vote for them but Sam Smith should also be on the list too I think

Why? I must have missed something as I don't think I've seen Smith do much of anything holiday.

I’m just saying with how big Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas is during the holiday season…

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

I think it's still early for Michael, but he'll get there eventually.

My answer is Andy Williams. After all, he was the only artist to have 3 songs in the top 40 of Holiday 100 chart (01/08/22).

[Kelly's 10th Fan]

Oct 16, 2022 14:47:49 GMT -5 @imhappy259 said:

Oct 16, 2022 13:56:19 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Why? I must have missed something as I don't think I've seen Smith do much of anything holiday.

I’m just saying with how big Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas is during the holiday season…

Michael Buble has the highest charting version of HYAMLC, though (so far, anyway).

I wouldn't say Michael is king either, however. My main qualm with calling Buble King of Christmas is that he has no original Christmas songs, and none of his covers significantly overshadow any originals. Even his version of HYAMLC only peaked at #47 last year, that's not this overly dominant performance or anything. His album is a perennial hot seller but I'm not into the idea of handing out titles based on sales alone...Buble is the kind of person that if you say his name I'll immediately think of Christmas yet if you say Christmas or throw a song title at me I'll think of four or five other men before I think of him. He hasn't really made anything "his own" on the same level that Mariah has nailed down the QoC superlative. Prince of Christmas, absolutely, but King? Eh.

Bing Crosby's White Christmas is the world's highest selling holiday single in physical form, but since the US started allowing Christmas songs to rechart WC has only managed to reach #20 once (its peak was #12, back in 1962). Bing's WC also hasn't re-entered the top 20 on UK Singles since 1977. This is a sign to me that Bing's holiday impact not only isn't transcending to younger listeners as much as other hits but it's also not holding on to older listeners as well as Andy, Burl, Bobby, et. al are. In fairness, Bing is largely disadvantaged by WC also being the most covered holiday song of all time. His is still the best performing version of all of them, but having to compete against over 500 songs every year has to be taking its toll, lol. Ultimately, White Christmas itself is more king than Bing is for singing it.

Andy Williams is the only artist to have more than one holiday song peak inside the Hot 100 top 20 and seems set to keep that achievement to himself for the foreseeable future. I think only four artists have ever had more than one holiday song peak inside the top 50, Andy included, so to have two songs simultaneously charting well above that is quite impressive. I'm inclined to give Andy the crown based on that, even though Bobby Helms and Burl Ives have slightly higher peaks Than Andy's biggest song. Andy's clearly the man with the most overall seasonal ubiquity.

I would offer George Michael as a dark horse candidate to take that crown in the future though. Last Christmas was technically a Wham! release, but it is effectively associated directly with George. George is the male artist IMO who is closest to eventually achieving what Mariah has with AIWFCIY - turning a more 'contemporary' sounding song compared to the rest of the classics into a staple by being recognizable and liked by young and old listeners alike. It's becoming increasingly popular to cover, but none of the covers can compete with the original so this enhances the original's status instead of taking attention away from it. George wrote and produced it himself so it has his own indelible stamp on it; none of the men listed above wrote their respective hits except Jim Brickman, I think. Most importantly, George is still well-known for his NON-holiday singles, so a theoretical 'king of Christmas' title doesn't become an albatross that hangs around his neck and turns him into an outdated relic that you only associate with tv commercials in December. Instead it adds emphasis to his overall pop icon status and feeds back into the song growing more popular as the years pass.

[M5AGTS]

Andy Williams.

[colson]

Nat King Cole

[Deleted]

Nat King Cole

[Au$tin]

Listen, I get Bublé's tracks stream like behemoths every year and get blasted over airwaves and mall stereo systems to death, but... they're all covers. Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, and Andy Williams on the other hand, literally created the classics that everyone and their brother has been covering for decades.

Edit: oh, what Cynthia said lol

[jenglisbe]

Oct 16, 2022 16:44:16 GMT -5 Kelly's 10th Fan said:

I would offer George Michael as a dark horse candidate to take that crown in the future though. Last Christmas was technically a Wham! release, but it is effectively associated directly with George. George is the male artist IMO who is closest to eventually achieving what Mariah has with AIWFCIY - turning a more 'contemporary' sounding song compared to the rest of the classics into a staple by being recognizable and liked by young and old listeners alike. It's becoming increasingly popular to cover, but none of the covers can compete with the original so this enhances the original's status instead of taking attention away from it. George wrote and produced it himself so it has his own indelible stamp on it; none of the men listed above wrote their respective hits except Jim Brickman, I think.

Eh but outside of "LC," there isn't much that ties George to Christmas. Everyone is free to interpret 'King of Christmas' as they wish, of course, but for me the fact that Bing Crosby is also part of multiple classic holiday films is being overlooked. His Christmas reach goes beyond "White Christmas" both with other songs (and "Here Comes Santa Claus," "Mele Kalikimaka," the David Bowie duet, etc) and with films.

Mariah has "AIWFCIY," but Merry Christmas itself is big (another song off it is platinum and multiple other songs are gold). Beyond that she's made Christmas a brand for herself with items at Target, multiple TV specials, co-writing "Where Are You Christmas?," an animated film, etc.

[Walking Contradiction]

Nat King Cole with Bing not too far behind. Michael Buble doesn't even deserve to be in the same poll as most of the singers here.

[jenglisbe]

In terms of the current Holiday 100, here is my count of how many entries these men have on the chart:
Bing Crosby - 8
Michael Buble - 7
Andy Williams - 5
Frank Sinatra - 5
Nat King Cole - 4
Vince Guaraldi - 3

No one else has as many.

[Relaxing Cup]

Nat King Cole.

[Nick]

Other. I love Stevie Wonder’s holiday songs and he’s recorded quite a few.

[Ernesto]

Bing Crosby.

[Eloqueen™]

Jesus!

[JukeboxJacob]

thought of Buble before I even clicked on the thread