Holiday Songs That Reached the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10

A selection of 16 shiny holiday hits have hung like decorations in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10.

The Chipmunks’ “The Chipmunk Song,” featuring David Seville, became the first Christmas track to reach the region, logging four weeks at No. 1 in the 1958 holiday season.

Two other Christmas songs have spent time on the Hot 100’s highest arc: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” from 1994, for a total of 17 weeks at No. 1 from 2019, and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, from 1958, for three weeks over the 2023 holiday season.

The two most recently released holiday hits to jingle into the Hot 100’s top 10 do so on the December 28, 2024-dated chart: Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me,” released in 2014, and Kelly Clarkson’s “Underath the Tree” from 2013.

Previously, superstar saxophonist Kenny G boasted the most recently released holiday top 10: his take on “Auld Lang Syne,” released in late 1999, hit No. 7 in the Y2K holiday season. (A mix including news clips of notable 20th-century events added to the original instrumental range.)

The most vintage seasonal song to reach the Hot 100’s top 10? Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You).” He revealed the chestnut in 1946.

Notably, the majority of holiday hits that have moved into the Hot 100’s top 10 have done so in the 2020s, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming service playlists. (Furthermore, for much of the Hot 100’s history, holiday songs were not eligible to make the chart, but instead appeared on seasonal surveys.)

As for the titles of the 16 top 10 Hot 100 entries, five have “Christmas” and one “Navidad”. “Tree” has appeared in two titles. (Plus, fittingly for their sled positions, “Rudolph” reached the top 10 during the 2020 holidays before “Santa Claus.”)

Here’s a rundown of every holiday song that’s made a holly-jolly trip to the Hot 100’s top 10, listed from most recently released to earliest.