No genre gets pulled out of the attic every December quite like the Christmas song. This list mixes the crooner standards your grandparents played with the modern hits that took over the radio, plus a couple with real bite under the tinsel.
Updated 2026
All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey 1994
The modern queen of Christmas, back at number one every single year.
Last Christmas by Wham! 1984
A heartbreak dressed up in sleigh bells and synths.
White Christmas by Bing Crosby 1942
The best-selling single of all time, still impossibly warm.
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee 1958
Recorded when Lee was just thirteen, and a party ever since.
Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms 1957
The original rock-and-roll Christmas single, light on its feet.
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon 1971
A carol with a message: the holiday as a call for peace.
Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid 1984
A who's-who of British pop raising money and a question.
Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano 1970
Two languages, one chorus, impossible not to sing along to.
Fairytale of New York by The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl 1987
A bruised, beautiful argument that became a beloved classic.
This Christmas by Donny Hathaway 1970
Soulful, glowing and built for a houseful of family.
Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney 1979
A synth-heavy earworm you will be humming until February.
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Darlene Love 1963
A big-voiced plea for someone to make it home for the holiday.