Pick a Day

Music History Events: Christmas

November 20, 1999 Patty Loveless kicks off the holiday season by traveling aboard a CSX Transportation train bearing gifts to families along a route from Pikeville, Kentucky - Loveless' hometown - to Kingsport, Tennessee. The transportation system has distributed 15 tons of gifts annually to people living in Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Tennessee and Western Virginia.

November 25, 1984 In London, Bono, George Michael, David Bowie, Jody Watley, Paul McCartney and a passel of other stars record vocals for "Do They Know It's Christmas?," the first big all-star charity single. Released a week later (in time for Christmas), it becomes a holiday favorite and raises over $14 million for famine relief in Africa.

August 26, 1983 The film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, starring David Bowie, opens in New York City.

December 19, 1978 The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait airs on ABC.

October 6, 1976 Salsoul Orchestra records "Christmas Medley."

December 24, 1974 James Taylor, Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell go Christmas carolling in Hollywood.

December 24, 1971 New York Dolls make their live debut, performing at a Christmas Party at the Endicott Hotel in New York City.

December 1, 1971 John Lennon releases "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" in the US.

November 9, 1971 Elvis Presley releases "Merry Christmas, Baby."

June 10, 1971 Elvis Presley records "My Way," and "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day."

December 25, 1969 16-year-old Robbie Bachman of Winnipeg, Canada, receives his first drum kit for Christmas and begins to play along with his older brother, guitarist Randy. Just three years later, Randy asks him to join his new band, named Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

December 15, 1969 John Lennon makes his last stage appearance in England when he performs with the Plastic Ono Band at the UNICEF "Peace For Christmas" charity concert in London. George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Keith Moon join him on stage.

November 25, 1965 London's famed department store, Harrods, opens for The Beatles for two hours after closing time in order to allow the members of the group to do their Christmas shopping.

October 26, 1964 The Beatles record "Honey Don't" for their Beatles For Sale album after the song's writer, Carl Perkins, visits them in the studio. They also record "What You're Doing," and Another Beatles Christmas Record (a cover of "Jingle Bells," along with holiday greetings to fans).

November 22, 1963 Phil Spector (who is Jewish) releases A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector, which he worked on all summer with his best musicians. US president John F. Kennedy is killed the same day, and the album suffers dismal sales, although some of the songs, including The Ronettes' version of "Frosty The Snowman," later become holiday favorites.

December 25, 1960 Twelve-year-old James Taylor gets his first guitar as a Christmas present.

December 30, 1957 Bing Crosby's album Merry Christmas claims the #1 spot from Elvis Presley's Elvis' Christmas Album, but Elvis returns to the top spot a week later.

November 24, 1957 Harry Belafonte's "Mary's Boy Child" becomes the first single to sell a million copies in the UK. It stays at #1 for an unheard-of seven weeks and becomes a perennial UK Christmas favorite.

October 7, 1957 The idea of expanding his gospel album into a Christmas album works out well when Elvis Presley's Elvis' Christmas Album earns pre-orders of 500,000 copies, going Gold before it is even released. It eventually becomes the best-selling Christmas album of all time.

January 7, 1950 Gene Autry's "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," based on a children's book written in 1939, hits #1 on the Billboard singles chart.

October 6, 1947 Gene Autry releases "Here Comes Santa Claus," a song he wrote after riding in a Christmas parade and hearing children scream out for Santa.

April 20, 1944 Judy Garland records "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas."

May 29, 1942 Backed by an orchestra, Bing Crosby records "White Christmas" at Radio Recorders studio in Los Angeles.

March 10, 2021 Mariah Carey files an application to trademark the phrase "Queen Of Christmas."

January 4, 2020 Mariah Carey becomes the first artist to top the Hot 100 in four different decades when "All I Want For Christmas Is You" stays at #1 for a third week.

December 16, 2018 With some radio stations pulling "Baby It's Cold Outside" from their holiday playlists in response to the #MeToo movement, WAKY in Louisville, Kentucky plays the song continuously for two hours. Response from listeners is overwhelmingly positive.

December 12, 2013 Someone forgot to invite Jesus to his own birthday party. The fifth-grade choir at Ralph J. Osgood Intermediate School in Long Island, New York receives a round of applause after performing "Silent Night" at a holiday concert, but not all crowdgoers are pleased with the secular rendition, which removes references to Jesus and his mother.More

November 25, 2008 A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!, the soundtrack to the Christmas comedy special of the same name starring Stephen Colbert, is released on iTunes. Most of the songs featured on the album were written by comedy writer David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger, who is the bass player for Fountains of Wayne. The album will go on to win the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

September 30, 2008 Disney releases Nightmare Revisited, a cover album of songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas. The new album commemorates the fifteenth anniversary of the film's original 1993 release and features new arrangements by KoRn, Amy Lee of Evanescence, and Marilyn Manson.

December 22, 2006 At the beginning of their last day in space for the STS-116 mission to the International Space Station, the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery is greeted by Perry Como's "(There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays."