While Andy Williams is known for his holiday hit "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," his record company insisted on his cover of "White Christmas" being the album's single.

The song "Feliz Navidad" actually came out in 1970. "Feliz Navidad" is one of the most-downloaded and most-aired Christmas songs of all time, but it only came to prominence in 1998. For its first 20+ years, it remained a fairly niche track.

Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne" has been contested as being either a Christmas song (based on the lyrics) or a New Year's song (based on the title). However, it actually peaked in popularity in late February 1981.

The top Christmas song every year since 1958

2 of 9

The Years Without a Christmas List (1958-1962)

The first formal Christmas list published by Billboard was "Deejay's Favorite Christmas Disks," which published the singles, LPs, and EPs that were played most often by radio DJs. However, this only came out once, in 1958. From 1959 through 1962, the best information about Christmas hits comes from the standard Hot 100 lists.

1958: Bing Crosby, "White Christmas", 1942 [Deejay's Favorite Christmas Disks #1]
The Chipmunks, "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)," 1958 [Hot 100 #1, 4 weeks]

Did you know...

"White Christmas" is actually the best-selling physical single of all time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records?

Just counting Crosby's version, the song has sold over 50 million copies worldwide. Including other artists' covers, there are over 100 million copies.

1959: The Chipmunks, "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)," 1958 [Hot 100 #1, 2 weeks]
Harry Simeone Chorale, "Little Drummer Boy," 1958 [Hot 100, peaked at #15]

1960: Brenda Lee, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," 1958 [Hot 100, peaked at #14]

1961: Bing Crosby, "White Christmas," 1942 [Hot 100, peaked at #12 for 2 weeks]

1962: The 4 Seasons' "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," 1962 [Hot 100, peaked at #23]

Note: During this period, Christmas music only rose to the top of the charts the week of Christmas and the weeks before and after it.

Home/Trivia