''Christmas'' is the seventh studio album and first Christmas album released by Canadian singer

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

. The album was released on October 21, 2011, in Ireland, on October 24, 2011, in the United Kingdom, and on October 25, 2011, in the United States. On the week ending December 10, 2011, ''Christmas'' rose to No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album sales chart, becoming Bublé's third chart-topper following 2007's '' Call Me Irresponsible'' and 2009's '' Crazy Love'', and spent five weeks at No. 1. As of December 2021 this is Buble's most successful album with more than 12 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century and one of the best-selling Christmas albums worldwide. The album also won a Juno Award for Album of the Year, making it the first holiday album to win the award. The album was re-released on November 26, 2012, containing four additional tracks, including a new recording of "The Christmas Song". Bublé also released a reworked version of " White Christmas", this time featuring

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

, as a single. This version premiered on Bublé's NBC television special, ''Home for the Holidays'', on December 10, 2012.

Background

The album is Bublé's second Christmas-themed release after he released a five-track extended play, titled ''

Let It Snow "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", also known as simply "Let It Snow", is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945 in Hollywood, California, during a heat wave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions ...

'' in 2003. Some of the songs from ''Let It Snow'' have been re-recorded for inclusion on ''Christmas'', making ''Christmas'' his first full-length holiday release. For the album, Bublé teamed up with several well-known artists to record duets. His duet version of " White Christmas" with country music singer

was based on an early arrangement by

The Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in ...

, while his recording of "

Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and most commonly sung American songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed t ...

" with

the Puppini Sisters The Puppini Sisters are an English close harmony vocal trio composed of Italian-born singer Marcella Puppini and English singers Kate Mullins and Emma Smith. Although the three are not related, the name was chosen in tribute to the Andrews Siste ...

was based on the 1943 recording of Bing Crosby and

the Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...

. He also teamed up with Latin star

Thalía Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (; born 26 August 1971), known mononymously as Thalía, is a Mexican singer and actress. Referred to as the " Queen of Latin Pop", she is considered one of the most successful and influential Mexican artists. Havi ...

for a recording of "Feliz Navidad". Bublé also recorded covers of Mariah Carey's " All I Want for Christmas Is You", and " Blue Christmas", and a brand new track, "Cold December Night", written with his longtime co-writer Alan Chang and producer Bob Rock.

Promotion

The album's track listing was unveiled by Bublé on September 27, 2011. Bublé filmed several music videos in order to promote the album, including videos for the tracks "

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song featuring Santa Claus written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie. The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934. It was then ...

", the lead single " All I Want for Christmas Is You", "Holly Jolly Christmas", "

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is a pop song originally sung by Darlene Love and included on the 1963 seasonal compilation album, ''A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector''. The song was written by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil S ...

", "

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical ''Meet Me in St. Louis''. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics. I ...

", and "

". Bublé also appeared to perform during the final of the eighth series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on December 11, 2011. Bublé's recording of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was also featured in a montage on ABC-TV's '' General Hospital'' that aired on December 23, 2011.

Specials

On December 6, 2011, Bublé promoted the album in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

with the broadcast of an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television special, ''A Michael Bublé Christmas'', a show produced by Ben Silverman. The special was viewed by more than 7.07 million viewers, receiving a 1.5 rating and 4% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. In Canada, the special was viewed by 1.533 million viewers, ranking the seventeenth most watched programme overall for the week. '' Zap2it'' reviewed the special, and claimed it to be "one of the year's television guilty pleasures". On December 18, 2011, Bublé promoted the album in the

with the broadcast of an

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

television special, ''Michael Bublé: Home for Christmas''. The special featured guest appearances from comedian Dawn French, duet performances with both

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the gr ...

and

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

, and a cooking tutorial with Gino D'Acampo. The special pulled in 5.7 million viewers, and was the third most-watched ITV Christmas special of the season. Michael later announced that he was to film another NBC special, titled ''Michael Bublé: Home for the Holidays,'' featuring guest appearances from Rod Stewart,

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

, and Carly Rae Jepsen. The special aired on December 10, 2012; and was watched by 5.66 million American viewers, receiving a 1.4/4 18-49 rating/share. On October 18, 2013, it was announced that Michael will feature in a third Christmas special on December 18, 2013, via NBC. Guest stars featuring in the special include Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and

Cookie Monster Cookie Monster is a blue Muppet character on the long-running PBS/ HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' In a song in 2004, and later in an interview in 2017, Cookie Monster revealed his real name as "Sid". He is best known for hi ...

Commercial performance

On November 5, 2011, ''Christmas'' debuted at No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200 charts in the

, with first-week sales of 141,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In its fifth week on the chart, the album climbed to No. 1, and held the top spot for the following four weeks, becoming Bublé's biggest selling chart-topper yet by beating the two-week reign of his previous album, ''Crazy Love''. ''Christmas'' also sold 479,000 copies in the album's third week at No. 1, which marked Bublé's best sales week ever. On the album's tenth week on the album charts, and with Christmas having passed, the album fell to No. 24 on January 14, 2012. As of January 2017 it shares the sixth-largest drop from #1 with ''

Blue Slide Park ''Blue Slide Park'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Mac Miller. It was released on November 8, 2011, by Rostrum Records. The album is named after a section of Frick Park (known as "Blue Slide Park") in Pittsburgh, near where Mille ...

'' by Mac Miller. For the year, ''Christmas'' sold 2,452,000 copies in the

, according to SoundScan, and was the second best-selling album of the year, just behind

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

's blockbuster album '' 21''. In 2012, ''Christmas'' sold an additional 622,000 copies in the U.S. according to SoundScan, and was the second best-selling holiday album of the year (behind Rod Stewart's ''Merry Christmas, Baby''). By December 4, 2017, the album has sold 4,129,000 copies in the United States, making it his best selling album in the country. And as of December 2022, the album has sold 4,500,000 copies in United States. In Canada, the album debuted at No. 2 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 37,000 copies in its first week. In its third week of release, the album climbed to No. 1, selling an additional 32,000 copies. As of December 14, 2011, the album has sold 444,000 copies in Canada. ''Christmas'' also debuted at number 2 in Australia on October 31, 2011. The album has since been certified double Diamond by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing ...

(ARIA) for shipments of over 910,000 copies. It hit number 1 in December 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. It reached number 2 in 2015, being held off from the top spot by

's '' 25''. In 2016, the album peaked at number 2 in December, then hit number 1 for the fifth time in the week of January 2, 2017. During the Christmas season of 2017, it peaked at number 4 in early December. In December 2019, it hit number 1 in Australia for the sixth time, becoming the first album to top the ARIA albums chart at six separate times in different years. Despite competition from Snow Patrol's album '' Fallen Empires'', ''Christmas'' peaked at No. 1 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. It sold 1,292,000 copies in the UK in 2011, making it the second best-selling album of 2011. It is the first seasonal album to chart within the top 10 three years in a row, as it charted at number one in 2011, at number two in 2012, and at number seven in 2013. As of December 2021, the album is the best-selling holiday album in the UK, selling over 3 million copies. The album returned to No. 1 for a fourth non-consecutive week on 1 January 2021, nine years after its initial three week run at the top in 2011 and became the first album to disappear from the No. 1 spot on the UK albums chart on 8 January 2021 (previously The Vamps had achieved the record for biggest drop from number one, when their album fell from the top to No.72 in November 2020).

Track listing

Information is based on the album's Liner NotesBublé, Michael. “Christmas” (Album Notes). 143 Records / Reprise Records. 2011. ;Notes *Tracks 3, 10 and 14 are credited to Traditional. *The Subliminal 9 are Caco Cocci, Steve Hartley, Paul Kirzner, Carsten Love, Lanny McVeigh, Derek Nyrose, Brad Openshaw, Ron Toigo and Rob Ubles.

Personnel

Information is based on the album's liner notes * Michael Bublé – vocals (1-2, 5–8, 11–13, lead on 3–4, 9–10, 14–15), musical arrangement (4) * Janet Adderley – children's choir director (10) * Rusty Anderson – additional guitar (12) * Christopher Bazzoli – string section conductor, horn section conductor (5) *

Chuck Berghofer Charles Curtis Berghofer (born June 14, 1937), professionally known as Chuck Berghofer, is an American jazz double bassist and electric bassist, who has worked as a studio musician and in the film industry for more than 60 years, including workin ...

– bass guitar (1-4, 6, 13) *

Jon Brion Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has ...

– string arrangement, horn arrangement (5) *

Alan Broadbent Alan Leonard Broadbent (born 23 April 1947) is a New Zealand jazz pianist, arranger, and composer known for his work with artists such as Sue Raney, Charlie Haden, Woody Herman, Chet Baker, Irene Kral, Sheila Jordan, Natalie Cole, Warne Marsh ...

– orchestral arrangement (1, 13) * Bob Buckley – orchestra conductor (8) * Paul Bushnell – bass guitar (9, 11–12) * Clayton Cameron – drums (8) * Alan Chang – piano (5, 7, 9, 11–12, 15), musical arrangement, celesta (8, 12), glockenspiel, string arrangements (12) * Judy Chilnick – percussion (7) *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Cola ...

– drums (3, 15) * Brad Dechter – musical arrangement, orchestra conductor (7), orchestration (14), string arrangement (15) * Graham Dechter – guitar (1-4, 6–8, 13) * Nathan East – bass guitar (15) *

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dru ...

– drums (1, 13) * Nicholas Essig – assistant recording engineer (5, 8–9, 11–12) * Alan Estes – percussion (9, 11, 15) * Greg Fields – drums (2, 4, 6) *

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

– orchestral arrangement (1, 13), musical arrangement (1, 3–4, 6, 10, 13–14), keyboards (1-4, 6, 10, 13–14) * Josh Freese – drums (9, 12) *

Humberto Gatica Humberto Gatica is a Chilean-born American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Celine Dion, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and Michael Bublé. Gatica's inte ...

– rhythm arrangement, vocal arrangement (15), recording engineer, audio mixing (7, 15) * Steve Genewick – assistant recording engineer (1-6, 8–14) * Eric Helmkamp – recording engineer (5, 8–9, 11–12), audio mixing (11) *

Wataru Hokoyama is a Japanese composer, conductor, and orchestrator based in Hollywood, California. He left his birth nation of Japan at the age of 16 to attend the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan. He later attended the Cleveland Institut ...

– string section conductor, horn section conductor (12) * Kevin Kanner – drums (7) *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

– drums (5, 11) * Gayle Levant – harp (10, 14) *

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

– audio mixing (5, 9, 12) * Eric Mosher – assistant recording engineer (5, 8–9, 11–12) * Kenny O'Brien – harmony arrangement (15) * Dean Parks – guitar (7, 15, acoustic on 10) *

Alan Pasqua Alan Pasqua (born June 28, 1952) is an American rock and jazz pianist. He studied at Indiana University and the New England Conservatory of Music. His album ''Standards'' with drummer Peter Erskine was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008. As a ...

– piano (1-4, 6–7, 13) *

Dave Pierce Dave Pierce (born October 24, 1972) is a Canadian songwriter, composer, producer and arranger. Pierce was the music director for the opening, closing, and victory ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, for which he received an Emmy ...

– musical arrangement (9, 11), orchestra conductor (9, 11–12), string arrangement, horn arrangement (12) * Craig Polasko – bass guitar (5, 8, 11), musical arrangement, synth strings, additional drums (5) *

The Puppini Sisters The Puppini Sisters are an English close harmony vocal trio composed of Italian-born singer Marcella Puppini and English singers Kate Mullins and Emma Smith. Although the three are not related, the name was chosen in tribute to the Andrews Siste ...

– background vocals (3) * Cristian Robles – recording engineer (7, 15) *

Bob Rock Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, sound engineer and musician, best known for producing rock bands and music artists such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Tragically Hip, the Cult, ...

– audio mixing (11) * Bill Ross – orchestration (10) * Jochem van der Saag – synthesizer, synthesizer programming, recording engineer, audio mixing (1-4, 6, 10, 13–14) *

Al Schmitt Albert Harry Schmitt (April 17, 1930 – April 26, 2021) was an American recording engineer and record producer. He won twenty Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones, and other ...

– recording engineer (1-4, 6, 10, 13–14), audio mixing (8) * Keith Scott – guitar (5, 9, 11–12) *

Don Sebesky Don Sebesky (born December 10, 1937) is an American arranger, jazz trombonist, and keyboardist. Biography Sebesky trained in trombone at the Manhattan School of Music; in his early career, he played with Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy D ...

– orchestration (4) * Paul Smith – assistant recording engineer (7, 15) * Sally Stevens – choir director (14) * The Subliminal 9 – additional background vocals (9) *

– lead vocals (15) *

– lead vocals (4) * Michael Valerio – bass guitar (7) * Jorge Vivo – recording engineer (1-4, 6, 10, 13–14) * Chris Walden – orchestration (3) * Brian Warwick – additional recording engineer (12) * Pat Williams – musical arrangement (2) *

Lyle Workman Lyle Dean Workman is an American guitarist, composer, session and touring musician, and music producer. His music has been widely distributed since his debut on the eponymous '' Bourgeois Tagg'' album in 1986, and is known for his work as compos ...

– guitar (5, 9, 11–12)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christmas (Michael Buble album) Michael Bublé albums 2011 Christmas albums Albums produced by David Foster Albums produced by Bob Rock Christmas albums by Canadian artists Reprise Records albums Swing Christmas albums 143 Records albums Juno Award for Album of the Year albums