Santa Tell Me

"Santa Tell Me" is a Christmas song by American singer-songwriter Ariana Grande. It was released by Republic Records on November 24, 2014, and was included on the Japanese exclusive reissue of Grande's first EP '' Christmas Kisses'' (2013), as well as a "naughty version" on Grande's second EP '' Christmas & Chill'' (2015). The song was written by Grande, Savan Kotecha, and Ilya Salmanzadeh, who also served as its producer.

"Santa Tell Me" has become a modern Christmas standard, with a significant rise in popularity every Christmas season. It became the first holiday song released in the 21st century to reach the top five in the United States when it peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2024, ten years after it was originally released. It has reached the top ten in numerous other countries worldwide, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as well as the top 20 in Belgium, Croatia, Ireland, Malaysia and the Philippines. On the ''Billboard'' Global 200 chart, "Santa Tell Me" additionally peaked at number five.

The music video for the single was directed by Chris Marrs Piliero and was released on Grande's official Vevo on December 12, 2014. The song received its first performance at the 2014 ''A Very Grammy Christmas'' concert in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on November 18, 2014.

Background

Grande released her first Christmas EP titled '' Christmas Kisses'' on December 17, 2013. The extended play had a total of 4 songs, and included covers of classics, such as " Santa Baby" and Wham!'s " Last Christmas". It also contained two original songs: "Love Is Everything" and "Snow in California".

"Santa Tell Me" was first mentioned by Grande on October 28, 2014, in a livestream through Twitcam. In the livestream, she said that she didn't want to do a Christmas song at first, but she changed her mind. Grande also announced that a music video would accompany "Santa Tell Me", and that this song was her favorite Christmas song out of all of the ones she had recorded so far.

She officially announced the song and its title on her Twitter page on November 13, 2014, saying, "putting out a kewt Christmas song for u on nov 24th called Santa Tell Me! lil something for the holidays :) so excited #10DaysTilSantaTellMe." It was also released to US mainstream radio.

Promotion and release

Grande used the hashtag #10DaysTilSantaTellMe on Twitter to initiate the 10-day countdown of the song's release. She also performed the song for the first time on November 18, 2014, at the 2014 ''A Very Grammy Christmas'' concert in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA. On November 18, Republic Records released the cover art of the song, which depicts a simple light pink background with "Santa Tell Me" written in the middle in golden script. On November 21, Republic Records also released a 15-second snippet of "Santa Tell Me" through their Instagram page; the preview contained part of the chorus. Grande tweeted the last hashtag on November 23, #SantaTellMeTonight. She also posted the iTunes link of the song, which was then available for pre-order.

"Santa Tell Me" was released at midnight on November 24 on iTunes. The audio was also uploaded to Grande's official YouTube channel, ArianaGrandeVevo on November 24. Shortly after its release, the lyric video was uploaded to Vevo on November 26. It contains various photos of Grande from her childhood during Christmas.

Composition

"Santa Tell Me" is a Christmas song with influences of pop and R&B. It is written in the key of G major. Grande's vocals range from the low note of B₃ to the high note of A₅. Lyrically, the song features the protagonist asking Santa Claus to tell her if her new lover "really cares", and whether he will leave her like men in her past have.

Songwriters Savan Kotecha and ILYA wanted to write a Christmas song and the idea for "Santa Tell Me" came to Kotecha when he was taking a shower. In an interview with Songwriting Magazine, he said, "I was in the shower in LA and it just came into my head. I have the voice note somewhere. I just stepped out of the shower, got water all over the phone and I recorded it." The pair then swapped ideas before Grande came in and helped finish the song.

Critical reception

Robbie Daw of '' Idolator'' opined that "Santa Tell Me" was a "cute, harmless stocking stuffer that ticks all the necessary boxes, in that there's classic instrumentation, a hummable chorus and lyrics that reflect a mixture of the festive season with the possibility of heartbreak at the holidays", while Brian Mansfield of ''USA Today'' compared the song unfavorably to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You", stating that it fell short in its attempt at becoming a "seasonal staple".

''Billboard'' placed "Santa Tell Me" at number 13 on their "The 100 Best Christmas Songs of All Time" list. It is the highest-ranking song on the list among those released in the 21st century.

Commercial performance

"Santa Tell Me" has recurrently charted in several nations every year since its original release in 2014. In the United States, "Santa Tell Me" debuted at number 65 on the weekly US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated December 13, 2014, and reached number 42 in its original run. Six years later, "Santa Tell Me" re-entered the Hot 100 at a new high of number 39 on the chart issue dated December 19, 2020, earning Grande her 35th top 40 entry of her career. It has since peaked at number 5, becoming Grande's 23rd top 10 hit and 17th top 5 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song is the most recently released Christmas hit to reach the top ten of the Hot 100 and is tied with Kelly Clarkson's " Underneath the Tree" as the first songs of the 21st century to do so. It is the sole holder of the most recently released holiday song to reach the top 5. The song also peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart on the week ending December 27, 2014. It also topped the ''Billboard'' Holiday 100 chart on the week ending January 10, 2015, becoming only the third song, and second by a female artist, to do so since the chart's inception in 2010. As of 2024, it has been certified 4× Platinum for having sold 4 million units in the United States. On the ''Billboard'' Global 200, which tracks the most streamed and digitally sold songs in over 200 territories, "Santa Tell Me" peaked at number five, becoming Grande's third top-ten hit on the chart.

In Canada, "Santa Tell Me" debuted at number 73 on the Canadian Hot 100, eventually reaching a peak of number 27 in its first chart run. The track re-entered the Canadian Hot 100 chart, and has since attained a new peak of number eight in 2020, becoming Grande's 19th top ten hit in the country.

In the United Kingdom, "Santa Tell Me" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 79 for the week of December 6, 2014, originally peaking at number 68 three weeks later. In 2015, it failed to re-enter the charts; however, in 2016, the song reached number 90. In 2017, it was among many other holiday songs (such as " Driving Home for Christmas" and " Step into Christmas") reaching new chart peaks in the UK by re-entering the UK Singles Chart at number 60, and climbing to an even higher position of number 29 the following week. It eventually reached number 13 on the week of December 28, 2018, attaining the same position once again the following year (in December 2019). In November 2023, "Santa Tell Me" re-entered the UK Singles Chart for an eighth consecutive year, reaching an overall peak position of number 8 in late December. With over 220 million plays, "Santa Tell Me" is also the eighth most played Christmas track in the United Kingdom. It is the highest-placed modern Christmas song present in the top forty and the most streamed Christmas track in the United Kingdom released since 2010.

Legacy

"Santa Tell Me" has been dubbed a modern Christmas standard for its popularity in music streaming services throughout the years during the Christmas season. In a report published by ASCAP, "Santa Tell Me" was listed as the most-performed new and original holiday song in their repertoire in the years 2014, 2015, and 2021. Georgia Evans and Ella Doyle from '' Time Out'' discussed how Grande managed to create a Christmas ''mega-hit'' and how "she came closer than almost any other pop star in the 30-ish years since "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in terms of success. By early December 2023, the song had earned $6.8 million in royalties. In 2024, ''American Songwriter'' described "Santa Tell Me" as the fourth-highest-earning Christmas song "of the streaming age" as it had been streamed more than 239 million times and had earned its songwriters $959,000.

Due to the song's lasting impact, Grande has been named "Princess of Christmas". As of December 2024, "Santa Tell Me" was one of the 10 most-streamed Christmas songs of all-time and the most-streamed Christmas song of the 2010s decade on streaming platform Spotify.

The song was included in ''Billboard'''s revision of their Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs at 19th position while ''Cosmopolitan'' picked "Santa Tell Me" as one of the 75 best Christmas songs of all time. Due to the song being internationally popular during the Christmas season, it has been covered multiple times by various artists, such as Pentatonix, Nayeon from Twice and Jessica Vosk.

Music video

The official video was released on December 12, 2014. It was directed by Alfredo Flores and Jones Crow. The video features Grande with her friends dancing, laughing and giving gifts around her house along with a two-minute outtake section at the end. It surpassed 100 million views on November 26, 2016, making it Grande's fourteenth Vevo-certified music video after " Let Me Love You".

Live performances

Grande first performed "Santa Tell Me" on November 18, 2014, at the ''A Very Grammy Christmas'' concert in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The concert aired on December 5, 2014, on CBS. She also performed "Santa Tell Me" as part of the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour 2014. On December 8, 2014, Grande performed the song while taping the Disney Parks Frozen Christmas Celebration TV special which aired on Christmas Day. The song was added to the setlist of the second North American leg of Grande's Sweetener World Tour, along with "December", "True Love", "Wit It This Christmas" and "Winter Things". On December 23, 2024, Grande released a live performance to YouTube to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the song.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

* List of popular Christmas singles in the United States

References

External links

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{{Ariana Grande songs

Songs about Santa Claus
2014 songs
2014 singles
American Christmas songs
Ariana Grande songs
Music videos directed by Chris Marrs Piliero
Songs written by Ariana Grande
Songs written by Ilya Salmanzadeh
Songs written by Savan Kotecha
Song recordings produced by Ilya Salmanzadeh
Swedish Christmas songs
Republic Records singles