Pick a Day

Music History Events: Christmas

October 30, 2001 Barbra Streisand releases Christmas Memories.

November 20, 2000 Aretha Franklin, Snoop Dogg, and Brian McKnight are among the performers who take part in the third annual "Soul Train" Christmas Starfest at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The show features top R&B artists performing holiday favorites.

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.

December 22, 1993 Vince Gill meets Amy Grant when she appears on his televised Christmas special, where they duet on "Tennessee Christmas." Sparks fly, but they're both married. They grow closer over the next few years and start dating in 1999 after both are divorced; in 2000 they wed.

November 25, 1984 In London, Bono, George Michael, Phil Collins, Jody Watley, Simon Le Bon 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 28, 1979 The Kate Bush Christmas Special, also known as Kate, airs on the BBC. The singer performs songs from her first three albums and introduces the holiday tune "December Will Be Magic Again." Peter Gabriel guest stars, singing "Here Comes The Flood" and, with Bush, a duet of Roy Harper's "Another Day."

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. An anti-war Christmas song with the chorus "War is over, if you want it," the song endures as a holiday favorite.

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."

August 4, 1942 The movie Holiday Inn premieres in New York, introducing Bing Crosby's holiday classic "White 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.