The beloved Christmas song “A Holly Jolly Christmas” was written by Johnny Marks in 1962 and became most notable when Burl Ives sang it as the narrating snowman in the 1964 stop-motion film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Ives re-recorded the song in 1965 for his holiday album Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The song finally made it to the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time in 2017, reaching a peak position of No. 38. In 2020, it reached its peak position at No. 4 on the chart dated January 4. Artists such as Lady Antebellum and Michael Bublé have both covered the song for their holiday albums. Check out the lyrics to this holiday classic and watch the original recording of it from the fin...
Follow along with the lyrics to Andy William’ 1963 holiday hit. Andy Williams’ 1963 holiday hit “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” returns to the Billboard Hot 100 chart once again at No. 9. The popular track has been covered by artists such as Johnny Mathis, Garth Brooks, Patti LaBelle, Harry Connick Jr. and Pentatonix. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The popular holiday song begins with an energetic intro and features lyrics about warm and cozy winter events including “Parties for hosting/ Marshmallows for toasting/ And caroling out in the snow.” Since its 1963 release, the lovable track has continued to put listeners into a joyful spirit leading up to the holidays. Check out the lyrics below. It’s the most wonderful...
The Nat King Cole Trio recorded “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)” back in 1946 and turned it into a Christmas classic, one year after it was written by Bob Well and Mel Torme. The song is also commonly subtitled as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire,” due to its opening lyrics. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Multiple arrangements of the song have been recorded throughout the years, but the most notable version has to be Cole’s, which includes the warm sounds of a small string section. The lyrics are filled with warm Christmas feelings and sweet holiday imagery, including: “Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe/ Help to make the season bright…Yuletide carols being sung by a choir/ And folks dressed up like Eskimos.” T...
Brenda Lee recorded her hit “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in 1958 when she was only 13 years old. The song didn’t gain traction until Lee rose to fame in 1960, allowing the track to peak at the No. 14 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during that holiday season. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news This year, the song returned to the Hot 100, hitting No. 3 on the all-genre chart dated Dec. 10. Notable artists have recorded their own versions of the song, including Cyndi Lauper, LeAnn Rimes, Toby Keith and, this year, Ingrid Michaelson and Pentatonix for their Christmas albums. The bluesy rock song includes a walking bass line, its famous saxophone solo and, of course, Lee’s raspy yet melodic voice singing the famous lines, “Rockin’ arou...
The opening electric guitar riff followed by the steady beat of jingle bells marks the opening of Bobby Helms’ classic hit “Jingle Bell Rock.” The 1957 track makes reference to other similar-sounding songs, including “Rock Around the Clock” and the original “Jingle Bells.” Helms’ tune made it to the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016, where it peaked at No. 29. It then peaked at No. 3 in 2020. The song, which has a country swing to it, has been covered by many artists in Nashville throughout the years, including George Strait, Rascal Flatts, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton. Check out the lyrics and stream the song below to get into the jingle bell rock groove. Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rockJingle bells swing and jingle bells ringSnowin’ and blowin’ up bushels of funNow the jingl...
As a member of Metallica for nearly 40 years, Kirk Hammett is one of the most accomplished and influential lead guitarists in hard rock. Even so, he’s about to venture into uncharted territory: On April 23, he’ll release Portals (via Blackened Recordings), his debut solo EP. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Part of the reason for Portals is, there’s always been a musical side to me that was much bigger than what people see in Metallica,” Hammett tells Billboard during a phone chat from his Hawaii home. “I’m way into all sorts of music: jazz, blues, country, classical, reggae. I’ve been a music fan for so long, and I’ve learned to play all different sorts of styles. So this is a way for me to show that.” Still, Hammett admits, releasing thi...
After Degradation Trip — which was dedicated to Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley, who died of an overdose at age 34 two months before its release — Cantrell refocused on his main band. Alice in Chains delivered its fourth album, Black Gives Way to Blue, in 2009, followed by 2013’s The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here and 2018’s Rainier Fog. Post-Rainier Fog, Cantrell began assembling the nine tracks on Brighten by revisiting his backlog of songs previously demoed and shelved, fragments of melodies and riffs held over the years, a mix of new songs — and a cover of an Elton John deep cut — and started recording in 2020. “Every record I’ve been in involved in has a couple of ideas that either weren’t in their best form or just didn’t fit with that body of work, and t...
But Spector was different. At the start, on the Teddy Bears’ “To Know Him is To Love Him” — a rephrasing of the epitaph from his father’s gravestone that Spector turned into a Hot 100 No. 1 in 1958 — his sound was not so very far removed from the other recordings of the day, many of which carried the spacious aura of the rooms in which they were cut, investing early rock and pop with the mystical sense that new frontiers were being explored. Eventually though, he recognized how to make that aura the centerpiece of his records. You can hear how he did just that in the very first hit on Philles, the Crystals’ “There’s No Other Like My Baby” from 1962. Built like a rocket with three stages, it begins simply, with bass, guitar and voice rippling outward in stark echo before a piano...
Billboard has compiled a timeline of the all-star hip-hop couple’s relationship, from collaborating on music to filing for divorce. Dec. 2016: Cardi B Teases “Lick” Collaboration With Offset While it is possible that the two never met during recording, the pair were linked nearly a month prior to the Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 2 release. In a since-deleted Instagram post by Cardi B, she danced and made it rain in the club while teasing the collaborative track. Feb. 2017: Super Bowl Date According to a Migos interview with Rolling Stone, Offset admitted that after watching Cardi rise as an artist, he had a publicist set up a dinner in New York with a group of women, including the Bronx rapper in early 2017. “I was like, ‘Damn, I am on her!’ ” h...