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🎅 The Sound of the Season: New Holiday Albums, All-Time Favorites & More


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Christmas music season is officially here at NWKS Radio – and if it feels like there are more holiday albums every year, you’re not imagining things.


From country to worship to pop and jazz, artists flood November and December with new Christmas projects, while the classics keep ruling the charts and your speakers.


Here’s a listener-friendly look at how big the Christmas-music wave really is, what’s new for 2025, the all-time heavyweights, and why these songs mean so much – plus how NWKS Radio is working more of them into your day.


How many holiday albums drop each year?

There’s no single master list, but a few clues tell the story:


  • Music databases literally file “Christmas albums by year” as a separate category, with sub-categories stretching back to the 1940s – and modern decades have far more entries than the early years. (Wikipedia)

  • Each season, outlets like AP News, KQED, Detroit News, Forever Christmas and worship-music sites all publish their own “best new holiday music” roundups, typically highlighting 8–20 new full-length albums apiece – and they’re very clear that they’re only scratching the surface. (AP News)

  • Critics and historians regularly say there are now “far too many Christmas albums to properly cover” from the 1970s forward. (nodepression.org)


Put together, that means dozens of notable new Christmas albums hit streaming platforms every year, plus hundreds of singles and EPs. 2025 is no exception.

Some standout Christmas albums for 2025

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Different outlets pick different favorites, but a few names keep popping up in 2025 holiday-music coverage: (AP News)


  • “Snow Globe Town” – Brad PaisleyBrand-new country Christmas set with original

    songs and story-song vibes that feel like small-town December.

  • “Christmas in the City” – PentatonixThe a cappella giants are back with fresh arrangements and big harmonies built for holiday playlists and office parties.

  • “Greatest Hits Christmas” – LeAnn RimesCombines highlights from her past holiday records with new duets and updated versions of classics.

  • Anniversary reissue of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” – Vince Guaraldi TrioA 60th-anniversary edition of one of the most beloved jazz Christmas soundtracks of all time – remasters and bonus material invite a new listen.

  • “It’s Christmas” – Eric BenétSmooth R&B Christmas record that leans into soulful originals and candle-lit arrangements.

  • Worship & CCM releases (various artists)Worship-focused lists in 2025 highlight multiple new Christmas projects for church use and personal listening, noting a “rich blend of fresh originals and creative re-imaginations.” (PraiseCharts)


By the time you add indie projects, bilingual releases, and country EPs, you’ve got more new material than any one station – or one listener – can possibly spin in a season.

The all-time heavyweight Christmas albums

When you zoom out beyond just this year, a few albums clearly sit on top of the Christmas mountain.


Billboard’s “Greatest of All Time Top Holiday Albums” and RIAA sales data put these among the most important and best-selling Christmas albums ever: (Billboard)

  • “A Charlie Brown Christmas” – Vince Guaraldi Trio

  • “Christmas” – Michael Bublé

  • “Merry Christmas” – Mariah Carey

  • “Elvis’ Christmas Album” – Elvis Presley

  • “Miracles: The Holiday Album” – Kenny G

  • “The Christmas Song” – Nat King Cole

  • “Mannheim Steamroller Christmas” / “A Fresh Aire Christmas” – Mannheim Steamroller


These records have sold millions of copies, dominated Billboard’s holiday-album charts for decades, and still drive streaming spikes every December.

The top Christmas songs of all time

On the song side, Billboard’s “Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs” and their 100-best list confirm what your ears already suspect: a few tracks completely own the season. (Billboard)



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At the very top:

  1. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” – Mariah Carey

  2. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” – Brenda Lee

  3. “Jingle Bell Rock” – Bobby Helms

  4. “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)” – Nat King Cole

  5. “A Holly Jolly Christmas” – Burl Ives

  6. “Last Christmas” – Wham!


These songs not only rule radio and streaming every December – they’re also some of the most reliable catalog earners in music, year after year. (Soundiiz)


Why is Christmas music such a big deal?

It isn’t just background noise. Research from psychologists, neuroscientists, and the music industry all point to the same core reasons we cling to these songs: (Soundiiz)


  • Nostalgia & memoryChristmas songs are tied to powerful memories – family traditions, childhood mornings, candlelight services, first snowfalls. When we hear them again, our brains light up those old emotional pathways.

  • Mood boost & stress reliefStudies show holiday music can trigger “feel-good” brain chemicals, lowering stress and anxiety for many listeners and creating a sense of warmth and comfort.

  • Shared experienceUnlike a lot of music, Christmas songs are truly cross-generational. Grandparents, parents, and kids often know the same lyrics, which makes singing along in the car or around the tree a built-in bonding moment.

  • Big business (that keeps old songs alive)Christmas music is a surprisingly large niche, estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually in the U.S. alone. Because streaming and radio revive the same songs each year, classic artists from Bing Crosby to Brenda Lee and Mariah Carey see fresh waves of plays and royalties every December.


Put simply: Christmas music is where memory, emotion, tradition, and commerce all collide – in the best possible way.


How NWKS Radio works Christmas music into your day

Here at NWKS Radio, we’re right in the middle of that annual wave.


  • After Thanksgiving, our stations begin mixing Christmas favorites into regular playlists – so you still get your country, rock, and golden hits, just with a little more sleigh bell on top.

  • As we move closer to December 25, you’ll hear more holiday songs sprinkled throughout the day, from the classics above to newer releases from today’s artists.


Whether you’re tuned to

  • 100.3 The Ride,

  • FlyOver Country 97.9,

  • KXXX 790,

  • RockIt 102.5, or

  • 730 Goodland’s Gold KLOE,

you’ll hear a mix of all-time Christmas standards, modern hits, and a few deeper cuts to keep things interesting.


So as the tree goes up, the lights come on, and the leftovers slowly disappear, let NWKS Radio be your soundtrack – from the biggest Christmas songs of all time to this year’s brand-new holiday albums.

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