List of best-selling Christmas albums in the United States facts for kids

Christmas music is a big part of the holiday season! This page is all about the best-selling Christmas albums in the United States. It lists albums from artists around the world, but it only counts how many copies were sold in the United States of America.

For a long time, before March 1, 1991, the only way to track how many albums were sold in the U.S. was through a system called RIAA certification. This system looked at how many albums were shipped to stores, not how many were actually bought by people.

The most successful holiday album ever, based on RIAA certifications, is Elvis Presley's Elvis' Christmas Album from 1957. It has shipped an amazing 17 million copies in the U.S.! This includes sales of the original album and later re-releases.

Since March 1, 1991, a new system called Nielsen SoundScan has been used. This system is much more accurate because it tracks actual sales at stores when people buy the albums. It uses bar codes to count every sale.

Top Christmas Albums: RIAA and SoundScan Sales

In November 2016, Billboard magazine made a list of the top ten best-selling Christmas albums. They used both the old RIAA certification numbers and the newer Nielsen SoundScan sales data. For albums released before SoundScan started in 1991, they used the RIAA certifications.

As of December 2023, Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas album has sold 9 million copies in the U.S.

Here are some of the top-selling Christmas albums:

1. Elvis's Christmas Album (1970 version) by Elvis Presley ~ 10,000,000 copies
2. Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey ~ 9,000,000 copies
3. Miracles: The Holiday Album by Kenny G ~ 7,370,000 copies
4. The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole ~ 6,000,000 copies
5. Mannheim Steamroller Christmas by Mannheim Steamroller ~ 6,000,000 copies
6. A Fresh Aire Christmas by Mannheim Steamroller ~ 6,000,000 copies
7. Noël by Josh Groban ~ 5,890,000 copies
8. These Are Special Times by Celine Dion ~ 5,440,000 copies
9. A Christmas Album by Barbra Streisand ~ 5,370,000 copies
10. Merry Christmas by Johnny Mathis ~ 5,240,000 copies

Top Christmas Albums: Nielsen SoundScan Sales

This list shows the 25 best-selling Christmas albums since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales on March 1, 1991. This data goes up to December 1, 2014.

As of December 8, 2023, Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas album has sold 9,000,000 copies in the United States.

Here are some of the top sellers from the SoundScan era:

1. Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey ~ 9,000,000 copies
2. Miracles: The Holiday Album by Kenny G ~ 7,310,000 copies
3. Noël by Josh Groban ~ 5,710,000 copies
4. These Are Special Times by Celine Dion ~ 5,310,000 copies
5. Christmas in the Aire by Mannheim Steamroller ~ 3,740,000 copies
6. A Fresh Aire Christmas by Mannheim Steamroller ~ 3,660,000 copies
7. Mannheim Steamroller Christmas by Mannheim Steamroller ~ 3,500,000 copies
8. Now That's What I Call Christmas! by various artists ~ 3,480,000 copies
9. Christmas Eve and Other Stories by Trans-Siberian Orchestra ~ 3,430,000 copies
10. A Charlie Brown Christmas by Vince Guaraldi Trio ~ 3,410,000 copies
11. Christmas by Michael Bublé ~ 3,390,000 copies
12. When My Heart Finds Christmas by Harry Connick, Jr. ~ 3,150,000 copies
13. My Christmas by Andrea Bocelli ~ 3,010,000 copies
14. Christmas Extraordinaire by Mannheim Steamroller ~ 2,920,000 copies
15. Home for Christmas by *NSYNC ~ 2,760,000 copies
16. Faith: A Holiday Album by Kenny G ~ 2,750,000 copies
17. Beyond the Season by Garth Brooks ~ 2,650,000 copies
18. Home for Christmas by Amy Grant ~ 2,540,000 copies
19. A Very Special Christmas by various artists ~ 2,520,000 copies
20. The Lost Christmas Eve by Trans-Siberian Orchestra ~ 2,380,000 copies
21. A Very Special Christmas 2 by various artists ~ 2,200,000 copies
22. The Gift by Susan Boyle ~ 2,180,000 copies
23. Christmas Portrait by The Carpenters ~ 1,950,000 copies
24. White Christmas by Bing Crosby ~ 1,950,000 copies
25. The Christmas Album by Neil Diamond ~ 1,910,000 copies

Christmas Albums by RIAA Certification

This list shows many of the best-selling Christmas albums in the U.S. based on how many copies the RIAA has certified as shipped. This includes albums from before the SoundScan era, giving us a fuller picture of Christmas music history.

Top Christmas Albums by Year

Billboard magazine started publishing special weekly sales charts just for Christmas albums in 1963. These charts were called "Christmas Albums" and ran for a few weeks during the holiday season. Albums on these special charts were not included in the regular Billboard 200 album sales charts.

This special chart was used from 1963 to 1973. It stopped for a while, from 1974 to 1982, when holiday albums were put back on the main Billboard 200 chart. The "Christmas Albums" chart came back from 1983 to 1985. It stopped again in 1986 but returned in 1987, still called "Christmas Albums." In 2000, it was renamed "Top Holiday Albums" and has been published every year since. The size of this chart has changed over the years, from as few as 5 spots to as many as 117!

Here are some of the best-selling Christmas albums for certain years:

1940s and 1950s

• From 1945 to 1950, the best-selling Christmas album was Merry Christmas by Bing Crosby.
• In 1957, Elvis' Christmas Album by Elvis Presley was the top seller.
• In 1958 and 1959, Christmas Sing-Along with Mitch by Mitch Miller & the Gang was number one.

1960s and 1970s

• In 1960 and 1961, Mitch Miller & the Gang's Christmas albums continued to be popular.
• In 1963 and 1964, The Andy Williams Christmas Album by Andy Williams was the best-seller.
• In 1970 and 1972, The Jackson 5 Christmas Album by The Jackson 5 was very popular.
• In 1975, Rocky Mountain Christmas by John Denver was the top album.
• In 1978, Christmas Portrait by The Carpenters was the best-selling Christmas album.

1980s and 1990s

• In 1981 and 1983, Christmas by Kenny Rogers was the top seller.
• In 1984, Once Upon a Christmas by Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton was number one.
• In 1988 and 1991, A Fresh Aire Christmas by Mannheim Steamroller was a top seller.
• In 1994 and 1996, Miracles: The Holiday Album by Kenny G was the best-selling holiday album.
• In 1998, These Are Special Times by Celine Dion was the top holiday album.

2000s and 2010s

• In 2001 and 2002, Now That's What I Call Christmas! by various artists was the best-selling holiday album.
• In 2007 and 2008, Noël by Josh Groban was number one.
• In 2011, Christmas by Michael Bublé was the top holiday album.
• From 2014 to 2016, That's Christmas to Me and A Pentatonix Christmas by Pentatonix were very popular.

More Information

• Billboard Christmas Holiday Charts
• Christmas music
• List of best-selling Christmas singles in the United States