Seal, Gwen Stefani, 98 Degrees & Mariah Carey Add Holiday Hits to AC Chart
Also jingling in: Russell Watson, Five for Fighting & Lindsey Stirling.
Following Thanksgiving, seven more Christmas-themed carols debut on Billboard‘s Adult Contemporary airplay chart (dated Dec. 9), bringing the current total of seasonal songs on the 30-position survey to 11.
Seal‘s “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” bows (boughs?) at No. 18, followed by Gwen Stefani‘s “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” (No. 19); Russell Watson‘s “Do You Hear What I Hear” (No. 21); Five for Fighting‘s “Christmas Where You Are,” featuring Jim Brickman (No. 24); 98 Degrees‘ “Season of Love” (No. 25); Mariah Carey‘s “The Star” (No. 28); and Lindsey Stirling‘s “Christmas C’mon,” featuring Becky G (No. 29).
Notably, 98 Degrees land their first AC chart hit since 2001, while Christmas queen Carey decorates the list for the first time since 2014, and with her fourth holiday entry: “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hit No. 6 in 1994-95; “Oh Santa!” reigned for four weeks in 2010-11; and “All I Want for Christmas Is You (SuperFestive!),” with Justin Bieber, reached No. 3 in 2011.
Meanwhile, the four seasonal songs that started on the Dec. 2 AC chart all dash up the tally: Sia‘s “Santa’s Coming for Us” (19-6); Kelly Clarkson‘s “Christmas Eve” (21-10, marking her 15th top 10); Josh Groban‘s cover of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (23-12); and actress-singer Jane Lynch‘s “A Swingin’ Little Christmas,” featuring Kate Flannery and Tim Davis (28-16).
The Adult Contemporary chart measures total weekly plays, as tabulated by Nielsen Music, among its reporting panel of 84 AC stations.
Each year, even before Thanksgiving, much of the AC panel begins transitioning to playing holiday music 24/7 through Christmas, a trend that began around the early 2000s. Since then, 20 seasonal songs have topped the AC chart (with newly released holiday titles or those being promoted to the format for the first time eligible for the survey).
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