Christmas comes but once a year, and the music does too. And as much as we love the classic carols and songs that play on our speakers during the yuletide season, those tracks regularly receive a musical facelift by new artists recording their versions to great effect.
As Mariah Carey continues her holiday reign on the Billboard Hot 100, with Wham! close behind her, Billboard looks at recent covers of seasonal favorites. Across all genres – from hip-hop, R&B, country, pop and heavy metal to Broadway-style revivals and a show-choir showcase – there’s plenty of merrymaking cheer to go round.
Destiny’s Child, Love Actually star Olivia Olson, Sufjan Stevens, Twisted Sister, Josh Groban, Faith Hill, the Glee cast, Michael Bublé, She & Him, Justin Bieber, Kelly Clarkson, Kylie Minogue, Kacey Musgraves, Pentatonix, John Legend, Lea Michele, Cynthia Erivo, Alicia Keys and even the Kelce brothers all make the cut here.
(And sadly, *NSYNC released Home for Christmas in 1998, making their tracks ineligible — but their a cappella take on “O Holy Night” is certainly a standout. Other favorite non-originals from the 20th century include Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band’s “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” and Carey’s delightful take on Darlene Love’s “Christmas Baby (Please Come Home).”)
Scroll through the 18 best covers of Christmas songs from the 21st century, ranked, below. And for more, check out the best new Christmas songs of the 21st century so far, the 100 greatest holiday songs of all time, the hot holiday songs chart and every holiday song that jingled its way to the top of the hot 100.
Justin Bieber, “Drummer Boy” feat. Busta Rhymes
Album: Under the Mistletoe
Year: 2011
Original Artist: The Trapp Family
Would Biebs attend the birth of Jesus with Busta in tow and rap for the son of God? It’s an interesting concept.
Twisted Sister, “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”
Album: A Twisted Christmas
Year: 2006
Original Artist: Traditional carol
Bang your head to this metal twist by Dee Snider and company.
She & Him, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
Album: A Very She & Him Christmas
Year: 2011
Original Artist: Lynn Garland and Frank Loesser
Zooey Deschanel flaunted her vocals on the flirty back-and-forth in a scene from Elf in 2003. It makes sense that her duo with M. Ward recorded the sometimes controversial tune for their folky Christmas LP.
Faith Hill, “Holly Jolly Christmas”
Album: Joy to the World
Year: 2008
Original Artist: The Quinto Sisters, but most famously Burl Ives
Hill’s Nashville sensibilities work perfectly for “Holly Jolly Christmas,” made famous as “A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Ives in the Rankin-Bass special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Destiny’s Child, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Album: 8 Days of Christmas
Year: 2001
Original Artist: Gene Autry
The most famous reindeer of all gets an R&B makeover by Beyoncé, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland.
Glee Cast, “Last Christmas”
Album: Glee, The Music: The Christmas Album
Year: 2010
Original Artist: Wham!
As Rachel (Lea Michele) and Finn (the late Cory Monteith) reckon with their relationship in the second season of Glee, the pair trades bars with a bittersweet tension.
Alicia Keys, “Christmas Time Is Here”
Album: Santa Baby
Year: 2022
Original Artist: Vince Guaraldi
Keys turns the jazz joint from A Charlie Brown Christmas into a slinky, sultry present.
Kylie Minogue, “Santa Baby”
Album: Kylie Christmas
Year: 2015
Original Artist: Eartha Kitt
If it’s possible to get sexier than Kitt, the Australian pop icon definitely comes close.
Olivia Olson, “All I Want For Christmas Is You”
Album: Love Actually Soundtrack
Year: 2003
Original Artist: Mariah Carey
It’s hard to best the original, but Olson – then just 10 years old! – gives it her all in the penultimate scenes of the romcom set in London.
Kacey Musgraves, “Christmas Don’t Be Late”
Album: A Very Kacey Christmas
Year: 2016
Original Artist: Alvin and the Chipmunks
Holiday kitsch meets the honky-tonk in Kacey’s sweet and twinkling cover, complete with fiddles and an accordion for good measure.
Kelly Clarkson, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
Album: Wrapped in Red
Year: 2013
Original Artist: Judy Garland
Starting off delicately, Clarkson steps back on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” allowing her voice to build to its sublime belt at the end.
Josh Groban, “O Holy Night”
Album: Noël
Year: 2007
Original Artist: Traditional carol
In soaring and bombastic fashion, Groban’s strong baritone perfectly complements the sacred melody.
Pentatonix, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
Album: A Pentatonix Christmas
Year: 2017
Original Artist: Traditional carol
A feisty a cappella rendering treats the classic like a fast-paced reverie.
Lea Michele, “Angels We Have Heard on High” feat. Cynthia Erivo
Album: Christmas in the City
Year: 2019
Original Artist: Traditional carol
Michele and Erivo blend harmoniously on “Angels,” but just wait for the key change in verse three.
Sufjan Stevens, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
Album: Songs for Christmas
Year: 2006
Original Artist: Traditional hymn
Folksy and simple, Stevens relays a tender but haunting interpretation of the hymnal.
Michael Bublé, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”
Album: Christmas
Year: 2011
Original Artist: Perry Como
With his bellowing croon, Bublé presents a slightly tempered record of the Como standard.
Jason Kelce, Travis Kelce & The Philly Specials, “Fairytale of Philadelphia”
Album: A Philly Special Christmas Special
Year: 2023
Original Artist: The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl (“Fairytale of New York”)
Future NFL hall-of-famers come together for the second of the Philly Specials’ holiday full-lengths for a joyfully boisterous – and certainly gravelly – show of brotherly affection and yes, sometimes annoyance.
John Legend, “Silver Bells”
Album: A Legendary Christmas
Year: 2018
Original Artist: Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell
This glorious big-band rendition lets Legend jazzily pick up the pace in celebration of the season.
