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List of best-selling Christmas albums in the United States

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This page shows the best-selling Christmas albums in the United States. It includes artists from all over the world, but it only includes sales in the United States of America.

Prior to March 1, 1991, the only means of tracking sales figures for record albums and singles in the United States was via the certification system of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), based specifically on shipments (less potential returns) on a long-term basis. According to the most recent record album certifications, the holiday album title that has shipped the most copies in the United States is Elvis Presley's 1957 LP Elvis' Christmas Album, which is certified by the RIAA for shipment of 17 million copies in the U.S. (3 million copies of the original 1957 release on RCA Victor Records, plus 10 million copies of a "budget" edition first released by RCA Camden in 1970 and then by Pickwick Records in 1975, and 4 million copies of another RCA reissue titled It's Christmas Time released in 1985).[1]

From March 1, 1991, through the present day, the Nielsen SoundScan tracking system has been more widely used to accurately track sales of record albums and singles at the point of sale (POS) based on inventory bar code scans.

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Best-selling Christmas albums (using RIAA certifications and Nielsen SoundScan sales through December 2023)

In November 2016, Billboard has compiled a list of the top ten selling Christmas albums, using both RIAA certification information and actual point-of-sale data from Nielsen SoundScan. For albums released before SoundScan started collecting data in 1991, Billboard used their RIAA certification to determine sales.[2] As of December 8th, 2023, Mariah Carey's "Merry Christmas" certified 9,000,000 album sales in the United States.[3]

  1. Elvis's Christmas Album (1970 version) / Elvis Presley ~ 10,000,000[2]
  2. Merry Christmas / Mariah Carey ~ 9,000,000[3]
  3. Miracles: The Holiday Album / Kenny G ~ 7,370,000[2]
  4. The Christmas Song / Nat King Cole ~ 6,000,000[2]
  5. Mannheim Steamroller Christmas / Mannheim Steamroller ~ 6,000,000[2]
  6. A Fresh Aire Christmas / Mannheim Steamroller ~ 6,000,000[2]
  7. Noël / Josh Groban ~ 5,890,000[2]
  8. These Are Special Times / Celine Dion ~ 5,440,000[2]
  9. A Christmas Album / Barbra Streisand ~ 5,370,000[2]
  10. Merry Christmas / Johnny Mathis ~ 5,240,000[2]
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Best-selling Christmas albums from Nielsen SoundScan tracking data (through December 1, 2014)

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This is a list of the 25 best-selling Christmas albums of the Nielsen SoundScan era in the United States for cumulative sales as tracked by Nielsen SoundScan through December 1, 2014.[4] Nielsen Music began tracking sales data for Billboard on March 1, 1991. As of December 8th, 2023, Mariah Carey's "Merry Christmas" certified 9,000,000 album sales in the United States[3]

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

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This is an incomplete list of the best-selling Christmas albums in the United States based on shipment certification by the RIAA. This list provides a more complete representation of the best-selling Christmas albums in history, as it includes those released well before the Nielsen/SoundScan era of music sales.

More information Year of Release, Artist(s) ...
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Best-selling Christmas albums by year

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In 1963, Billboard magazine began publishing a special weekly sales charts for Christmas album sales named "Christmas Albums" for three to four weeks during each holiday season. Titles that appeared on these charts were excluded from the regular Billboard 200 album sales charts. These special, year-end "Christmas Albums" charts were published from 1963 to 1973. The chart was discontinued from 1974 to 1982, when holiday titles were once again included in the regular Billboard 200 chart. "Christmas Albums" started up again in 1983 and appeared each year until 1985 (during these three years, holiday titles were eligible for inclusion on the weekly Billboard 200 chart). It was discontinued in 1986, but resumed in 1987 under the name "Christmas Albums". In 2000, the chart was renamed to "Top Holiday Albums" and has been published by Billboard each year since. Billboard's special Christmas albums sales charts have varied in size over the years, from a low of 5 chart positions to a high of 117 chart positions.[7]

1940s

  • The best-selling Christmas album of 1945 was Merry Christmas, by Bing Crosby.
  • The best-selling Christmas album of 1946 was Merry Christmas, by Bing Crosby.
  • The best-selling Christmas album of 1947 was Merry Christmas, by Bing Crosby.
  • The best-selling Christmas album of 1948 was Merry Christmas, by Bing Crosby.
  • The best-selling Christmas album of 1949 was Merry Christmas, by Bing Crosby.

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

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See also

References

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