Wonderful Christmastime

"Wonderful Christmas Time" redirects here. For Diana Ross' 2018 Christmas album reissue, see A Very Special Season.

"Wonderful Christmastime" is a Christmas song by the English musician Paul McCartney. Recorded during the sessions for his solo album McCartney II (1980), it was released as a single in November 1979 following Wings' final album Back to the Egg earlier that year. It was McCartney's first solo single in over eight years since "Eat at Home" in 1971. "Wonderful Christmastime" has charted within the top 10 in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom as well as the top 20 in Canada, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland. It is a popular song during the Christmas season^[1] and has been covered throughout the years by numerous artists.

"Wonderful Christmastime"
Single by Paul McCartney
B-side	"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae (Instrumental)"
Released	16 November 1979 (1979-11-16)
Recorded	30 August 1979
Studio	Lower Gate Farm (Sussex)
Genre	Christmas synth-pop
Length	3:45 4:18 (unedited version)
Label	Parlophone Columbia
Songwriter	Paul McCartney
Producer	Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney singles chronology
"Eat at Home" (1971) "Wonderful Christmastime" (1979) "Coming Up" (1980)
Music video
"Wonderful Christmastime" on YouTube

"Wonderful Christmastime" was added as a bonus track on the 1993 CD reissue of Back to the Egg^[2] and on the 2011 "Special Edition" and "Deluxe Edition" reissues of McCartney II; a longer, unedited version was also included on the Deluxe Edition. The track was also mixed into 5.1 surround sound for inclusion on the 2007 DVD release The McCartney Years.

Background and recording

McCartney wrote the song in the key of B major, and recorded it entirely on his own during the sessions for his solo project McCartney II. Although the members of Wings are not on the recording, they do appear in the promotional music video,^[3] which was filmed at the Fountain Inn in Ashurst, West Sussex.^[4] It also includes footage filmed at the Hippodrome Theatre in Eastbourne, where McCartney and Wings rehearsed their 1979 UK tour. ^{[citation needed]} Wings performed the song during every show of the tour.^[5]

Reception and legacy

Following its release as a stand-alone single in the United Kingdom, "Wonderful Christmastime" peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart on the week ending 5 January 1980.^[6] In the United States, the single peaked at number 83 on the Cash Box Top 100 chart (week ending 12 January 1980) and at number 94 on the Record World Singles Chart (week ending 29 December 1979), but it did not initially make the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[7]

In the US, "Wonderful Christmastime" first appeared on a Billboard magazine music chart in December 1984, when it peaked at number 10 for two straight weeks on the magazine's special Christmas Singles chart.^[8] Its next appearance on a Billboard music came on the week ending 6 January 1996, when the song both debuted and peaked at number 29 on the magazine's weekly Hot Adult Contemporary chart.^[8] "Wonderful Christmastime" finally debuted on the main Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 2018, at position number 47.^[9] It peaked at number 26 on the week ending 6 January 2024.^[10]

"Wonderful Christmastime" continues to receive substantial annual festive airplay, although some music critics consider it to be one of McCartney's mediocre compositions.^[11][12][13] Beatles author Robert Rodriguez has written of "Wonderful Christmastime": "Love it or hate it, few songs within the McCartney oeuvre have provoked such strong reactions."^[12]

Including royalties from cover versions, it was estimated in 2010 that McCartney makes $400,000 USD a year from this song, which puts its cumulative earnings at over $15 million USD.^[14]

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, guitars, bass, drums, percussion, jingle bells, production

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Wonderful Christmastime"

Chart (1979–2025)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[15]	23
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[16]	10
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[17]	26
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[18]	17
Croatia International Airplay (Top lista)[19]	16
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[20]	43
Denmark (Tracklisten)[21]	30
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[22]	67
France (SNEP)[23]	151
Germany (GfK)[24]	7
Global 200 (Billboard)[25]	15
Hungary (Single Top 40)[26]	25
Hungary (Stream Top 40)[27]	8
Ireland (IRMA)[28]	8
Italy (FIMI)[29]	68
Latvia (LaIPA)[30]	10
Lithuania (AGATA)[31]	25
Luxembourg (Billboard)[32]	17
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[33]	10
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[34]	23
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[35]	35
Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)[36]	26
Portugal (AFP)[37]	34
Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[38]	32
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[39]	13
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[40]	15
UK Singles (OCC)[41]	6
US Billboard Hot 100[10]	26
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[42]	29
US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[43]	32
US Holiday 100 (Billboard)[44]	15
US Cash Box Top 100[45]	83
US Rolling Stone Top 100[46]	21

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[47]	Gold	35,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[48]	Platinum	90,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[49]	Platinum	600,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[50]	Platinum	30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[51]	3× Platinum	1,800,000‡
Streaming
Greece (IFPI Greece)[52] 2011 remaster	Gold	1,000,000†
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

Kylie Minogue version

"Wonderful Christmastime"
Single by Kylie Minogue and Mika
from the album Kylie Christmas: Snow Queen Edition
Released	9 December 2016 (2016-12-09)
Recorded	2016
Studio	Angel Recording Studios (London, England)[53] Sarm Music Village (London, England)[53]
Genre	Christmas
Length	3:43
Label	Parlophone
Songwriter	Paul McCartney
Producer	Steve Anderson
Kylie Minogue singles chronology
"At Christmas" (2016) "Wonderful Christmastime" (2016) "Dancing" (2018)
Mika singles chronology
"Hurts (Remix)" (2016) "Wonderland Christmastime" (2016) "It's My House" (2017)
Audio video
"Wonderful Christmastime" on YouTube

Australian singer Kylie Minogue and British singer-songwriter Mika covered the song for Minogue's reissue Kylie Christmas: Snow Queen Edition (2016). The song was released as the album's second single on 9 December 2016 by Parlophone.^[54]

The song was performed on 6 December 2016 by Minogue and Mika on the Italian programme Stasera Casa Mika.^[55]

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[56]	23

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label	Ref.
Italy	9 December 2016	Contemporary hit radio	Warner Music Group	[54]

Other cover versions

• Diana Ross on the 1994 album A Very Special Season which reached No. 37 in the UK and was certified Gold.^{[citation needed]}
• Hilary Duff in 2002 on her debut album Santa Claus Lane.^[57]
• Jars of Clay, on its 2007 Christmas Songs album, released the song as a single.^{[citation needed]}
• 2013: The a cappella group Straight No Chaser (with Paul McCartney) on their EP Under the Influence: Holiday Edition^[58]
• 2018: The Monkees Christmas Party (sung by Micky Dolenz)
• 2023: Blessing Offor, and later released on the Snow Globe EP. It hit No. 1 Billboard Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts.^{[citation needed]}