If you think of the ’90s as a decade ago, you are heartbreakingly wrong. 10 years ago is exactly 2011. So yeah, we’re flying through time and it hurts. We’ve compiled below the top best-selling Christmas albums for each year of the last decade starting 2010 up to 2019. Grab a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the Holiday Spirit! Ho Ho Ho! Note: the albums are classified in chronological order.
10. The Gift by Susan Boyle, 2010
Released on 8 November 2010, Susan Boyle’s The Gift got its start at number one on both the British and American album charts and received a nomination at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. In US alone the album sold more than 318,000 copies in its first week, topping itself in the second week with 335,000 sold copies. And to think that until 2009 nobody knew of the Scottish singer until she appeared on Britain’s Got Talent.
9. Christmas by Michael Bublé, 2011
The Canadian-Italian singer released Christmas in 2011 becoming Buble’s most successful album with more than 12 million copies sold globally. The album also won a Juno Award for Album of the Year, making it the first holiday album to win the award in 2011. In its first week of release, the album sold 141,000 copies, further climbing to a whopping 479,000 copies in its third week. For the entire year, Christmas sold over 2,452,000 copies in the US.
8. Merry Christmas, Baby by Rod Stewart, 2012
Released on October 30th 2012, Merry Christmas, Baby is certified Platinum by the RIAA with more than 1 million copies sold within the US. The album debuted 3rd on the Billboard album chart, with sales of 117,000 copies in its first week. The total year sales reached 858,000 copies in US and 2.6 million worldwide. For Gen Z, Rod Stewart is a British Pop Rock star born in 1945 known for his distinctive voice timbre who sold over 250 million records worldwide.
7. Wrapped in Red by Kelly Clarkson, 2013
Released on October 25th, 2013, Wrapped In Red is a neat departure from the songstress’ usual go-to genre of Pop Rock. The 16 tracks feature Pop, Jazz, Country, and Soul. Clarkson’s album also debuted at number 3 on Billboard having sold over 70,000 copies in its first week and peaked during Thanksgiving week having sold 131,000 copies. And while decidedly lower in sales than previous years’ Christmas albums, Wrapped In Red stayed in the top ten of the Billboard 200 for nine consecutive weeks, the most by any studio album by Clarkson.
6. That’s Christmas to Me by Pentatonix, 2014
The acapella group’s 3rd studio album debuted on October 21st, 2014. The project peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified double platinum by the RIAA. By the end of the same year the album had sold a total of 1.14 million copies, becoming only the 4th album to sell a million copies in 2014 in any genre (streaming services peaking up anyone?) The album is also the highest-charting holiday album by a group since 1962’s Mitch Miller & The Gang.
5. That’s Christmas to Me by Pentatonix, 2015
Nope, not an error. The acapella group reigned high the following year with the same album having crossed over from 2014 to 2015 with their charts, marketing, promotion, appearances. As a matter of fact, the album has sold 2,200,000 copies in the US as of December 2016. For the year of 2015, That’s Christmas To Me peaked at number 2 for US Catalog Albums (Billboard) and number 12 for US Digital Albums (Billboard).
4. A Pentatonix Christmas by Pentatonix, 2016
So apparently Pentatonix figured out how to hijack the Holiday Charts having yet again scored the highest-selling Christmas album of 2016. A Pentatonix Christmas debuted at number 3 on Billboard with 52,000 albums sold in its first week and succeeded in charting at number one having sold 206,000 units in its best week. It was reported in November 2017 that the album sold 1,400,000 copies worldwide.
3. Christmas with Elvis and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 2017
While we do like Pentatonix, we’re glad to hear something different for once on the list. Released on October 6, 2017, Christmas with Elvis is the 3rd album recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The album features archival vocal recordings of Elvis from the albums Elvis’ Christmas Album (1957) and Elvis sings The Wonderful World of Christmas (1971). The project debuted at number one on the Billboard Classical Albums chart. On December 8, 2017, the BPI issued the album with a Silver award for sales in excess of 60.000 copies. On December 22nd, 2017, the BPI upgraded the album to a Gold certification, reflecting sales of over 100.000 copies in UK alone.
2. Christmas is Here by Pentatonix, 2018
These guys are inescapable. Back with yet another Christmas album, Pentatonix peaked at number 1 on the US Top Holiday Albums for 2018, number 18 on the Canadian Albums Billboard chart, and number 7 on the US Billboard 200 for the same year. While we couldn’t find exactly how many copies the album sold, by all industry standards and chart positions, Christmas Is Here was the top Holiday album of 2018.
1. The Best of Pentatonix Christmas by Pentatonix, 2019
Jesus. Did any other singer/ group/ band/ orchestra in history top the Holiday charts for 5 years of the same decade??? Yes, this is the 5h time we see Pentatonix on this list. So essentially, the acapella group owned the Holiday spirit for the duration of the 2010s. Released on October 25th, 2019, the compilation album is based on a mix of hits between the previous projects and an additional four new songs: Do You Hear What I Hear?, God Only Knows, Joyful, Joyful, and You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. The weirdest coincidence too as The Best of Pentatonix Christmas repeated their previous album’s success at the exact same chart positions: 1 on the US Top Holiday Albums for 2019 and 7 on US Billboard 200.
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