How a Wednesday Christmas Turned the Billboard Charts Into Santa’s Playground

(December 31, 2024). Nothing spices up the Billboard charts like a calendar quirk, and this year’s midweek Christmas proved once again that timing is everything — especially when it comes to our annual obsession with holiday music. As predictably as a re-used holiday gift bag, those festive tunes climbed their way back to the top of the Hot 100 — but even more so than before — making 2024 the most Christmas-dominated chart in the 66-year history of Billboard’s signature ranking.

On this week’s Hot 100, every song in the top ten is a holiday tune.  Twice before — in 2020 (“Mood” by 24KGolden featuring Ian Dior) and again last season (“Lovin’ On Me” by Jack Harlow) — the chart was one non-holiday song away from this kind of domination.  But this year, Christmas music seizes the entire top ten — in fact, the entire top 16 — making this Hot 100 the most festive yet.

So how did this holiday season outdo all others in Billboard’s archives?  Blame it on the trade publication’s tracking week.  Like Santa’s sleigh, it runs on a tight schedule — each weekly tracking period begins Friday at 12:00 am and ends Thursday at 11:59 pm — capturing every download, stream, and bit of airplay data in its path.  When Christmas falls on a Wednesday, it supercharges holiday music consumption at exactly the right time. Think of it as the Yuletide equivalent of carb-loading before a marathon — except instead of bagels, we binge on Mariah Carey and Brenda Lee, stopping just before Billboard blows the whistle on another week of musical consumption.

The Magic of a Midweek Christmas

Let’s face it: a Wednesday Christmas is a near-perfect setup for holiday hits.  Sure, a Thursday Christmas would be the ultimate — wrapping up the Billboard week with peak merriment — but we haven’t had one of those since 2014, back when streaming was still in its infancy. That year, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” finally cracked the Hot 100 — after 20 years of existence — entering at a humble No. 50 (and peaking two weeks later at No. 35). Who knew that “little engine that could” would go on to land Mimi as the Queen of Christmas, with 18 cumulative weeks at No. 1 to date (as of the most recent chart), spread over six holiday seasons and counting?

Fast-forward a decade from 2014, and holiday music is no longer just a stocking stuffer — it’s every gift under the Christmas tree!  Streaming has turned our favorite carols into unstoppable juggernauts, dominating the charts like a holiday-themed Game of Thrones, or like a Josh Allen-led NFL offense.  This year, Mariah reclaimed her throne exclusively (no sharing gifts with Brenda Lee), with “All I Want for Christmas Is You” once again at No. 1, leading that record-breaking top 16 entirely made up of Christmas songs.

Chart Toppers and New Heights

This year’s chart didn’t just recycle the usual suspects — it elevated them to new heights.  Wham!’s “Last Christmas” — on the 40th anniversary of its original release — finally made it to No. 3, proving that George Michael’s mullet wasn’t the only thing ahead of its time.  Even without hitting No. 1, “Last Christmas” is quietly becoming the biggest hit of either Wham!’s or Michael’s career, with its annual return padding its cumulative chart points while all their other songs lie dormant like retired reindeer.

Ariana Grande’s more modern “Santa Tell Me” broke into the top 5 this week, making it the first 21st-century holiday song to rank that high.  Even Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” reached No. 9, marking her biggest hit — Christmas or otherwise — since the Obama administration. Michael Bublé’s “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” also reached a new high of No. 12, after peaking at No. 19 last year.

Meanwhile, non-holiday songs barely stood a chance on the ultimate Christmas Hot 100. The highest-ranked one, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With A Smile,” limped in at No. 17 — like a leftover Thanksgiving turkey trying to crash a Christmas dinner.

The Great Holiday Exodus

But like December’s egg nog, this week’s Christmas music chart takeover is short-lived.  Next week, the Hot 100 will undergo its annual New Year’s cleanse, with all holiday songs — 42 of them on the latest chart — expected to vanish faster than your guests after dessert.  Mariah, of course, will retreat to her cryogenic chamber, awaiting her yearly thaw next November, when she’ll once again grant us early permission to begin celebrating.

Looking Ahead

For the first time in the maximum streaming era, Christmas 2025 will fall on a Thursday — the ultimate alignment of holiday cheer and Billboard’s weekly tracking.  If you thought this year was big, wait until Mariah, Brenda, and Wham! bring their sonic perennials next season. 

Until then, we can all agree on one thing: the only thing more predictable than Christmas music dominating the charts every December is us loving — or hating — every second of it.

DJRob

DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff!  You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.

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