The Billboard Hot 100’s holiday season takeover is as reliable as Santa’s sleigh, with Mariah Carey’s perennial powerhouse “All I Want For Christmas Is You” predictably reigning supreme. For a 17th cumulative week, Carey holds the No. 1 spot, cementing the song as a cultural juggernaut. Yet, amid the dominance of decades-old classics, a new holiday wave is making ripples.
This year, two relatively modern Christmas anthems have cracked the elusive top 10, signaling a shift in the holiday music canon. Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” and Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath The Tree” have achieved new milestones, landing at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. These tracks, released in the last decade, are reshaping what a contemporary Christmas hit looks like.
Grande’s effervescent “Santa Tell Me,” initially released in 2014, exudes playful charm with its R&B-infused melodies and a wink of romantic vulnerability. It has become a staple on seasonal playlists, capturing the imagination of a younger generation. Meanwhile, Clarkson’s 2013 offering, “Underneath The Tree,” stands as a power-pop triumph. Channeling her trademark vocal prowess, the song wraps listeners in joy, blending timeless orchestration with a modern sensibility.
These placements also reflect a growing appetite for fresher holiday tunes in an era where streaming shapes chart performance. It’s not just nostalgia propelling these songs but a genuine resonance with listeners seeking seasonal magic that feels both familiar and new.
While the chart continues to be dominated by golden oldies—think Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock”—Grande and Clarkson have carved out their space, hinting at a more inclusive future for modern holiday classics. Their rise is a welcome infusion of new energy into a space historically reserved for vintage tracks, and it’s a win for artists striving to redefine what it means to write a timeless Christmas song.
As the year winds down, their success suggests that the holiday chart may not always be dominated by the ghosts of Christmas past. Instead, artists like Grande and Clarkson are proving that there’s room on Santa’s sleigh for fresh voices and modern melodies.