"8 Days of Christmas" is a song recorded by American girl group

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...

for their Christmas album of the same title (2001). Written by group members

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

and

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl ...

along with Errol McCalla, Jr., who handled its production, it is a Christmas-themed song with heavy R&B and

dance pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

elements. The song was first released in November 2000 on the reissue of the group's second studio album ''

The Writing's on the Wall ''The Writing's on the Wall'' is the second studio album by American girl group Destiny's Child, released in Japan on July 14, 1999, and in the US on July 27, 1999, by Columbia Records. The album was produced by Missy Elliott, Kevin "She'kspere" ...

'' (1999) and the US maxi CD single for their song "

Independent Women Part I "Independent Women Part I" is a song recorded by American group Destiny's Child for the soundtrack to the 2000 film adaptation of the television program '' Charlie's Angels''. It was written and produced by production duo Poke & Tone, consisti ...

" (2000), before being released as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from ''8 Days of Christmas'' on December 16, 2001, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

Writing and production

"8 Days of Christmas" is based on "

The Twelve Days of Christmas The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Twelvetide, is a festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity of Jesus. In some Western ecclesiastical traditions, "Christmas Day" is considered the "First Day of Christmas" and the Twelve Days a ...

". Knowles stated during its video premiere at ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'' in 2001: "Actually, we wrote the song two years ago, when we went in the studio to do some Christmas something. That's what started the idea of doing a Christmas album."

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "8 Days of Christmas" was directed by

Sanaa Hamri Sanaa Hamri ( ar, سناء حمري; born November 19, 1977) is a Moroccan-American film, television, and music video director. She has directed music videos for musicians including Prince, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, and Sting. She is kn ...

. It shows all three members appearing in

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

-inspired clothing at a toy store on a

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

y day. Throughout the video, the group shops for various gifts and in between cuts and Knowles rides on a

carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

. At the end of the video, many children rush into the toy store where the group gives out gifts. The music video is featured on the

DualDisc The DualDisc is a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including MJJ Productions Inc., EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group an ...

edition of ''8 Days of Christmas''.

Track listings and formats

*;"Independent Women" US CD maxi-single
''Discogs.com'' #"Independent Women" (Part 1 – Album Version) – 3:41 #"Independent Women" (Victor Calderone Drum Dub Mix) – 5:30 #"Independent Women" (Victor Calderone Club Mix) – 9:36 #"Independent Women" (Maurice's Independent Man Remix) – 7:30 #"8 Days of Christmas" – 3:29 *;CD single #"8 Days of Christmas" (Album Version) – 3:29 #"Emotion" (Album Version) – 3:56 *;US CD promo #"8 Days of Christmas" (LP Version) – 3:29 #"8 Days of Christmas" (Instrumental) – 3:29 #"8 Days of Christmas" (A Cappella) – 3:29 *;Brazil CD promo #"8 Days of Christmas" (Album Version) #"8 Days of Christmas" (Radio Edit) #"8 Days of Christmas" (BCDj's Holiday Mix) *;European CD single
''Discogs.com'' #"8 Days of Christmas" (Album Version) – 3:29 #"Emotion" (Album Version) – 3:56

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control American Christmas songs Destiny's Child songs Music videos directed by Sanaa Hamri Songs written by Beyoncé 2001 singles Songs written by Kelly Rowland 2000 songs Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Beyoncé