''A Very Trainor Christmas'' is the fourth major-label studio album, and debut

Christmas album Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

, by American singer-songwriter

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

, released on October 30, 2020, by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

and her own label, Honest OG Recordings. The album contains cover versions of Christmas standards, such as "

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" is a Christmas song written in 1951 by Meredith Willson. The song was originally titled "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas". The song has been recorded by many artists, but was a hit for Perry Co ...

" (1951) and "

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in December 1984 on CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side on Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in the UK. Described as a "high watermark of mid-80s Br ...

" (1984), as well as six original recordings. Trainor worked with producers including her brother Justin Trainor and Asa Welch, and co-wrote songs with the former and her other brother Ryan, among others, to create the album. Artists who are featured on ''A Very Trainor Christmas'' include

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creator ...

, Trainor's cousins Jayden, Jenna & Marcus Toney, and father Gary Trainor. A

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

edition of the album includes a cover version of "

A Holly Jolly Christmas "A Holly Jolly Christmas" (also called "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas") is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and most famously performed by Burl Ives. The song has since become one of the top 25 most-performed "holiday" songs written by ASC ...

" (1964) and the original song "

I'll Be Home "I'll Be Home" is a 1955 song that was written by Ferdinand Washington and songwriter, Stan Lewis. Flamingos version The Flamingos first recorded the song in October, 1955 at Chess' rudimentary office studio at 4750 South Cottage Grove using ju ...

", which first appeared on the Epic EP ''I'll Be Home for Christmas'' (2014). A deluxe edition of the album was released on October 29, 2021.

Background and release

forayed into

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

by contributing the original song "

" to the

EP ''I'll Be Home for Christmas'' in 2014. She featured on

Brett Eldredge Brett Ryan Eldredge (born March 23, 1986) is an American country music singer, songwriter and record producer, signed to Warner Music Group Nashville. Eldredge has had five No. 1 singles on the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay chart, three of ...

's cover version of "

Baby, It's Cold Outside "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a popular song written by Frank Loesser in 1944 and popularized in the 1949 film '' Neptune's Daughter''. While the lyrics make no mention of a holiday, it is commonly regarded as a Christmas song owing to its winter ...

" (1944), for his 2016 album '' Glow'', and released a cover version of " White Christmas" (1942) two years later for Spotify Singles Christmas. In January 2020, shortly before the release of Trainor's third major-label studio album ''

Treat Myself ''Treat Myself'' is the third major-label studio album by American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, released on January 31, 2020. Trainor worked with producers including Mike Sabath, Tyler Johnson and Ojivolta, and co-wrote songs with her brot ...

'' (2020), ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' announced that she had started writing original Christmas songs, planning to release them later in the year. In a June 2020 interview, Trainor stated that she had been "trying to finish erChristmas album", further confirming the project. On September 9, 2020, she officially announced the album title as ''A Very Trainor Christmas'' on her

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

accounts, along with the release date and artwork, which features her biting a candy cane while dressed in a Christmas hat and a tinsel and bows-adorned dress. A trailer for the album was released the following day, consisting of home footage of Trainor and her family. On October 7, 2020, she released the original song "My Kind of Present", accompanied by a cover version of "

" (1984). ''A Very Trainor Christmas'' was released on October 30. During the 2022

Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade The ''Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade'' is an American television special that airs on Christmas Day annually on American Broadcasting Company, ABC, airing live and taped, primarily inside the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World in Or ...

, she performed "My Kind of Present" live from a balcony on

Main Street, U.S.A. Main Street, U.S.A. is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, U.S.A. is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20t ...

Disneyland Resort The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (Di ...

, dressed in a pink Minnie Mouse inspired costume with two backup singers.

Composition

Trainor's entire family participated in the creation of ''A Very Trainor Christmas'', as songwriters, background vocalists, producers, and instrumentalists. Her cousins Jayden, Jenna & Marcus Toney, and father Gary Trainor, appear as featured artists, while her brother Justin took part in production and songwriting, and Ryan in the latter. Regarding this decision, Trainor stated that she is "a Christmas baby", and had always dreamed of "releas nga Christmas Album and to do it with erfamily

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it that much better".

and

were chosen as collaborators due to them being her family's "all-time-favorites". Trainor stated that her family "worship the ground they walk on – so to get them to feature on this album still doesn't feel real. Best Christmas Present Ever!" ''A Very Trainor Christmas'' contains 10 cover versions of Christmas standards, such as "

" (1951) and "Last Christmas", as well as six original recordings. A

edition of the album includes a cover version of "

" (1964) and the original song "I'll Be Home", which first appeared on the Epic EP ''I'll Be Home for Christmas'' (2014).

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

writer

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

stated that Trainor approaches ''A Very Trainor Christmas'' with similar "gusto" as the "old-fashioned showbiz razzle-dazzle" style she has always had. He added that the original recordings sound the "most vivacious", but the whole album is "firmly within the realm of spirited seasonal soundtrack". Writing for ''

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

'', Mike Wass called it a "resounding success", adding that it "sparks joy", and its incorporation of various genres "makes sure there's something for everybody". He concluded that ''A Very Trainor Christmas'' has the potential to "become a go-to Christmas soundtrack for families across America in the years to come". ''

Knoxville News Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel, also known as Knox News,'' is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: ''The ...

''s Chuck Campbell wrote that the album lacks "well-crafted classics" to set it apart from other holiday albums, and its momentum is "routinely thwarted" by a combination of familiar and unfamiliar songs, which lead to "the party never hit

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its stride".

Commercial performance

''A Very Trainor Christmas'' debuted at number 144 on the ''Billboard'' 200 issued for November 14, 2020, with 7,500

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditi ...

s (including 4,200 pure sales) according to ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''. It has since peaked at number 89. Trainor and MacFarlane's cover version of "White Christmas" debuted at number 24 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart the same week marking the third holiday entry for both artists and it later peaked at number 1 on the chart. The album also entered the

Top Holiday Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart at number 7 and the UK Download Albums chart at number 47.

Track listing

Deluxe edition
A deluxe edition of ''A Very Trainor Christmas'' adds the following songs as tracks 1-3: #"Christmas Coupon" (writer: M. Trainor) – 3:12 #"

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958; it has since been recorded by numerous other music artists. By the song's 50th anniversary in 2008, Lee's original version had s ...

" (writer:

Johnny Marks John David Marks (November 10, 1909 – September 3, 1985) was an American songwriter. He specialized in Christmas songs (although he himself was Jewish and did not celebrate Christmas) and wrote many holiday standards, including "Rudolph the Red- ...

) – 2:28 #"

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is a pop song originally sung by Darlene Love and included on the 1963 seasonal compilation album, ''A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector''. The song was written by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil S ...

" (writer:

Jeff Barry Jeff Barry (born Joel Adelberg; April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are " Do Wah Diddy Diddy", " Da Doo Ron Ron", " Then He Kiss ...

Ellie Greenwich Eleanor Louise Greenwich (October 23, 1940 – August 26, 2009) was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Maybe I Know", " Then He Kissed Me", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" ...

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

) – 2:28 :As well as all of the songs from the standard edition. Notes * Digital editions of ''A Very Trainor Christmas'' feature all 18 tracks, while physical versions of the CD album do not feature "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "I'll Be Home". These are exclusive to the

CD in the US.

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Very Trainor Christmas, A 2020 Christmas albums Christmas albums by American artists Epic Records albums Meghan Trainor albums Pop Christmas albums