"Cozy Little Christmas" is a

Christmas song 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

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

. It was released exclusively on

Amazon Music Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and online music store operated by Amazon. Launched in public beta on September 25, 2007, in January 2008 it became the first music store to sell music without digital rights man ...

on November 15, 2018, and later distributed to all platforms on November 1, 2019. She wrote and produced the song with

Greg Wells Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...

and

Ferras Alqaisi Ferras Alqaisi ( ; born July 2, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. He is well known for his single "Hollywood's Not America" from his debut album ''Aliens & Rainbows'', which was featured as the exit song during ...

. "Cozy Little Christmas" was written about Perry's time spent with her family in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

. The track's lyrics discuss prioritizing love and affection over gifts. It charted at number 10 in Croatia, number 22 in the United Kingdom and Belgium, and number 53 in the United States. The song also reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart. A music video was released on December 2, 2019. The track has been certified platinum by

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA).

Music and composition

Katy Perry announced the song on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, posting a four-second audio clip of it on November 14, 2018, with the caption that she was "Bout to sleigh in an hour". It is her second Christmas song after "

Every Day Is a Holiday "Every Day Is a Holiday" is a song written and recorded by American singer Katy Perry. Produced by Duke Dumont, the song was released on November 23, 2015 as part of H&M's holiday campaign along with a promotional commercial directed by Jonas � ...

", which was released in 2015. Perry co-wrote and co-produced "Cozy Little Christmas" with Greg Wells and Ferras Alqaisi. She called it "one of my favorite songs I've written". Perry wrote the song about spending Christmas in Copenhagen with her family. "Cozy Little Christmas" runs for 3 minutes and 2 seconds. It is a "whimsical" Christmas song featuring

jingle bell A jingle bell or sleigh bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. They find use in many areas as a percussion instrument, including the classic sleigh bell sound and morris dancing. The ...

s and lyrics about not needing gifts at Christmas time because love is more important. Perry sings "I don't need diamonds or sparkly things" and "you can't buy this feeling" along with "Nothing lights my fire or wraps me up baby like you do" in the chorus.

Release

"Cozy Little Christmas" was released exclusively on

on November 15, 2018, before becoming available on all platforms on November 1, 2019, and having a

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

distribution on October 22, 2021.

Music video

The song's music video was released on December 2, 2019. It opens with Perry decorating a Christmas tree in a festive living room before

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 ...

and animated characters from ''

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...

'' appear. Perry and Santa, who is dressed in a striped

bathing suit A swimsuit is an item of clothing designed to be worn by people engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, diving and surfing, or sun-orientated activities, such as sun bathing. Different types may be worn by men, wo ...

and

Hawaiian shirt The aloha shirt (), also referred to as a Hawaiian shirt, is a style of dress shirt originating in Hawaii. They are collared and buttoned dress shirts, usually short-sleeved and made from printed fabric. They are traditionally worn untucked, but ...

, then have a pampered Christmas, relaxing at a poolside and getting massages while the animated characters wait on them. Perry later appears dressed as a

candy cane A candy cane is a cane-shaped stick candy often associated with Christmastide, as well as Saint Nicholas Day. It is traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint, but they also come in a variety of other flavors and colors. ...

in a giant

martini glass A cocktail glass is a stemmed glass with an inverted cone bowl, mainly used to serve straight-up cocktails. The term ''cocktail glass'' is often used interchangeably with ''martini glass'', despite their differing slightly. Today, the glass ...

full of

eggnog Eggnog (), historically also known as a milk punch or an egg milk punch when alcoholic beverages are added, is a rich, chilled, sweetened, dairy-based beverage. It is traditionally made with milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, and whipped egg whites ...

. While drunk on eggnog, she talks to the animated characters in a kitchen, and the video ends with all the characters dancing in the festive living room intercut with martini glass and kitchen scenes.

Critical reception

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 ...

's Mike Wass called it "cute, catchy and utterly adorable", and observed that "the perky bop is every bit as irreverent and fun as you would expect". Marina Pedrosa from ''

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 ...

'' said that "Perry's vocals are velvety as ever as she sings the festive lyrics, 'Just you and me / Under the tree / A cozy little Christmas here with you.'" Zac Gelfand of ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' wrote that "Cozy Little Christmas" is an "appropriate step back and a deep breath" for Perry and "a simple, bubbly, holiday love song, serving as a respite after an otherwise tough several months." Writing for

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

, Madeline Roth praised the "bubbly bop" as "mighty cozy", adding that "this festive little tune will be a crowd-pleaser all around". The song was ranked at number 79 on '' Billboards Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs.

Chart performance

In the United States, "Cozy Little Christmas" entered the ''Billboard''

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 at number 10, becoming Perry's ninth track to reach its top 10 and first to do so since "

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

" in 2014. It has since reached number one on that chart as well as number 53 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 30 on its

Holiday 100 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, p ...

chart. On January 27, 2022, the song was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

by the

for 1,000,000 units. Within Europe, the song debuted at number 85 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, rising to number 22 in the nation the following year. "Cozy Little Christmas" has also been certified Silver by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI) for shipments of 200,000 units. It has reached the same peak in Belgium while charting at numbers 10 in Croatia, 38 in Germany, 37 in Austria, and 57 in Switzerland.

Live performances and use in media

Katy Perry @B96 Radio Jingle Bash 1996 in Chicago

Perry performed the song for the first time on December 6, 2019, as part of her set list for the 2019 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour. The performance of the song on December 6, 2019, was broadcast during

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

special on December 19, 2019. On November 30, 2020, she performed the song along with "

I'll Be Home for Christmas "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song written by the lyricist Kim Gannon and composer Walter Kent and recorded in 1943 by Bing Crosby, who scored a top ten hit with the song. Originally written to honor soldiers overseas who longed ...

" at ''

The Disney Holiday Singalong ''The Disney Family Singalong'' is a series of American music television specials that were broadcast by American Broadcasting Company, ABC in 2020. First aired on April 16, 2020, and all hosted by Ryan Seacrest, the specials featured performance ...

''. The song was used in the 2020 Christmas-themed television film '' The Christmas House'' and 2021

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

Christmas romantic comedy film '' The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star''.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

and ''

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

''. *

– lead vocals, production, background vocals, songwriting *

– background vocals, production, songwriting *

– production, songwriting, mixing, bass guitar, celesta, drums, harp, piano *

Al Schmitt Albert Harry Schmitt (April 17, 1930 – April 26, 2021) was an American recording engineer and record producer. He won twenty Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones, and other ...

– record engineering * Ian MacGregor – record engineering * Brian Lucey – mastering engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2018 singles 2018 songs American Christmas songs Katy Perry songs Capitol Records singles Song recordings produced by Greg Wells Songs written by Ferras Songs written by Greg Wells Songs written by Katy Perry