"This Christmas" is a song by American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

musician

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...

released in 1970 by

Atco Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the comp ...

. The song gained renewed popularity when it was included in 1991 on Atco Records' revised edition of their 1968 ''Soul Christmas'' compilation album and has since become a modern

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 ...

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, with the

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reporting that it was the 30th most-performed holiday song of all time.

Phil Upchurch Philip Upchurch (born July 19, 1941) is an American jazz and blues guitarist and bassist. Career Upchurch started his career working with the Kool Gents, the Dells, and the Spaniels, before going on to work with Curtis Mayfield, Otis Rush, and ...

said the song was "absolutely the premiere holiday song written by an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

". It was written by Hathaway and Nadine McKinnor.

History

"This Christmas" was recorded at Audio Finishers Studio on Ontario Street,

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in the fall of 1970. Ric Powell (see credits below) said that Hathaway was "very upbeat during the session" and that he "knew what he wanted to do musically and the impact he wanted to make with this song" regarding the representation of

s in Christmas music. On writing the song with Hathaway (who died in 1979), Nadine McKinnor said she felt "blessed to have written with Donny a song that celebrates the possibilities, the expectations, and the anticipation of Christmas and the good fun and happy loving times", and that the creation of the song "was a God plan. God was in this plan. And Donny Hathaway was a genius." "This Christmas" was released as a single in 1970. It initially saw little success, as it was listed just once on any of ''Billboard'' magazine's weekly published music charts in the 1970s, specifically ''Billboard'' special Christmas Singles chart (on the week ending December 23, 1972, at position No. 11). But in recent years, the song has made it onto a number of ''Billboard'' weekly music charts. In addition to making its first appearance on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100 songs chart in late December 2020 (at position No. 39), Hathaway's "This Christmas" has also appeared on these other ''Billboard'' music charts: Global 200 (No. 62 chart peak in early January 2021), Holiday 100 (No. 25 chart peak in early January 2014), Holiday Digital Song Sales (No. 36 chart peak in early January 2020), Holiday Streaming Songs (No. 27 chart peak in December 2020), Hot 100 Recurrents (No. 10 in December 2020), R&B Digital Song Sales (No. 10 chart peak in early January 2020), R&B Streaming Songs (No. 6 chart peak in early January 2021), R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs (No. 6 chart peak in early January 2021), and Streaming Songs (No. 27 chart peak in early January 2021). In 1991, Atco Records released a revised edition of their 1968 compilation album ''Soul Christmas'' that included "This Christmas".

Credits

* Vocals, keyboard, bass:

* Writing: Hathaway (as "Donny Pitts"), Nadine McKinnor * Electric guitar:

* Drums:

Morris Jennings Morris Jennings was an American drummer and musician from Chicago. He recorded as Moe Jennings, M. Jennings, Maurice Jennings, Morris "Gator" Jennings, and Morris Jennings Jr. Jennings is best known for having played drums on the ''Electric Mud' ...

* Drums, bass drum, congas, sleigh bells: Ric Powell * Baritone saxophone:

Willie Henderson William Henderson (born 24 January 1944) is a Scottish people, Scottish retired association football, footballer. He played most of his career for Rangers F.C., Rangers, and spent the latter part of his career with Sheffield Wednesday F.C., She ...

* Trombones:

Louis Satterfield Louis Edward Satterfield (April 3, 1937 – September 27, 2004) was an American bassist and trombonist. Satterfield was a member of both The Pharaohs and the Phenix Horns. He also collaborated with prominent artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Mu ...

Charts

Jess Glynne version

English singer and songwriter

Jess Glynne Jessica Hannah Glynne (born 20 October 1989) is an English singer and songwriter. After signing with Atlantic Records, she rose to prominence in 2014 as a featured artist on the singles "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit and " My Love" by Route 94, bot ...

released a cover version of the song as a single on 12 November 2020. The single peaked at number three 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 ...

. Daniel Welsh of ''

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'' rated Glynne's version three out of five stars, writing that "fans of both Jess Glynne and background Christmas music" would enjoy this version. It’s Glynne’s last single to be released under

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

due to her parting ways with them in 2022.

Background

Talking about the song, Glynne said:

I chose 'This Christmas' by Donny Hathaway as I love the tone of this record and I'm thankful that
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 ...
have given me the opportunity to do my own version of it for them. This year has been such a hard one and there's no doubt this Christmas is going to be difficult for so many people. Music is so important as it gives us moments of escapism and I think more than ever having an uplifting feel good song is so necessary.

Charts

Certifications and sales

Other cover versions

After the 1991 release of Atco Records' ''Soul Christmas'', the song became particularly notable for the popularity of its numerous covers by other artists, particularly well-known pop,

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...

and R&B artists. Prior to this re-release, artists who recorded cover versions included

The Whispers The Whispers is an American group from Los Angeles, California, who have scored hit records since the late 1960s. They are best known for their two number one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1980 and "Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers ...

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simpl ...

, as well as

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

, who titled a

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 ...

after the song. A previously unheard recording of the song by

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

from 1974 was released on

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

' compilation album ''Christmas in the City'' in 1993. In 1996, Patti LaBelle performed the song at the lighting of the American National Christmas Tree. During the performance her backing singers failed to appear, yet a frustrated LaBelle carried on without her entourage before

President Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

appeared to light the tree.

Elliott Yamin Efraym Elliott Yamin ( he, אפרים אליוט ימין; born July 20, 1978) is an American singer known for his hit single " Wait for You" and for placing third on the fifth season of ''American Idol''. His self-titled album, released Marc ...

released his version as his debut single in December 2006, which reached No. 21 on ''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. A cover of the song by

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

, recorded for the 2007 film of the same name, peaked at No. 62 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and was certified gold by the RIAA. Covers by

Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

and by American band

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

each went to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Lady Antebellum Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) ...

covered the song for the 2012 Christmas album ''

On This Winter's Night ''On This Winter's Night'' is a Christmas and fourth studio album by American country music trio Lady Antebellum. It was released on October 22, 2012, by Capitol Records Nashville. The production on the album was handled by the group's longtime p ...

''. In December 2012, ''

The Philadelphia Tribune ''The Philadelphia Tribune'' is the oldest continuously published African-American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1884 when Christopher J. Perry published its first copy. Throughout its history, ''The Philadelphia Tribune' ...

'' music critic

Nekesa Mumbi Moody Nekesa Mumbi Moody is an American journalist and editor. She is currently the editorial director of ''The Hollywood Reporter''. Biography Moody is a native of New York. She received her B.A. from Barnard College of Columbia University in 1992 ...

praised Lady Antebellum's recording and the rest of the album. However, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' panned the album and called the trio's cover recording a "slickly insincere 1980s soul."

CeeLo Green Thomas DeCarlo Callaway - Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. He is known for his work in hip hop and R&B, including the Gnarls ...

covered the song for ''

Cee Lo's Magic Moment ''Cee Lo's Magic Moment'' is the first Christmas studio album and overall fourth studio album released by American recording artist Cee Lo Green on October 29, 2012 in the United Kingdom. It was released to the US on October 30 by Elektra Records ...

'' (2012). Also in December 2012, Alan Sculley of ''

Asbury Park Press The ''Asbury Park Press'' is a daily newspaper in Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey and has the third largest circulation in the state. It has been owned by Gannett since 1997. Its reporting staff has been awarded numerous national hon ...

'' praised CeeLo Green's recording as "a good

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

". One of ''

The StarPhoenix ''The StarPhoenix'' is a daily newspaper that serves Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and is a part of Postmedia Network. The ''StarPhoenix'' puts out six editions each week and publishes one weekly, ''Bridges''. It is also part of the canada.co ...

'' music critics called CeeLo's takes on the song and "

What Christmas Means to Me "What Christmas Means to Me" is the name of several different Christmas music, Christmas songs. The most-covered version was written by Allen Story, Anna Gordy Gaye, and George Gordy. It has been recorded by many artists, including: * Stevie Wonde ...

" not as good as original versions but "worth a listen" with "enough originality". However, Melissa Ruggieri of ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' criticised CeeLo's version as skippable and "surprisingly dull". In December 2016, Mark Daniell of the ''

Ottawa Sun The ''Ottawa Sun'' is a daily newspaper in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is published by Sun Media. It began publication in 1983 as the ''Ottawa Sunday Herald'', until it was acquired by (then) Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation in 1988. In Apri ...

'' praised versions by the following artists as "good": Lady Antebellum, Chris Brown,

Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known by her stage name Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday. Gray ha ...

, and CeeLo Green. Alternative article title: "Best Christmas songs: The most festive tracks for your holiday playlist".

References

External links

* {{Donny Hathaway 1970 songs 1970 singles American Christmas songs Atco Records singles CeeLo Green songs Chris Brown songs Christina Aguilera songs Diana Ross songs Donny Hathaway songs 2006 debut singles Elliott Yamin songs Lady A songs Patti LaBelle songs Jess Glynne songs

History

Credits

Charts

Jess Glynne version

Background

Charts

Certifications and sales

Other cover versions

See also

References

External links