''Winter Songs'' (in Australia and New Zealand titled ''Stay'')Ronan Keating – Stay (CD, Album – Australia) at Discogs
/ref> is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

released by Irish singer/songwriter and Boyzone frontman Ronan Keating. It was released by Polydor Records on 16 November 2009 in the UK and Ireland, debuting at number 16 and 12 in each respective album chart. The first single, a cover of Grammy Award-winning American country music duo

Sugarland Sugarland is an American country music duo founded in Atlanta, Georgia. The duo consists of singer-songwriters Jennifer Nettles (lead vocals) and Kristian Bush (vocals, guitar, mandolin). They were founded in 2002, at which point Kristen Hall (vo ...

's hit " Stay", was released digitally on the same day.

Album information

The album ''Winter Songs'' follows the UK number one album '' Songs for My Mother'' released six months earlier, this time pulling together a set of 11 songs that evoke special memories of winter and Christmas for Ronan Keating.Universal Music UK News
/ref>hmv.com: music: Winter Songs (2009)
/ref> ''Winter Songs'' includes traditional Christmas classics such as " Silent Night" and " Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as well as modern festive classics like

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

's River and

's " Stay". Songs originally performed by artists like

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

Homeward Bound Homeward may refer to: * ''Homeward'' (film), a 2019 film * "Homeward" (song), a song by The Sundays from their 1997 album ''Static and Silence'' * "Homeward" (''TNG'' episode), a ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode from the seventh seaso ...

") and Bob Dylan ("Ring Them Bells") are also included on the album, which also includes two brand new Ronan Keating songs "It's Only Christmas" and "Scars". Like Keating's previous album, ''Winter Songs'' is produced by Stephen Lipson ( Paul McCartney,

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...

and

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

). The album also features the last studio recording of Stephen Gately, who died a short while after the album was completed.Stephen Gately's last song was The Little Drummer Boy
/ref> Ronan told The News of the World: "What keeps me going is that Stephen is on this album. His vocal on Little Drummer Boy is one of the most beautiful recordings. He is almost angelic – which is truly fitting as I believe my friend is an angel now." In a press release about the album, Keating said that "some of these songs conjure up some of my favorite Christmas memories".

Track listing

Credits from booklet. # " Winter Song" (Sara Bareilles/Ingrid Michaelson) # " Stay" (Jennifer Nettles) # "Scars" (Steve McEwan/John White) # "

" (Paul Simon) # " River" (Joni Mitchell) # "It's Only Christmas" (Ronan Keating/Paul Barry) # " Little Drummer Boy" (Guest vocals by Stephen Gately) (Katherine Davis/Henry Onorati/Harry Simeone) # "Ring Them Bells" (Bob Dylan) # "

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...

" ( Dougie MacLean) # " Silent Night" (Franz Gruber) # " Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Ralph Blane/Hugh Martin) # " I Won't Last a Day Without You" (Paul Williams/Roger Nichols) Australian alternative track : 6. "It's Only Christmas" (Duet with Kate Ceberano) (Ronan Keating/Paul Barry)

Notes

Chart

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winter Songs (Ronan Keating Album) Ronan Keating albums 2009 Christmas albums Albums produced by Stephen Lipson Pop Christmas albums