"Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" is a song by American boy band

NSYNC NSYNC (, ; also stylized as *NSYNC or 'N Sync) was an American boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. Their 'N Sync (album), self-titled debut album was successfully rele ...

. It was released on November 29, 1998 as the first and only single from their second studio album, '' Home for Christmas'' and was also featured on the end credits of the 1998 Disney Christmas movie '' I'll Be Home For Christmas''. The song charted at #37 on the

Top 40 Mainstream Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

chart. The single was also the second from NSYNC's

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an seasonal album, '' The Winter Album''. A cappella group

Pentatonix Pentatonix (abbreviated PTX) is an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, currently consisting of vocalists Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, and Matt Sallee. Characterized by their pop-style arrangem ...

covered the song in their 2016 Christmas album, ''

A Pentatonix Christmas ''A Pentatonix Christmas'' is the fifth studio album by American a cappella group Pentatonix. It is also their second full-length holiday album since ''That's Christmas to Me'' in 2014. Featuring two new original songs, "Good to Be Bad" and "The C ...

''. The song has also been covered by American singer

David Archuleta David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American pop singer. At ten years old, he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition, leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years old, he became ...

for the deluxe version of his album ''

Winter in the Air ''Winter in the Air'' is the seventh studio album and second Christmas album by David Archuleta, released on November 2, 2018. A deluxe edition was released on November 14, 2019, which included three bonus tracks "The Christmas Song", "Merry Chri ...

'' in 2019, and by singer-songwriter Betty Who for

Spotify Singles Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active user ...

in 2020. In 2021, popular Christian singer

Tauren Wells Tauren Gabriel Wells is an American singer, songwriter, and multi instrumentalist from Houston, Texas who is known for making contemporary Christian music. Biography Wells was a founding member of Royal Tailor along with DJ Cox and Blake Hubb ...

covered "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" as a non album single.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine reviewed the song in the context of ''Home for Christmas'', and gave the following review:

It's always a sign that a group is hot if they release a holiday album mere months after their debut. That's the case with *NSYNC. Their debut was released in America in late March, and in early December, Home for Christmas hit the shelves. Much of the album is devoted to newer material, such as the anthemic "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays", and only a handful of songs qualifying as standards: "The Christmas Song," "The First Noel," and "O Holy Night." All of it is given the familiar *NSYNC sheen, alternating between slickly produced adult contemporary ballads and lite dance-pop.

Music video

The video was directed by Lionel C. Martin and filmed in a day. All five members of

had creative input for the direction of the video, as they wanted it to "be pop, fun, and energetic." This also included their request to include

Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. Coleman was the highest-paid child actor on television throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. He was rated first on a list of VH1's "100 Greatest Kid ...

as an elf in the video, which Martin described as "a little tricky" to secure on board. The classic sitcom ''

Diff'rent Strokes ''Diff'rent Strokes'' is an American television sitcom, which aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackso ...

'' is referenced when NSYNC ask "Whatchu talkin' about, Gary?", based on Coleman's catchphrase; "Whatchu talkin' about, Willis?". Coleman's agent didn't approve of him saying the line, as it was owned by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. The video debuted on ''TRL'' on December 14, 1998 and became the band’s third video to reach number one on the countdown at the time.

Track listing

# "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" – 4:12 # "All I Want Is You (This Christmas)" – 3:16

Charts

Release history

David Archuleta version

In 2019, David Archuleta covered “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” for the deluxe version of his Christmas album ''

''. The accompanying music video features NSYNC members Chris Kirkpatrick and

Lance Bass James Lance Bass (; born May 4, 1979) is an American singer, dancer, actor, film, and television producer. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the bass singer for the American pop boy band NSYNC. NSYNC's success led Bass to work in film ...

in cameos.

References

{{'N Sync 1998 singles American Christmas songs NSYNC songs Songs written by Justin Timberlake JC Chasez songs Issues (band) songs