Santa Tell Me
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"Santa Tell Me" is a
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 ...
song recorded by American singer
Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...
. It was written by Grande,
Ilya Salmanzadeh Ilya Salmanzadeh (; born 19 September 1986 in Stockholm), known mononymously as ILYA, is a Swedish-Persian songwriter, producer and singer. He rose to prominence outside of Sweden after co-writing and producing Ariana Grande's " Problem" and Je ...
and
Savan Kotecha Savan Harish Kotecha is an American songwriter and record producer from Austin, Texas. Kotecha is of Indian (Gujarati) descent. He was also the executive music producer of the 2020 film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga'', for ...
. The song was released worldwide on November 24, 2014, via
iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
, and was included on the Japanese exclusive reissue of Grande's EP '' Christmas Kisses''. Commercially, "Santa Tell Me" reached the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as the top 20 in Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. The song entered the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 65 and later peaked at number 17, as the song continues to become a modern-day classic. Additionally on ''Billboard'' Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts, "Santa Tell Me" peaked at numbers 5 and 7, respectively. The music video was directed by Chris Marrs Piliero and was released on Grande's official
Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...
on December 12, 2014. The song received its first performance at the 2014 ''A Very Grammy Christmas'' concert in the Shrine Auditorium in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
on November 18, 2014.


Background

Grande released her first Christmas EP titled '' Christmas Kisses'' on December 17, 2013. The extended play had a total of 4 songs, and included covers of classics, such as " Santa Baby" and Wham!'s " Last Christmas". It also contained two original songs: "Love Is Everything" and "Snow in California". "Santa Tell Me" was first mentioned by Grande on Tuesday, October 28 in a livestream through Twitcam. In the livestream, she said that she didn't want to do a Christmas song at first, but she changed her mind. Grande also announced that a music video would accompany "Santa Tell Me", and that this song was her favorite Christmas song out of all of the ones she had recorded so far. She officially announced the song and its title on her Twitter page on November 13, 2014, saying, "putting out a kewt Christmas song for u on nov 24th called Santa Tell Me! lil something for the holidays :) so excited #10DaysTilSantaTellMe." It was also released to US mainstream radio.


Promotion and release

Grande used the hashtag #10DaysTilSantaTellMe on Twitter to initiate the 10-day countdown of the song's release. She also performed the song for the first time on November 18, 2014, at the 2014 ''A Very Grammy Christmas'' concert in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA. On November 18, Republic Records released the cover art of the song, which depicts a simple light pink background with "Santa Tell Me" written in the middle in golden script. On November 21, Republic Records also released a 15-second snippet of "Santa Tell Me" through their Instagram page; the preview contained part of the chorus. Grande tweeted the last hashtag on November 23, #SantaTellMeTonight. She also posted the iTunes link of the song, which was then available for pre-order. "Santa Tell Me" was released at midnight on November 24 on iTunes. The audio was also uploaded to Grande's official
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel, ArianaGrandeVevo on November 24. Shortly after its release, the lyric video was uploaded to
Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...
on November 26. It contains various photos of Grande from her childhood during Christmas.


Composition

"Santa Tell Me" 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 ...
with influences of
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...
and R&B. It is written in the key of G major. Grande's vocals span from B3 to A5. Lyrically, the song features Grande asking Santa Claus to tell her if her new lover "really cares", and whether he will leave her like men in her past have.


Critical reception

Robbie Daw of ''
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 ...
'' opined that "Santa Tell Me" was a "cute, harmless stocking stuffer that ticks all the necessary boxes, in that there's classic instrumentation, a hummable chorus and lyrics that reflect a mixture of the festive season with the possibility of heartbreak at the holidays", while
Brian Mansfield Brian Mansfield (born September 24, 1963) is an American writer and journalist. Early life and education Mansfield grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from David Lipscomb High School. In 1984, Mansfield received a bachelor's degre ...
of '' USA Today'' compared the song unfavorably to
Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
's " All I Want for Christmas Is You", stating that it fell short in its attempt at becoming a "seasonal staple". ''Billboard'' placed "Santa Tell Me" at number 13 on their "The 100 Best Christmas Songs of All Time" list. It is the highest-ranking song on the list among those released in the 21st century.


Commercial performance

"Santa Tell Me" has recurrently charted in several nations every year since its original release in 2014. In the United States, "Santa Tell Me" debuted at number 65 on the weekly US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated December 13, 2014, and reached number 42 in its original run. Six years later, "Santa Tell Me" re-entered the Hot 100 at a new high of number 39 on the chart issue dated December 19, 2020, earning Grande her 35th top 40 entry of her career. It has since peaked at number 17, becoming Grande's 25th top 20 hit on ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song also peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart on the week ending December 27, 2014. "Santa Tell Me" also topped the ''Billboard'' Holiday 100 chart on the week ending January 10, 2015, becoming only the third song, and second by a female artist, to do so since the chart's inception in 2010. As of 2018, the song had sold over 597,000 copies in the United States. On '' ''Billboard'' Global 200'' which tracks the most streamed and digitally sold songs in over 200 territories, and the '' ''Billboard'' Global Excl. U.S.'' which tracks the same metrics excluding the US, "Santa Tell Me" peaked at number five on ''Billboard'' Global 200, becoming Grande's third top ten hit on the chart and on ''Billboard'' Global Excl. U.S it peaked at number seven, becoming Grande's second top ten hit on the chart. In Canada, "Santa Tell Me" debuted at number 73 on the
Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...
, eventually reaching a peak of number 27 in its first chart run. The track re-entered the Canadian Hot 100 chart, and has since attained a new peak of number eight in 2020, becoming Grande's 19th top ten hit in the country. In the United Kingdom, "Santa Tell Me" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 79 for the week of December 6, 2014, originally peaking at number 68 three weeks later. In 2015, it failed to re-enter the charts; however, in 2016, the song reached number 90. In 2017, it was among many other holiday songs (such as " Driving Home for Christmas" and " Step into Christmas") reaching new chart peaks in the UK by re-entering the UK Singles Chart at number 60, and climbing to an even higher position of number 29 the following week. It eventually reached number 13 on the week of December 28, 2018, attaining the same position once again the following year (in December 2019). In December 2020, "Santa Tell Me" re-entered the UK Singles Chart for a fifth consecutive year, reaching a new peak of number 11. With over 113 million plays "Santa Tell Me" is also the eighth most played Christmas track in the United Kingdom. It is the highest-placed modern Christmas song present in the top forty and the most streamed Christmas track in the United Kingdom released since 2010.


Impact

"Santa Tell Me" has been dubbed a modern Christmas standard for its popularity in music streaming services throughout the years during holiday season. Due to the song's lasting impact, Grande has been named "Princess of Christmas". The song was included in ''Billboard'''s revision of their Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs at 21st position. Due to the song being internationally popular during the Christmas season, it has been covered multiple times by various artists, such as
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 arrangements ...
and
Nayeon Im Na-yeon (; born September 22, 1995), known mononymously as Nayeon, is a South Korean singer. She became a member of the South Korean girl group Twice, under JYP Entertainment, in 2015 as a winning contestant of the reality survival televis ...
from Twice.


Music video

The official video was released on December 12, 2014. It was directed by Alfredo Flores and Jones Crow. The video features Grande with her friends dancing, laughing and giving gifts around her house along with a two-minute outtake section at the end. It surpassed 100 million views on November 26, 2016, making it Grande's fourteenth Vevo-certified music video after " Let Me Love You".


Live performances

Grande first performed "Santa Tell Me" on November 18, 2014, at the ''A Very Grammy Christmas'' concert in the Shrine Auditorium in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. The concert aired on December 5, 2014, on CBS. She also performed "Santa Tell Me" as part of the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour 2014. On December 8, 2014, Grande performed the song while taping the Disney Parks Frozen Christmas Celebration TV special which aired on Christmas Day. The song was added to the setlist of the second North American leg of Grande's Sweetener World Tour, along with "December", "True Love", "Wit It This Christmas" and "Winter Things".


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


All-time charts


Certifications


References


External links

* * {{Ariana Grande songs Songs about Santa Claus 2014 songs 2014 singles American Christmas songs Ariana Grande songs Music videos directed by Chris Marrs Piliero Songs written by Ariana Grande Songs written by Ilya Salmanzadeh Songs written by Savan Kotecha Song recordings produced by Ilya Salmanzadeh Swedish Christmas songs Republic Records singles