White Christmas (song)#Charts

Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song.{{Cite news |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703499404574561734246276554 |title=The Best-Selling Record of All. 'White Christmas' and the reasons it endures | first=Roy J. Jr. | last=Harris |date=December 5, 2009 |work=The Wall Street Journal |location=New York |access-date=December 6, 2009}} One story is that he wrote it in 1940, in warm La Quinta, California, while staying at the La Quinta Hotel, a frequent Hollywood retreat also favored by writer-director-producer Frank Capra, although the Arizona Biltmore also claims the song was written there.{{Cite web |url= http://www.arizonabiltmore.com/about/history.aspx |title=History of ""The Jewel of the Desert"" | Arizona Biltmore, a Waldorf Astoria Hotel |publisher= Arizona Biltmore Hotel |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140813101126/http://arizonabiltmore.com/About/History.aspx |archive-date=August 13, 2014 |access-date=November 13, 2013}} He often stayed up all night writing. One day he told his secretary, "I want you to take down a song I wrote over the weekend. Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it's the best song anybody ever wrote."{{Cite web |url=http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/white_christmas.htm |title=White Christmas |website=hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com |access-date=January 16, 2018}}

File:Bing Crosby Billboard 3.jpg

The first public performance of the song was by Bing Crosby, on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941, a few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor.Todd Decker. "Crosby, Bing." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. September 26, 2016. Crosby subsequently recorded the song with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers at Radio Recorders for Decca Records in 18 minutes on May 29, 1942, and it was released on July 30 as part of an album of six 78-rpm discs from the musical film Holiday Inn. At first, Crosby did not see anything special about the song. He just said "I don't think we have any problems with that one, Irving."{{Cite magazine |last=Wook Kim |date=December 17, 2012 |title=Yule Laugh, Yule Cry: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Beloved Holiday Songs (With holiday cheer in the air, TIME takes a closer look at some of the weird stories behind our favorite seasonal tunes) |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2012/12/17/yule-laugh-yule-cry-10-things-you-didnt-know-about-beloved-holiday-songs/ |magazine=Time}} "White Christmas" (p. 6)

The song established that there could be commercially successful secular Christmas songs{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/no-one-dreamed-of-a-white-christmas-before-this-song/ |title=No one dreamed of a 'White Christmas' before this song |website=PBS NewsHour |date=December 24, 2015 |access-date=January 16, 2018}}—in this case, written by a Jewish immigrant to the United States.{{cite book|last=Koskoff |first=Ellen |editor-last1=Ran |editor-first1=Amalia |editor-last2=Morad |editor-first2=Moshe |title=Mazal Tov, Amigos! Jews and Popular Music in the Americas |date=2016 |publisher=Brill |location=Boston, Massachusetts |isbn=9789004184473 |page=11 |chapter=Is "White Christmas" a Piece of Jewish Music?|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3iRzCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11}} Ronald D. Lankford Jr., wrote, "During the 1940s, 'White Christmas' would set the stage for a number of classic American holiday songs steeped in a misty longing for yesteryear." Before 1942, Christmas songs and films had come out sporadically, and many were popular. However, "the popular culture industry had not viewed the themes of home and hearth, centered on the Christmas holiday, as a unique market" until after the success of "White Christmas" and the film where it appeared, Holiday Inn.{{Cite book |title=Sleigh Rides Jingle Bells & Silent Nights: A Cultural History of American Christmas Songs |last=Lankford |first=Ronald D. |date=2013 |publisher=University Press of Florida |isbn=978-0813044927 |location=Gainesville, Florida |page=[https://archive.org/details/sleighridesjingl0000lank/page/24 24] |url=https://archive.org/details/sleighridesjingl0000lank/page/24 }} Dave Marsh and Steve Propes wrote, "'White Christmas' changed Christmas music forever, both by revealing the huge potential market for Christmas songs and by establishing the themes of home and nostalgia that would run through Christmas music evermore."{{Cite book |title=Merry Christmas, Baby: Holiday Music From Bing To Sting |last1=Marsh |first1=Dave |last2=Propes |first2=Steve |date=1993 |publisher=Little, Brown & Co. |isbn=978-0756775285 |page=7}}

The song initially performed poorly and was overshadowed by Holiday Inn's first hit song: "Be Careful, It's My Heart". By the end of October 1942, "White Christmas" topped the Your Hit Parade chart. It remained in that position until well into the new year. It has often been noted that the mix of melancholy—"just like the ones I used to know"—with comforting images of home—"where the treetops glisten"—resonated especially strongly with listeners during World War II. The Armed Forces Network was flooded with requests for the song. The recording is noted for Crosby's whistling during the second chorus.

In 1942 alone, Crosby's recording spent eleven weeks on top of the Billboard charts. The original version also hit number one on the Harlem Hit Parade for three weeks, Crosby's first-ever appearance on the black-oriented chart.{{Cite book |title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research |year=2004 |page=139 |author-link=Joel Whitburn}} The song also topped the following weekly charts in the same year: Songs with Most Radio Plugs, National record sales, and National sheet music sales.{{cite magazine |title=The Billboard Music Popularity Chart (week ending December 10, 1942) |magazine=The Billboard |page=25 |date=December 19, 1942 }} Re-released by Decca, the single returned to the No. 1 spot during the holiday seasons of 1945 and 1946 (on the chart dated January 4, 1947). The recording became a chart perennial, reappearing annually on the pop chart twenty times before Billboard magazine created a distinct Christmas chart for seasonal releases.

In Holiday Inn, the composition won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1942.{{Cite book |title=British Hit Singles & Albums |last=Roberts |first=David |publisher=Guinness World Records Limited |year=2006 |isbn=1-904994-10-5 |edition=19th |location=London |page=134}} In the film, Crosby sings "White Christmas" as a duet with actress Marjorie Reynolds, though her voice was dubbed by Martha Mears. This now-familiar scene was not the moviemakers' initial plan. In the script as originally conceived, Reynolds, not Crosby, would sing the song.{{Cite book |title=Astaire Dancing – The Musical Films |last=John Mueller |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |year=1986 |isbn=0-241-11749-6 |location=London |pages=204, 425 |author-link=John Mueller}} The song would feature in another Crosby film, the 1954 musical White Christmas, which became the highest-grossing film of 1954. (Crosby made yet another studio recording of the song, accompanied by Joseph J. Lilley's orchestra and chorus, for the film's soundtrack album.)

According to Crosby's nephew, Howard Crosby, "I once asked Uncle Bing about the most difficult thing he ever had to do during his entertainment career… He said in December, 1944, he was in a USO show with Bob Hope and the Andrews Sisters. They did an outdoor show in northern France… he had to stand there and sing 'White Christmas' with 100,000 G.I.s in tears without breaking down himself. Of course, a lot of those boys were killed in the Battle of the Bulge a few days later."{{Cite news |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/dec/22/75-years-after-its-premiere-bing-crosbys-white-chr/ |title=75 years after its premiere, Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas' still enthralls listeners |last=Weinbender |first=Nathan |date=December 22, 2016 |work=The Spokesman-Review |access-date=December 13, 2018 |location=Spokane}}

The version most often heard today on the radio during the Christmas season is the 1947 re-recording. The 1942 master was damaged due to frequent use. Crosby re-recorded the track on March 19, 1947, accompanied again by the Trotter Orchestra and the Darby Singers, with every effort made to reproduce the original recording session. The re-recording is recognizable by the addition of flutes and celesta in the beginning.

Although Crosby dismissed his role in the song's success, saying later that "a jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully",{{Cite web |url=https://people.com/tv/bing-crosbys-white-christmas-is-the-biggest-selling-holiday-song-of-all-time/ |title=Why Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas' Is the Best Holiday Song Ever |website=People |access-date=December 10, 2018}} he was associated with it for the rest of his career.

Crosby's "White Christmas" single has been credited with selling 50 million copies, the most by any release and therefore it is the biggest-selling single worldwide of all time. By 1968, it had already sold thirty million.{{Cite book |last=Murrells |first=Joseph |url=http://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr |title=The book of golden discs |date=1978 |publisher=London : Barrie & Jenkins |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-214-20512-5}} The Guinness Book of World Records 2009 Edition lists the song as a 100-million seller, encompassing all versions of the song, including albums. According to analysis of PRS for Music figures, it was estimated that the song generates £328,000 of royalties per year.{{cite news|url=https://www.radiox.co.uk/features/how-much-do-christmas-songs-make-each-year/|title=From Wham to Slade... just how much do these classic Christmas songs earn each festive season?|date=21 December 2024|work=Radio X|accessdate=24 December 2024}}

Crosby's holiday collection Merry Christmas was first released as an LP in 1949, and has never been out of print since.

There has been confusion and debate on whether Crosby's record is the best-selling single, due to a lack of information on sales of "White Christmas," because Crosby's recording was released before the advent of the modern-day US and UK singles charts.{{Cite press release |url= https://www.riaa.com/newsitem.php?resultpage=2&id=3abf3ec8-ef5b-58f9-e949-3b57f5e313df |title=The American Recording Industry Announces its Artists of the Century |date=November 10, 1999 |website= Recording Industry Association of America website |publisher=RIAA |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141006091726/http://www.riaa.com/newsitem.php?resultpage=2&id=3abf3ec8-ef5b-58f9-e949-3b57f5e313df |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |access-date=February 8, 2010}} However, after careful research, Guinness World Records in 2007 concluded that, worldwide, Crosby's recording of "White Christmas" has sold at least 50 million copies, and that Elton John's recording of "Candle in the Wind 1997" has sold 33 million. However, an update in the 2009 edition of the book decided to further help settle the controversy amicably by naming both John's and Crosby's songs to be "winners" by stating that John's recording is the "best-selling single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s," while maintaining that "the best-selling single of all time was released before the first pop charts," and that this distinction belongs to "White Christmas," which it says "was listed as the world's best-selling single in the first-ever Guinness Book of Records (published in 1955) and—remarkably—still retains the title more than 50 years later."{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00crai_0 |title=Guinness Book of Records |date=2009 |publisher=Guinness World Records |isbn=978-1-904994-37-4 |quote=Candle in the Wind 1997 is the best-selling single since charts began; however, not of all time. Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" is still recognized as the best-selling single of all time, but since it was released before the start of many charts, its pre-1950s sales are estimated. John's 1997 song has sold the most copies when looking at copies sold since charts began, as verified in Guinness World Records. |url-access=registration}}

In 1974, the 1942 recording of the song by Bing Crosby and The Ken Darby Singers on Decca Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#w|title=GRAMMY Hall Of Fame | Hall of Fame Artists | GRAMMY.com|website=grammy.com}}

The recording was broadcast on Armed Forces Radio on April 30, 1975, as a secret, pre-arranged signal precipitating the U.S. evacuation from Saigon.{{Citation |last=Todd |first=Olivier |title=Cruel April: The Fall of Saigon |year=1990 |page=353 |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company}}. For more information, see Fall of Saigon, the end of the Vietnam War.{{Cite web|url=https://americacomesalive.com/final-evacuation-of-saigon-signaled-by-song-white-christmas/|title=Evacuation of Vietnam Signaled by Playing of White Christmas|first=Kate|last=Kelly|date=June 25, 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://diplomacy.state.gov/stories/fall-of-saigon-1975-american-diplomats-refugees/|title=The Fall of Saigon (1975): The Bravery of American Diplomats and Refugees|website=The National Museum of American Diplomacy|date=April 29, 2021 }}

In 1999, National Public Radio included it in the "NPR 100", which sought to compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century. Crosby's version of the song also holds the distinction of being ranked No. 2 on the "Songs of the Century" list, behind only Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow," as voted by members of the RIAA.{{Cite news |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/07/365.songs/ |title=New song list puts 'Rainbow' way up high |date=March 7, 2001 |publisher=CNN |access-date=July 26, 2010 |archive-date=December 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228035700/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/07/365.songs/ |url-status=dead }} In 2002, the original 1942 version was one of 50 historically significant recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. In 2004, it ranked No. 5 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

In a UK poll in December 2012, "White Christmas" was voted fourth (behind "Fairytale of New York", "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" and "Merry Xmas Everybody") on the ITV television special The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song."The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song". ITV. December 22, 2012.

These are the formats and track listings of single releases of "White Christmas".

{{track listing

| headline = 10-inch shellac single – U.S. (Decca – 18429) 1942[https://books.google.com/books?id=Mkz_w-WYiMAC&dq=1942+white+christmas+DLA+3009&pg=PA119 Bing Crosby: Crooner of the Century] – By Richard Grudens[https://books.google.com/books?id=lhgEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Decca+%E2%80%8E-+18429&pg=PT26 Billboard 15 Dec 1945] – "Bing Crosby – White Christmas / Let's Start The New Year Right" 10" single, (Decca – 18429)

| title1 = White Christmas

| writer1 = Irving Berlin

| length1 = 3:02

| title2 = Let's Start The New Year Right

| writer2 = Irving Berlin

| length2 =

}}

{{track listing

| headline = 10-inch shellac single – U.S. (Decca – 23778) 1947

| title1 = White Christmas

| writer1 = Irving Berlin

| length1 = 3:04

| title2 = God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen

| writer2 = traditional

| length2 =

}}

{{track listing

| headline = 7-inch vinyl single – U.S. (Decca – 23778) 1950{{Cite web |url=http://www.45cat.com/record/923778 |title=Bing Crosby – White Christmas |via=45cat.com |access-date=December 10, 2018}}

| title1 = White Christmas

| writer1 = Irving Berlin

| length1 = 3:04

| title2 = God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen

| writer2 = traditional

| length2 =

}}

{{track listing

| headline = 7-inch vinyl single – U.S. (MCA – 65022){{Cite web |url=http://www.45cat.com/record/mca65022 |title=Bing Crosby – White Christmas |via=45cat.com |access-date=December 10, 2018}}

| title1 = White Christmas

| writer1 = Irving Berlin

| length1 = 3:04

| title2 = God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen

| writer2 = traditional

| length2 =

}}

{{track listing

| headline = CD single – UK (MCA Records – MCSTD48105)[https://books.google.com/books?id=FAo5AQAAIAAJ&q=MCSTD48105+white+christmas+cd+single Complete UK Hit Singles] – 1952–2006, Graham Betts, Collins, 2006 – Music – 1088 pages – ("White Christmas" 1998 UK CD single)

| note1 =

| title1 = White Christmas

| writer1 = Irving Berlin

| length1 = 3:06

| title2 = Auld Lang Syne

| writer2 = Robert Burns (lyrics), Scots folk melody

| length2 = 1:38

| title3 = Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy

| writer3 = Larry Grossman, Ian Fraser, Buz Kohan / Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone

| length3 = 2:37

}}

Irving Berlin's opening verse, contrasting the sunshine and warmth of Christmas in California with the narrator's desire for a traditional holiday setting of winter snow, is often dropped in recordings.

It is included on A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, sung by Darlene Love; on Barbra Streisand's A Christmas Album; on the Carpenters' Christmas Portrait, sung by Karen Carpenter; on Neil Diamond's The Christmas Album; on Bette Midler's Cool Yule; on Libera's Christmas Album; and on Crash Test Dummies' Jingle All the Way.

{{poemquote|The sun is shining, the grass is green,

The orange and palm trees sway.

There's never been such a day

in Beverly Hills, L.A.

But it's December the twenty-fourth,—

And I am longing to be up North—White Christmas piano solo, Hal Leonard}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Platinum|artist=Bing Crosby|title=White Christmas|relyear=1942|certyear=2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|type=single|award=Platinum|artist=Bing Crosby|title=White Christmas|relyear=1942|certyear=2021|id=9889|access-date=January 20, 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|award=Gold|artist=Bing Crosby|title=White Christmas|relyear=1942|certyear=2024|access-date=January 5, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|award=Gold|relyear=1942|artist=Bill Crosby|title=White Christmas|type=single|certyear=2023|access-date=December 2, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Sweden|award=Gold|relyear=1977|access-date=December 3, 2021|artist=Bing Crosby|title=White Christmas|type=single|certyear=1996}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|award=Silver|relyear=1974|access-date=December 21, 2012|artist=Bing Crosby|title=White Christmas|type=single|certyear=1978|id=8221-3086-1|salesamount=1,047,349|salesref={{cite news|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-uks-official-chart-millionaires-revealed__20459/|title=The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed|last=Copsey|first=Rob|date=September 19, 2017|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=January 20, 2021}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|award=Platinum|relyear=2019|access-date=December 11, 2020|artist=Bing Crosby|title=White Christmas|type=single|certyear=2020|id=8221-1148-1|note=Digital sales since 2019|refname=UKDigital}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|nocert=true|salesamount=10-12,000,000|salesref={{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XVdQAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA10&dq=Crosby&article_id=5972,1936557&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj73dKxk7qMAxWZSjABHftVMqUQ6AF6BAgFEAM#v=onepage&q=Crosby&f=false|title=Old Favorite Still Sells|newspaper=The Evening Independent|page=10|date=December 12, 1963|access-date=April 2, 2025|first=Mary|last=Campbell}}}}

{{Certification Table Separator|title=Streaming}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Greece|artist=Bing Crosby|title=White Christmas|award=Gold|type=single|relyear=1974|certyear=2024|certweek=48|id=20241204124119|archive-date=December 4, 2024|access-date=December 4, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Summary}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=North America|nocert=true|salesamount=25,000,000|salesref={{cite book|title=The 1940s: American Popular Culture Through History|last=Sickels|first=Robert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4IkgU7jpLwC&q=%22Crosby%27s+version+alone+selling+over+25+million%22|quote=the song's North American record sales would ultimately exceed 110 million, with Crosby's version alone selling over 25 million|page=161|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313312991|date=January 1, 2004|access-date=October 17, 2013}}}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|streaming=true|streamsonly=true}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|award=Gold|artist=Michael Buble|title=White Christmas|relyear=2011|certyear=2025|access-date=January 31, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|award=Platinum|relyear=2011|artist=Michael Buble|title=White Christmas|type=single|certyear=2021|access-date=December 21, 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|title=White Christmas|artist=Michael Buble And Shania Twain|type=single|region=New Zealand|award=Gold|source=radioscope|access-date=2024-12-31|relyear=2012|certyear=2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|award=Gold|relyear=2004|artist=Michael Buble & Shania Twain|title=White Christmas|type=single|certyear=2023|note=with Shania Twain|id=8221-5120-1|access-date=December 15, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|noshipments=true|nosales=true|streaming=true}}

There have been more than 500 recorded versions of the song, in several different languages.{{Cite news |url=http://www.ascap.com/press/2009/1123_holidays_songs.aspx |title=ASCAP Announces Top 25 Holiday Songs of the Decade |date=November 23, 2009 |work=ASCAP |access-date=December 9, 2011}} The following have received some charting success.

Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra (with Bob Carroll on lead vocal) released a version on Capitol Records that reached No. 16 on Billboard magazine's pop singles chart in 1942{{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=42}} and Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra (with Garry Stevens on lead vocal) released a version for Columbia Records that reached No. 18 on Billboard{{'}}s pop singles chart{{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=59}} as did Freddy Martin and his Orchestra (with Clyde Rogers on lead vocal) for RCA Victor, reaching No. 20 on Billboard{{'}}s pop singles chart (and again in December 1945, reaching No. 16).{{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=47}}

In 1944, Frank Sinatra with a backing orchestration under the direction of Axel Stordahl for Columbia, reached No. 7 on Billboard{{'}}s pop singles chart (two more times: December 1945, No. 5; December 1946, No. 6){{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=58}} Jo Stafford reaching No. 9 on Billboard{{'}}s pop singles chart in 1946, with backing vocals by the Lyn Murray Singers and backing orchestration by Paul Weston for Capitol. Eddy Howard and his Orchestra released a version on the Majestic label that reached No. 21 on Billboard{{'}}s pop singles chart the same year{{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=41}} while Perry Como, with backing orchestration by Lloyd Shaffer, recorded the song for RCA Victor in 1947 and reached No. 23 on Billboard{{'}}s pop singles chart; Como recorded a stereo version of the song in 1959.{{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=29}}

In 1949, The Ravens peaked at No. 9 on Billboard{{'}}s Rhythm & Blues Records chart in January 1949 on National Records.{{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=55}} while Ernest Tubb, with female backing vocals by The Troubadettes on Decca, peaked at No. 7 on Billboard{{'}}s Country & Western Records chart.{{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=62}}

File:White christmas by the drifters US 7-inch red variant.png

In 1952, Mantovani and his orchestra reached No. 23 on Billboard{{'}}s pop singles chart while The Drifters showcased the talents of lead singer Clyde McPhatter and the bass vocals of Bill Pinkney in 1954, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard{{'}}s Rhythm & Blues Records chart. It returned to the same chart in the next two years.CD sleeve: Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits (1955 – Present), 1989 Rhino Records Inc. In February 1954, the Drifters recorded "White Christmas", which was released that November.{{cite web | url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2004/06/12/fans-danced-while-they-guessed/ | title=Fans danced while they guessed }} While the song became a No. 5 R&B hit in 1954, its popularity remained in the black community. The Drifters' rendition of this song can be heard in the films Home Alone and The Santa Clause.{{Cite news |url=https://thetandd.com/pm/leisure-magazine-jubilee-historic-columbia-celebrates-african-american-heritage-this/article_c6723b3b-3a04-58ed-9afe-7e95486eef17.html |title=Jubilee! Historic Columbia celebrates African-American heritage this weekend with singing, art, dance, drama |date=August 25, 2004 |work=The Times and Democrat |access-date=December 31, 2019 |location=Orangeburg, South Carolina}}{{Cite news |title=Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame member brings quartet to Jackpot |date=January 10, 1997 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/408599521/|access-date=December 21, 2020 |work=The Times-News |location=Twins Falls, Idaho}}

In 1953, Bing Crosby sang "White Christmas" in a film made in Paris as part of The Ford 50th Anniversary Show, a two-hour television special broadcast on NBC and CBS.{{cite news |last1=Gross |first1=Ben |title=What's On? |work=Daily News |location=New York, NY|date=June 13, 1953|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/453085772/?terms=%22Bing%20Crosby%22&match=1|via=Newspapers.com}}

Andy Williams recorded the song for Columbia in 1963 on The Andy Williams Christmas Album, where it reached No. 1 on Billboard{{'}}s weekly Christmas Singles chart.{{Cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SgsEAAAAMBAJ&q=Andy+Williams%27+Yule+Mark%3A+Tops+2+Charts&pg=PA1 |title=Andy Williams' Yule Mark: Tops 2 Charts |date=December 21, 1963 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=January 1, 2020 |location=Cincinnati, Ohio}} It was released in 1968 on Atco Records as a posthumous single from Otis Redding, and reached No. 12 on the Christmas Singles chart. In 1980, Darts's version peaked at No. 48 on the UK singles chart.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

Michael Bolton performed it on his 1992 non-holiday album, Timeless: The Classics, where it peaked at No. 73 on Billboard{{'}}s Hot 100 Airplay chart in January 1993.{{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=22}} Garth Brooks version included on his first holiday album, Beyond the Season, peaked at No. 70 on Billboard{{'}}s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in January 1995.{{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=23}} In 1998 Martina McBride recorded it for her album White Christmas, charting twice, reaching No. 75 on Billboard{{'}}s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in 1999, and No. 62 on the same chart in 2000{{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=48}}

Bette Midler's version, released on her non-holiday album, Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook, reached No. 15 on Billboard{{'}}s Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart in 2003.{{Cite book |title=Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004) |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |publisher=Record Research Inc. |year=2004 |isbn=0-89820-161-6 |location=Wisconsin |page=49}} The version released on Andrea Bocelli 2009 album, My Christmas, reached No. 16 on the Portuguese Singles Chart.{{Cite web |url=http://acharts.us/song/52351 |title=White Christmas-bianco Natale by Andrea Bocelli – Music Charts |website=acharts.us |access-date=January 16, 2018}} Despite not being released as a single, Marco Mengoni's version, released on the compilation album X Factor – The Christmas Album, charted at No. 13 on the Italian Singles Chart based on digital downloads of the track.{{Cite web |url=http://italiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Marco+Mengoni&titel=White+Christmas&cat=s |title=Italian Charts – Marco Mengoni – White Christmas (song) |publisher=Italiancharts.com. Hung Medien |access-date=December 21, 2012}}

Lady Gaga's version was released on her live EP A Very Gaga Holiday in 2011. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 87, for the week ending December 3, 2011.{{Cite web |title=Official Singles Chart on 27/11/2011 |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/20111127/7501/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=Official Charts |language=en}} The same version also entered the Belgium (Flanders) Singles Chart at number 86,{{Cite web |title=Lady Gaga - White Christmas - ultratop.be |url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/song/e4419/Lady-Gaga-White-Christmas |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=www.ultratop.be}} for the week ending dated December 24, 2011, and the Japan Hot 100 singles at number 93.{{Cite magazine |title=Lady Gaga {{!}} Biography, Music & News |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/lady-gaga/chart-history/jpn/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}} Gaga's cover features an extra verse about a snowman.

The Glee cast's version of the song, sung by Darren Criss and Chris Colfer, entered the UK charts for the first time in 2018, four years after its release, at No. 98.{{Cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/20190103/7501/ |title=Official Singles Chart Top 100 |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=December 29, 2018}}

In 2020, a version by Meghan Trainor, featuring Seth MacFarlane, went to No. 1 on Billboard{{'}}s Adult Contemporary chart.{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/2020-12-12/adult-contemporary|title=Adult Contemporary|magazine=Billboard|date=December 12, 2020|access-date=December 8, 2020}}

Finnish soprano Tarja Turunen's version of the song was featured on her third Christmas album, Dark Christmas, released in 2023.{{cite news |last1=D |first1=Denise |title=REVIEW: Tarja – Dark Christmas |url=https://tuonelamagazine.com/review-tarja-dark-christmas/ |access-date=13 May 2025 |work=Tuonela Magazine |date=25 December 2023}}

• List of best-selling sheet music
• List of best-selling singles

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/essays/WHITE%20CHRISTMAS.pdf Library of Congress essay] on Crosby's version on the National Recording Registry.

{{Irving Berlin songs}}

{{Bing Crosby singles}}

{{Frank Sinatra singles}}

{{AcademyAwardBestOriginalSong 1941–1950}}

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