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The Rock Icon Behind the Most Successful Christmas Album Ever
More than half a century later, a classic holiday album remains the best-selling of all time.
Dec 18, 2025 7:34 AM EST
By Lucille Barilla
Entertainment Writer, Parade
Key Points
Elvis Presley’s 1957 Christmas Album is history’s best-selling holiday record, topping 20 million sales.
Initially reluctant, Presley was convinced to record by creating a festive studio atmosphere.
Critics resisted its rock style, but it became a cultural holiday staple and chart-topping success.
More than six decades after its debut, one holiday album continues to stand apart as the best-selling Christmas record of all time.
That enduring milestone belongs to Elvis Presley, whose 1957 release Elvis’ Christmas Album remains a fixture of the holiday season and a lasting reminder of his cultural impact on the music industry. At the time, the King of Rock and Roll was coaxed to record the LP, intending to capitalize on the holiday season, not with the expectation that it would leave a lasting mark on music history.
In an episode of the iHeart Radio Podcast Our American Stories, titled Behind the Blue Christmas: How Elvis Was Coaxed Into Recording a Christmas Album, Greg McDonald, who worked for Colonel Tom Parker, shared the story of how the King of Rock and Roll was convinced to record a Christmas album.
Reportedly, Presley initially had no interest in the project. However, he was soon convinced otherwise.
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SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox The podcast stated, “Elvis was having so much fun. He and Red West had a karate demonstration, and they ended up breaking a classical guitar, and Red had put a Christmas tree in the studio. This is summertime, and he put a Christmas tree just to get [Elvis] into the Christmas mood, to get him to record.”
However, according to the Elvis History Blog, the Elvis Presley Christmas Album wasn’t initially embraced by critics. Many believed that some of the songs featured a rock edge that wasn’t in tune with the spirit of the holiday.
Billboard reported that the record was eventually certified as having sold 10 million copies according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Graceland reports the album was only Presley’s third studio album, and his first holiday release.
Side A of LP includes Christmas standards such as “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “White Christmas,” “Here Comes Santa Claus,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” “Blue Christmas,” and “Santa Bring My Baby (Back to Me).” Side B features religious classics including “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Silent Night,” “There’ll Be Peace in the Valley,” “I Believe,” “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” and “It’s No Secret (What God Can Do).”
The Elvis Christmas Album reigned at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart in December 1957 and has since sold well over 20 million copies worldwide. To this day, the Elvis Christmas Album is the world’s best-selling holiday release.
Presley would record one more holiday album, Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas, in 1971. Elvis Presley died in August 1977.