Elvis Presley’s ‘The Classic Christmas Album’ Dashes to No. 1 on Top Rock Albums Chart
Elvis Presley’s The Classic Christmas Album leads Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart for the first time, rising two places to No. 1 on the Jan. 4, 2025-dated survey.
In the week ending Dec. 26, the set earned 40,000 equivalent album units, a jump of 59%, according to Luminate.
The Classic Christmas Album was released in 2012 and features 17 holiday-themed hits from Presley’s catalog, including “Blue Christmas” and “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane).”
The collection, which previously reached a No. 2 best on Top Rock Albums over the 2020 holiday season, is Presley’s second No. 1 on the chart, which began in 2006, after Elvis Presley Forever led for a week in 2015. That album accompanied a “forever” postage stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service that year.
Concurrently, The Classic Christmas Album jumps 9-4 on Top Country Albums and 46-23 on the all-genre Billboard 200. It’s a new peak on both charts, usurping its prior Nos. 5 and 26 highs, respectively.
“Blue Christmas” was the album’s top performer in streaming last week. It ranks at No. 2 on Rock Steaming Songs with 27.1 million official U.S. streams (up 61%). “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)” also appears on the tally, at No. 11 (8.1 million, up 43%). “Blue Christmas” was the set’s top radio track, with 9 million in audience (up 33%).
On the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, “Blue Christmas” rises to No. 21, a year after it reached a No. 18 best. The late Presley ties for the longest span of appearing on the chart – stretching across its entire existence, as he placed at No. 4 on the inaugural ranking (dated Aug. 4) with “Hard Headed Woman” and at No. 34 with “Don’t Ask Me Why” (both with the Jordanaires). Also with a 66-year and five-month span of hitting the Hot 100 from its first to its latest week, and likewise due to resurgent holiday hits: fellow late legends Chuck Berry, Nat King Cole, Perry Como and Dean Martin.
Kevin Rutherford
Billboard