Favorite Christmas Singer

Johnny Mathis and Ella Fitzgerald

 

too many to list!

here's a few:

Karen Carpenter
Dean Martin
Nat King Cole
Frank Sinatra
Perry Como
Johnny Mathis
Andy Williams
Elvis
Burl Ives...

 

Among my favorites are Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, and the Carpenters.

 

Shane McGowan and Ian Anderson.

 

Emmylou Harris
Ella Fitzgerald
Nat King Cole
Willie Nelson

 

That JD McPherson album became an instant classic in our house too

 

Out of new Christmas singers, I don't mind Michael Buble, and I really enjoy Seth MacFarlane's Holiday For Swing album.

 

Bowie ????? Am I missing something ???

I like the old RCA mono Perry Como records....reminds me of a warm fire place...

 

Norah Jones has become my favorite Christmas voice over the years. She has not yet released a full holiday album but she is one of the few artists who consciously and conscientiously gifts us with a new song almost every season. Sometimes it's an original, sometimes it's a carol like "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," sometimes it's a duet with Cyndi Lauper or Willie Nelson, sometimes it's a song that's more Christmas-ish ("Wintertime," Horace Silver's "Peace") and sometimes it's a stealthy sideproject like last year's delightful EP with Puss N Boots - just hearing Norah's voice around this time of year always brings me comfort and much joy

 

Nick Lowe. His Christmas album from a few years ago is a favorite around here.
Also, oddly, Mike Patton. The version of “The Christmas Song” from John Zorn’s A Dreamer’s Christmas is excellent.
And Miss Sharon Jones.

 

Maybe this is in reference to the Bing Crosby and David Bowie Little Drummer Boy duet?

 

That is probably the only Bowie Christmas song I know of... and hard to imagine that being a favorite... more like cringe worthy... but that is jmho...
My reaction would be... what else have you listened to....?
Totally understandable that different people have different reactions to the same source.....but I can't stand to watch the video....looks very uncomfortable...it doesn't work

 

Amy Grant is my favorite among those who not been mentioned yet.

From those mentioned, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Elvis.

 

Glen Campbell

 

Andy Williams
Elvis Presley

 

Brian Setzer

 

Bing Crosby
Nat “King” Cole
Perry Como
Karen Carpenter

But for me really Bing is the voice of Christmas. My kids LOVE his stuff (they thought it was Santa singing) so it’s extra special now. When I hear the first few bars of “Jingle Bells” on the Merry Christmas album it just feels like Christmas.

The others have that same impact. It’s not Christmas unless I hear “greeting cards have all been sent...” or the intro to “Chestnuts Roasting” or Perry’s somewhat awkward up beat “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

 

If I was going to name one as my favorite it would be Wilie Gustafson's Christmas for Cowboys. Not a single bad track on the whole album imo. And for those of you who believe there's no new Christmas albums that are as wonderful as the classics, this one was released in 2007. There are some other newer goodies out there as well, but there's not much chance you'll get at them if you don't listen to new music.

 

Without a doubt Bing Crosby

Christmas in Killarney reminds me of my Dad and for that alone it’s gotta be Bing

 

John Fahey, The New Possibility, for seasonal music I tend to favour instrumentals since I already know the words.

 

Liz Frasier

 

It is really hard for me to narrow my list of favorite Christmas vocalists to a manageable size, but I will give it my best shot. At least you narrowed the list of holiday favorites for vocalists only, so no instrumentalists like Percy Faith, Mantovani or John Klein can make the list. I agree with a previous poster that there have not been a lot of new admissions to this top vocalists list in the last 20 years.

Nat King Cole - Nat and arranger Ralph Carmichael were a match made in heaven.
Johnny Mathis - His first holiday album, Merry Christmas, is still his greatest with the glorious Percy Faith arrangements, but Sounds Of Christmas was a very fine following-up.
Elvis Presley - Everyone loves his first RIAA diamond selling album from 1957, Christmas, but his triple platinum Elvis Sings The Wonderful World Of Christmas from 1971 is quite stunning as well.
Michale Bublé - The crooner's Christmas album is so popular now with well over 12 million in worldwide sales that some may dismiss him as unhip, but the beautiful arrangements never go out of style.
Lorrie Morgan - One of country music's most versatile vocalists and her Merry Christmas From London album is just breathtakingly gorgeous. Frank Sinatra put her on one of his Duets albums.
Carrie Underwood - I have been begging Carrie to make a Christmas album for the last four or five years (in person and face to face no less) and now she just put out her first full fledged holiday album. It is simply magnificent. Johnny Mathis has always been my go-to version for O Holy Night, but Carrie gives him and Percy Faith a run for their money with her majestic arrangement by Greg Wells.

 

My alternative top six list of favorite Christmas vocalists, just because it hurt so much to leave them off of my first list:

Bing Crosby
John Gary
Jack Jones
Ella Fitzgerald
Dean Martin
Andy Williams

 

Two ties: Male - Nat King Cole & Johnny Mathis
Female - Suzy Bogguss & Sia
Group/Duo - The Carpenters

I've had the Christmas album CD by Agnetha Faltskog (ABBA) & her daughter Linda for several years but never listened to it from beginning to end. I'm going to change that this year because of one of their songs. It's awesome! Listen to it all the way through & listen how remarkable her voice is. It's in Swedish but it's beautiful!!!