This year’s first Hot 100 for 2026 begins the year the only way it can, still dominating the holiday list. This isn’t a gripe; it’s the rhythm of the current era of listening patterns. The reason why the “Christmas lock” is so prominent that it makes it difficult for actual hit song writers to catch a breath outside the Top 20 is the fact that fans continue to loop the holiday playlist all the way to the end of the year.
And then there’s Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” holding down the No. 1 spot, doing what it does best: using the holiday season to celebrate its own victory. It’s sticking around, but the thing to note here is the airplay power, which explains why it’s still the lone entry when people are slowly transitioning out of the holidays. It’s no longer just a streaming thing. It’s a full-on season in which the radio responds to it like it’s a current hot single.
But immediately after it, the rest of the podium can be summed up as the greatest hits of the Christmas repertoire. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee pushes to No. 2 from No. 3, as “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms goes down to No. 3 from the previous week’s No. 2. It’s the simplest of stories here—who gets the same streams, the same airplay, the same holiday gatherings—is really just a matter of inches.
Last Christmas by Wham! holds at No. 4, noted for the largest spike in streams, which is in line with the way the track keeps inspiring new waves of love each year. It is one of the few songs that have the double attribute of nostalgia and pop flair to the point that it sounds great whether you are hearing it at the grocery store, a TikTok video, or a late-night “last one” list. Ariana Grande’s Santa Tell Me holds at No. 5.
After this, the Top 10 offers a comforting continuum of traditional tracks which are ever-present on the charts. Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)” holds at number six, Dean Martin’s “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” moves to number seven, and Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath The Tree” slips down just one place to number eight, having previously been at number seven. Andy Williams’ “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” holds at number nine, and “Sleigh Ride” by The Ronettes bursts up to number ten, having been at number twelve previously. The fact that these tracks are repeated year after year immediately brings to mind not only the fact that they are ever-present on the charts, but the fact they come and go like characters within a season-based league table. The crowd responds to them as they do to tradition, and tradition doesn’t have to advertise itself to the masses to succeed.
The mid-Top 20 follows the same trend with an interesting shift that indicates the depth of the holiday bench. Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano soars to No. 11 to sit beside Burl Ives’ A Holly Jolly Christmas at No. 12. Of course, Michael Bublé keeps not one but two Christmas standards current. Darlene Love fares very well this week with Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) at No. 14 and Winter Wonderland later at No. 40. There’s the kind of catalog double that comes with an artist’s voice being synonymous with the holiday.
The main “tell” that the chart is still in the sway of the holiday hits is the positioning of the non-holiday songs on the list. With “Golden” by HUNTR/X:X EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI at No. 25, there’s a drastic drop from last week’s No. 11 position. This hardly seems like a loss of popularity and more like the calendar trying to cram all non-holiday music into a smaller space alongside the massive holiday songs on the list.
This seems true for The Fate Of Ophelia by Taylor Swift at No. 28 after last week’s No. 10 and Opalite at the midpoint at No. 54 alongside the holiday songs dominating the list’s massive space. The largest artists will seem like they “dropped” when the holiday songs occupy an unusually vast space on the list.
Down lower, the chart becomes a confluence of re-entries, holiday deep cuts, and a handful of actual new songs. But the re-entry designation is ubiquitous, and it’s working hard. Sia’s Snowman swings back in at No. 41. The Jackson 5 are back with Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town at No. 43 and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus at No. 44. John & Yoko’s Happy Xmas (War Is Over) swings back in at No. 45, while Gwen Stefani’s You Make It Feel Like Christmas again appears at No. 46.
The Bing Crosby discography puts in a return appearance, too, with Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas) at No. 49 and I’ll Be Home For Christmas at No. 50. This, of course, is the contemporary Hot 100 functioning in holiday mode, where the classics don’t “chart,” they “return,” like guests arriving at the annual holiday bash. And then, of course, there are the actual debut singles.
“Phantom” by EsDeeKid & Rico Ace arrives at number 81, the biggest debut this week, giving the lower half a much-needed kickstart. Olivia Dean makes a debut with “The Christmas Song” at number 88, Fall Out Boy appears with “It Feels Like Christmas” at number 94, and Sienna Spiro bursts in at number 100 with “Die On This Hill”. It seems, despite the prominence of Christmas songs on the list, a newcomer can carve out a niche, especially if they have a Christmas theme or a viral hit.
The bigger picture, however, is what follows. This is the final week of holiday domination. As soon as we pass into January, however, the Christmas album catalog will begin evaporating rapidly, and those albums that have been languishing mid-table and below will suddenly catapult up without needing some kind of musical miracle. Pay attention to those non-holiday albums, such as Golden, the Taylor Swift albums, Kehlani’s “Folded”, as well as those contemporary country and pop titles scattered throughout the 50s to 90s.
It would seem that next week’s chart is going to be as if the floodgates of normality have been flung open. Current trends suggest that January 3, 2026, remains the domain of the holiday giants. The classics are still winning, the newer holiday titles are still standing their own ground, and the rest are just biding their time until after the Christmas lights have been packed away.