Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

"Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" is a song by American boy band NSYNC. It was released on November 29, 1998 as the first and only single from their second studio album, Home for Christmas and was also featured on the end credits of the 1998 Disney Christmas movie I'll Be Home For Christmas. The song charted at #37 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart. The single was also the second from NSYNC's European seasonal album, The Winter Album. A cappella group Pentatonix covered the song in their 2016 Christmas album, A Pentatonix Christmas. Australian singer-songwriter Betty Who also covered the song for Spotify Singles in 2020.

"Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays"
Single by NSYNC
from the album The Winter Album and Home for Christmas
B-side"All I Want Is You (This Christmas)"
ReleasedNovember 29, 1998
Recorded1998
GenrePop
Length4:12
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)JC Chasez, Veit Renn, Justin Timberlake, Vincent Degiorgio
Producer(s)Veit Renn
NSYNC singles chronology
"U Drive Me Crazy"
(1998)		 "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays"
(1998)		 "(God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time on You"
(1999)

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine reviewed the song in the context of Home for Christmas, and gave the following review:

It's always a sign that a group is hot if they release a holiday album mere months after their debut. That's the case with *NSYNC. Their debut was released in America in late March, and in early December, Home for Christmas hit the shelves. Much of the album is devoted to newer material, such as the anthemic "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays", and only a handful of songs qualifying as standards: "The Christmas Song," "The First Noel," and "O Holy Night." All of it is given the familiar *NSYNC sheen, alternating between slickly produced adult contemporary ballads and lite dance-pop.

Music video

The video was directed by Lionel C. Martin and filmed in a day.[1] All five members of NSYNC had creative input for the direction of the video, as they wanted it to "be pop, fun, and energetic."[1] This also included their request to include Gary Coleman as an elf in the video, which Martin described as "a little tricky" to secure on board.[1] The classic sitcom Diff'rent Strokes is referenced when NSYNC ask "Whatchu talkin' about, Gary?", based on Coleman's catchphrase; "Whatchu talkin' about, Willis?". Coleman's agent didn't approve of him saying the line, as it was owned by NBC.[1]

The video debuted on TRL on December 14, 1998.

Track listing
  1. "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" – 4:12
  2. "All I Want Is You (This Christmas)" – 3:16

Charts
Chart (1998) Peak
position
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[2] 37
Chart (2017–18) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[3] 74
Germany (Official German Charts)[4] 57
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[5] 87

References
  1. Young, Sage (November 10, 2018). "*NSYNC's 'Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays' Video Was Supposed To Be "Cheesy," According To Its Director". Bustle. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  2. "*N Sync Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  3. "Austriancharts.at – *N Sync – Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  4. "Offiziellecharts.de – *N Sync – Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  5. "Swisscharts.com – *N Sync – Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
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