Want to curate the perfect festive playlist? Our newsroom staffers put their heads together and came up with a list of 10 top choices for holiday listening.

Which ones will make it into your regular Christmas rotation?

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, Bing Crosby

Written in 1951 by Meredith Wilson, this song was a hit for Bing Crosby as well as Perry Como and the Fontaine Sisters with Mitchell Ayres and his orchestra in 1951, with Canadian Michael Bublé recording his own successful 2011 version. This song paints such vivid picture of the holidays, it’s hard not to get into the Christmas spirit while listening to this light-hearted, festive tune.

Blue Christmas, Elvis Presley

He’s the King for a reason. To hear him is to love him, and this timeless Christmas hit is vintage Elvis. The tale of unrequited holiday love is a staple of holiday playlists everywhere – and rightfully so.

Last Christmas, Wham!

Pop duo Wham! released this light, spirited pop hit in December of 1984 and now, it’s a must-hear every December. Delightfully upbeat despite its lyrics lamenting a fickle love, the song was written and produced by George Michael, and the song — up against charity supergroup Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? — never made No. 1 in 1984. The song’s popularity grew over the years, however, and it finally achieved the accolade of Christmas No. 1 in 2023, 39 years after its initial release.

Mary, Did You Know?, Pentatonix

When it comes to contemporary remakes of Christmas favourites, it doesn’t get any better than Pentatonix. The a cappella sensations have a slew of Christmas hits. This one’s one of our favourites for the evocative harmonies laid on the haunting melody.

I’ll Be Home For Christmas, Michael Bublé

Is it really a Christmas playlist without Canada’s favourite crooner? You can argue which one of Bublé’s renditions of a Christmas classic is the best, but we’re choosing I’ll Be Home For Christmas for its warm nostalgic glow.

The Christmas Song, Diana Krall

The smooth, smoky vocals of the British Columbian jazz star were just made to sing holiday standards. Her Christmas Songs album, featuring the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, is perfect holiday listening. If you want to choose just one track, then what better than the familiar ode to chestnuts roasting on an open fire …

Merry Christmas, Ed Sheeran & Elton John

This 2021 holiday hit from the surprising superstar duo of Ed Sheeran and Elton John pays tribute to the sadness of the year and still manages to be a hopeful, uplifting tribute to the season. It’s sure to have you dancing in the kitchen while the embers glow.

Angels From Heaven Came, musica intima

Add some ethereal beauty to your playlist with offerings from the Juno Award-winning vocal ensemble from Vancouver. Choral fans will revel in the luscious harmonies of Jonathan Quick’s Angels From Heaven Came, but everything on the ensemble’s O Nata Lux album is more than worth a listen.

Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming, The Tabernacle Choir

This timeless classic always evokes Christmas and Christmas Eve memories, with ethereal tones that celebrate a symbolic reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is the ‘rose’ in the carol. American musicologist Theodore Baker completed an English translation of this hymn in 1894 that helped it gain a foothold in Christmas celebrations.

All I Want for Christmas, Mariah Carey

Let’s face it, it’s not Christmas until the queen of the season arrives to announce that all she wants for Christmas is you. It’s the kind of supersized, overplayed track you really wish you could hate – but you just can’t. Because Mariah. And Christmas. And, well, you know you’re going to belt along. Go ahead. We won’t tell.