Where are the modern holiday songs?
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- After dominating the holiday music charts for years, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" has been knocked off the number one spot.
Did a new artist send the "Queen of Christmas" to second place? No, another timeless classic is #1. Brenda Lee's "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree" has spent the last two weeks on top of Billboard's Hot 100.
Carey handled the change with grace, sending Lee flowers and congratulations.
Thank you for your sweet note, @MariahCarey! Wishing you the merriest Christmas, too! ? -Brenda pic.twitter.com/Md0w7vQYpc
— Brenda Lee (@BrendaLeeMusic_) December 7, 2023
This got us thinking, what are the modern holiday songs that will take their place alongside the classics?
If you think Mariah Carey isn't a "classic" by now, it will be there soon. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was released in 1994, making it 30 years old next winter.
We looked at the top all-time holiday songs from Billboard magazine, and of the Top 50, only five were written this century. The other 45 are either certified classics, or a new spin on a song that was written before the year 2000.
We asked Brett Andrews, program director and morning host for BIG FM 97.3 where the new Christmas classics are, and he says predicting that is not easy.
"Mariah Carey's song was not necessarily as huge of a hit 30 years ago when it was written as it is now," he said. "Sometimes you are just in the right place, in the right moment, with the right sound, and it catches on."
Andrews thinks the classic songs, no matter how old they get, will live on. Because the songs that we know are the songs we like.
"For this type of music and this time of year, people like stuff that they know, and stuff that they can sing," he said.
So, while we wait for the classic songs of Christmas future, go ahead and turn up that Bing Crosby. Because for many of us, the memories of Christmas past is worth keeping and worth celebrating.
If you are looking for a "new" holiday playlist, Andrews thinks Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande, and the Jonas Brothers are good places to start.