White Christmas (song)

"White Christmas"
"White Christmas"
	1942 78 single release of "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby on Decca Records, 18429 A, with Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra, Matrix # DLA 3009
Single by Bing Crosby with Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra
from the album Song Hits from Holiday Inn
B-side	"Let's Start the New Year Right"; "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"; "Jingle Bells";
Released	July 30, 1942 (original)
Recorded	May 29, 1942; March 19, 1947
Studio	Radio Recorders (Los Angeles) (1942 recording)
Genre	Christmas; traditional pop;
Length	3:02 (1942 recording); 3:04 (1947 recording);
Label	Decca (1942–1973 issues); MCA (1983–1985 issues);
Songwriter(s)	Irving Berlin
Bing Crosby with Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra singles chronology

"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. The song was written by Berlin for the 1942 musical film Holiday Inn. The composition won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 15th Academy Awards. Bing Crosby's record topped the Billboard chart for 11 weeks in 1942 and returned to the number one position again in December 1943 and 1944. His version would return to the top 40 a dozen times in subsequent years.

Since its release, "White Christmas" has been covered by many artists. The version sung by Bing Crosby is the world's best-selling single (in terms of sales of physical media), with estimated sales in excess of 50 million physical copies worldwide.^[3] When the figures for other versions of the song are added to Crosby's, sales of the song exceed 100 million.^[4]^[5]^[6]

^ "'White Christmas' is still the gold standard for holiday singles". Belleville News. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ Cogan, Jim; Clark, William (2003). Temples of Sound: Inside the Great Recording Studios. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p. 16. ISBN 0-8118-3394-1.
^ "Best-selling single". Guinness World Records. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
^ "Guinness Book of Records, 2007 Edition, page 187" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 15, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
^ "Guinness Book of Records, 2008 Edition, page 181" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
^ "Guinness Book of Records, 2009 Edition, pages 14, 15 & 169" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 25, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2018.

[Bing_Crosby_White_Christmas-1] "'White Christmas' is still the gold standard for holiday singles". Belleville News. Retrieved November 5, 2023.

[Cogan-2] Cogan, Jim; Clark, William (2003). Temples of Sound: Inside the Great Recording Studios. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p. 16. ISBN 0-8118-3394-1.

[3] "Best-selling single". Guinness World Records. Retrieved November 29, 2018.

[Guinness07-4] "Guinness Book of Records, 2007 Edition, page 187" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 15, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2018.

[5] "Guinness Book of Records, 2008 Edition, page 181" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2018.

[Guinness09-6] "Guinness Book of Records, 2009 Edition, pages 14, 15 & 169" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 25, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2018.

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