5 Country Christmas Albums Everyone Must Hear

Country artists love recording Christmas albums. Recently, Jon Pardi released a new Christmas album shortly after being made a Grand Ole Opry member. He told us, "I've always wanted to make a Christmas record. It just sounded fun! It's been many years of hearing Christmas music and being like, 'I still haven't made a [Christmas] record!' Eventually, I was just like, 'Alright, we're doing a Christmas record!'"

Kane Brown also released a this year. He released a cover of Elvis Presley's classic "Blue Christmas." Elvis' voice starts off the familiar song, and Kane's voice comes in on the second verse. Kane told us, "I chose to cover 'Blue Christmas' because it was probably one of my favorite Christmas songs. I don't have a lot. I used to sing it all the time whenever I was first coming up in the music scene, just while I was warming up and just playing around on stage, so when I got asked to do a Christmas song, of course, I'd have picked that one. And to reimagine it with Elvis is amazing."

When it comes to artists with multiple country Christmas albums, Reba McEntire has four Christmas albums already under her belt. Johnny Cash had some fantastic Christmas songs in his career. George Strait, Tim McGraw, Darius Rucker, Lady A, and Garth Brooks also brought Christmas cheer.

Additionally, there's the amazing Christmas work from Brett Eldredge, who has made his Christmas "Glow" tour an annual event. Other artists with Christmas records include Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Kenny Rogers, Kacey Musgraves, and even Miranda Lambert's Pistol Annies.

It's pretty hard to pick just five country music Christmas albums that are the best, but we did just that. If you don't already know these five albums by heart, you really should check them out.

Okay, so Martina McBride isn't on top of the country charts anymore; however, her Christmas album, "White Christmas," which was first released in 1998, is nothing short of spectacular. There is a reason she does a Christmas tour every year: it's her calling. The way she reinvents the classics is fantastic!

Garth is one country superstar who loves to release Christmas albums; he has released three in his career so far. His first Christmas album, Beyond The Season, came shortly after his huge success began in country music in 1992. Because Garth does not allow his music or videos to play on YouTube, it's hard to find a Brooks holiday classic, but we did find one. In his 1992 "Silent Night" version, he tells a special holiday story mid-song about him and his then-wife, Sandy.

George Strait is another country icon who loves to release Christmas albums. His first Christmas album came out in 1985, and the King of Country Music does a fine job on holiday classics "Frosty The Snowman," which makes it sound like Frosty came from Texas, "Winter Wonderland," and "Away In A Manger." His much-talked-about "Christmas Cookies," which Lainey Wilson recently covered, was released on a country Christmas compilation in 1999, which featured songs from various country stars of the day.

The album that forever made Brett Eldredge a Christmas-singing country star. Brett tours each year with his Christmas show selling out in every city it plays each year. He's so good at Christmas music that Kelly Clarkson sought him out to sing a Christmas duet, "Under The Mistletoe," with her on her 2021 Christmas album, When Christmas Comes Around.

As for Brett's "Glow," every song on it sounds like a classic. Highlights are his perfect versions of "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and the title track, "Glow."

One of the best-selling Christmas albums of all time, selling more than five million copies before the 1980s closed. This album is a classic, and Dolly Parton wrote seven original songs for the album, which have all become classics of their own.