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Are These the Best Christmas Songs of All Time?

If you needed an excuse to blast Christmas music at full volume, congratulations, the calendar just handed you one.

Now that December has officially arrived, the holiday playlists are coming out, the peppermint mochas are flowing, and TimeOut.com has dropped its new ranking of the 50 Best Christmas Songs of All Time.

According to TimeOut, the top spot belongs to a song most of us have already heard at least six times today. “All I Want For Christmas Is You” continues its undefeated streak as the queen of modern holiday music. Whether you think it’s a masterpiece or a seasonal earworm, its grip on December is unshakeable.

Just behind it is Wham!’s “Last Christmas”, a synthy heartbreak anthem that somehow still feels cheerful enough to soundtrack a shopping mall. In third place is “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, a song that’s emotional, messy, and beloved in the same way an ugly Christmas sweater is beloved.

Lists like this tend to spark strong opinions, partly because the soundtrack of December is so tied to nostalgia.

For some people, Christmas music means childhood memories and family gatherings. For others, it means surviving retail shifts and trying not to lose their minds as Jingle Bell Rock repeats for the 17th time. Either way, we all have that one song we think deserves better.

If you’re building a holiday playlist or just want to know where your favorites landed, TimeOut’s full Top 50 is worth checking out. And if you disagree with their rankings, don’t worry, there’s plenty of time left for spirited holiday arguing.

Here are TimeOut’s Top 20:

1.  “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, Mariah Carey

2.  “Last Christmas”, Wham!

3.  “Fairytale of New York”, The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl

4.  “Santa Tell Me”, Ariana Grande

5.  “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”, Darlene Love

6.  “Feliz Navidad”, José Feliciano

7.  “The Power of Love”, Frankie Goes to Hollywood

8.  “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

9.  “White Christmas”, Bing Crosby

10.  “Step Into Christmas”, Elton John

11.  “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday”, Wizzard

12.  “Must Be Santa”, Kurt Vile

13.  “Christmas Will Break Your Heart”, LCD Soundsystem

14.  “Wonderful Christmastime”, Paul McCartney

15.  “Underneath the Tree”, Kelly Clarkson

16.  “Christmas Tree Farm”, Taylor Swift

17.  “Dominick the Donkey”, Lou Monte

18.  “Child’s Christmas in Wales”, John Cale

19.  “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”, The Jackson 5

20.  “River”, Joni Mitchell

10 Things That Happened 10 Years Ago: Dec 7-13

Crystal Pepsi, rude texts, and Margot Robbie in a bubble bath. Here’s what was in the news 10 years ago this week.

Willard Scott Retires from the “Today” Show

After 35 years of birthday shout-outs, Willard Scott said goodbye to “Today.” The man who once was Ronald McDonald (seriously) left behind a legacy of smiles, smooches, and Smuckers-sponsored centenarians. He’d already been semi-retired for a quite a while, with Al Roger filling in as the main weatherman on most days since 1996.

Ending Texts with Periods Makes You Sound Rude

A study found ending your texts with a period made you seem cold or angry. Gen Z agreed. Suddenly punctuation became passive-aggressive, and everyone started ending messages like this instead

Texting Makes You Temporarily Deaf

Meanwhile, a separate study found focusing on your phone can actually make you “temporarily deaf.” So if your spouse yells your name while you’re deep in a text thread… you’re not ignoring them, it’s just science.

Crystal Pepsi Comeback

A grassroots movement to resurrect Crystal Pepsi caught fire online in 2015, complete with petitions, hashtags, and an overwhelming amount of communal nostalgia. It actually worked – Pepsi handed out 13,000 six-packs that December, and eventually brought it back for real in the summer of 2016. It hasn’t been offered again nationwide since then.

Facebook’s Most Talked-About Topics of 2015

Before TikTok ruled the world, Facebook was where we debated everything. The site dropped lists of 2015’s most talked-about stars, shows, and athletes – proof we’ve always loved arguing in the comments. Ed Sheeran topped the list of the most talked-about entertainers,“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was #1 among movies, and“Game of Thrones” topped the list of TV shows.

Taylor Swift Is Billboard’s Artist of the Year

Her “1989” album topped their Billboard 200 Albums list that year, and also their Digital Albums list.

YouTube’s Most Viewed Music Videos of 2015

The biggest hits of the year lived on YouTube. The #1 video from the list still sits among YouTube’s all-time most-watched a decade later. “See You Again” by Wiz Kalifa and Charlie Puth racked up 1.2 billion views in 2015. (“Baby Shark” owns the record by an impressively wide margin.)

The 10 Holiday Smells We Love Most

A poll by “Huff Post” and Glad found the Top 10 in order are: Hot chocolate, freshly baked cookies, the smell of a fire, peppermint, apple cider, pine trees, potato latkes (a Hanukkah staple), pie, candles, and gingerbread.

“Walking Dead” Star Bitten by a Fan

Actor Norman Reedus got bit by an over-excited fan at a 2015 convention in New Jersey. He wasn’t hurt and handled it like a champ – dude had some experience in avoiding a serious bite.

“The Big Short” hit theaters across the U.S.

The Adam McKay flick finally helped fans understand the basics of the 2008 financial crisis that wiped out their savings – thanks to a cast of A-listers, fourth-wall breaks, and Margot Robbie explaining subprime loans from a bubble bath.

Travis Kelce Says He and Taylor Swift Have Never Fought. Are We Even Surprised?

Relationship experts love to say that if a couple never fights, it might be a red flag.

But apparently those experts have never met Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, a duo who continue to live in what feels like the romantic equivalent of a carefully curated Instagram reel. And Swifties are eating it up. The idea of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce never arguing is already trending as fans debate whether this is relationship goals or simply the kind of magic you get when two mega-celebrities somehow make their schedules and personalities line up.

The topic came up when Travis and his brother Jason had George Clooney on their New Heights podcast. Clooney casually mentioned that he and Amal have made it a full decade without a single fight. Travis jumped in and said he and Taylor have also never had an argument, but he added that it has only been two and a half years for them, so they have a little less data to work with.

Still, two and a half years without arguing about takeout or thermostat settings is impressive for literally any couple, let alone one that gets dissected across every corner of the internet.

Online fans immediately started comparing the couples, joking about what their own relationships look like in contrast. Spoiler: most involved at least one weekly debate over where to pick up dinner.

Meanwhile, a Kansas City Chiefs official revealed that Travis is just as loyal to his teammates. He said that when Travis and Taylor first started dating, he actually asked the team not to play Taylor’s music in the stadium. Not because he isn’t proud of dating one of the most famous artists on the planet, but because he didn’t want to separate himself from his teammates.

Quote, “Travis, to his credit, is all about team, and he’s all about the guys, and he’s all about being part of the team and not being separate.” Considering the amount of attention Taylor brings everywhere she goes, choosing to keep the focus on football is a pretty grounded move.

Whether or not their no-fight streak continues, fans seem convinced that these two are genuinely happy together.

“Stranger Things” Brings Back This Long-Lost ’80s Snack for a Limited Return

If you’ve been watching “Stranger Things” Season 5, you might have spotted something unexpected hiding among the Demogorgons and emotional trauma: a snack time-travel moment.

And yes, that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo has now become reality. Nature Valley has officially revived its classic Fudge Chip Peanut Butter Boppers for the first time since 1989, and the nostalgia levels are extremely high.

If Steve Harrington endorses a snack, who are we to argue?

The Boppers are back in honor of the show’s final season, complete with “Stranger Things” themed packaging that looks ready to crack open an interdimensional portal in your pantry.

But before you sprint to the grocery store with your Eggo-loving enthusiasm, there’s a catch. These won’t be sitting on store shelves next to your granola bars. Nature Valley only released them in a special kit, which included four Boppers, a T-shirt, and a recipe card, all for the retro-perfect price of $19.87. (That nod to 1987 is basically the corporate version of a wink, and, of course, it sold out quickly.)

But starting Friday, the company will also be giving away 250 boxes while supplies last.

To score one, you have to head to a website that looks like someone sneezed on their keyboard: sreppob.com. That’s Boppers spelled backwards, nerds!

If you don’t snag a box before they disappear, all hope isn’t lost. Nature Valley plans to drop the official recipe on Monday so you can DIY your Boppers at home. Based on the ingredients, that might be worth trying anyway. These things have a creamy peanut butter center rolled in crisp rice cereal with fudge chips, which is basically the energy bar equivalent of a bear hug.

The Boppers revival is part nostalgia, part marketing genius, and part delightful chaos. It fits perfectly with how “Stranger Things” has always embraced ’80s culture, from the fashion to the mall food court energy we secretly miss.

So, if you’ve been craving a taste of childhood or just want to eat the same snack as a fictional babysitter-turned-battle-hardened monster fighter, now’s your moment. Just be quick. The Upside Down won’t wait, and apparently neither will limited-edition peanut butter snacks.

Willie Nelson Is Not Dead

Willie Nelson is tired of reminding us that he’s alive.

The 91-year-old music legend took to Instagram this week to poke fun at the seemingly endless parade of A.I.-generated death hoaxes that have been making the rounds online. He shared a few photos of himself catching a nap on the couch, paired with the caption: “If you believe those A.I. death stories one more time…”

That’s about as Willie as it gets.

For months, shady websites and scammy clickbait posts have been spreading false reports that the country icon had either collapsed, been hospitalized, or passed away.

Some even included fake images of him hooked up to hospital equipment, giving the whole thing an extra gross layer of deception. In reality? He’s just been taking it easy—and occasionally roasting the internet.

Earlier this year, Nelson did have to cancel an Outlaw Music Festival show, but that was thanks to weather damage wrecking some of the gear. Naturally, that got twisted into another fake health scare. But fans who follow him directly (instead of panicky Facebook shares) knew better.

Unfortunately, this is part of a bigger trend: A.I. is now being used to churn out increasingly believable celebrity death hoaxes.

And when it happens to someone like Willie—who’s been a target of these things for years—it only adds to the confusion.

Thankfully, he’s got a good sense of humor about it. The nap photos make it clear: he’s still kickin’, still smirking, and still not ready to hang up his guitar.

So if you come across yet another headline claiming the Red Headed Stranger has ridden off into the sunset, maybe double-check with Willie Nelson’s own Instagram before you start mourning. Chances are, he’s just taking a nap. Again.

Would You Pay $377 to See “The Wizard of Oz”?

“Wicked: For Good” made another $93 million at the box office last weekend.

When the original “The Wizard of Oz” was released in 1939, theater-goers were NOT off to see the Wizard. The movie lost $1.1 million during its initial run. At that time, it was MGM’s most expensive movie made.

According to the Library of Congress, it’s the most-watched picture in history.

Here’s what you get at the Sphere’s VIP Experience. Choice of Good Witch or Bad Witch. The Bad Witch costs more with two additional perks. You’d think it was the other way around, but they state, “Bad witches come with a little more magic”.  Okay.   

Here’s what you get: The Sphere’s website price for just one of those front section seats? $377.39.  (Monkeys are literally flying out of my butt.)

Well, what if I just want a regular experience, you ask? Top row, all the way in the back, Ticketmaster has them priced at 119 bucks. Each. (And they are doing multiple shows a day.)

Which means the Sphere makes two million a day showing an old movie on a giant curved screen.  

To be fair, it is a 4D experience with multi-sensory effects like shaking seats, high-velocity wind, atmospheric fog, fire effects, falling leaves, flying butterflies, and even falling fake apples and flying monkey props.

Did Vegas find a new way for people to lose their money? Or is overpaying to watch a movie classic as a 4D experience totally worth the thrill? 

Obviously the ticket sales win that argument. But you can have my seat, because spoiler… it was all a dream.

Brick Taylor saw “The Wizard of Oz” for the first time as a child on his family’s black and white TV. When Dorothy opened the door to Oz, Brick’s mother said, “If we had a color set, this would all become beautiful golden colors right now.”  

IRS Agents Told to Start Watching Porn at Work

Here’s a new job title that’s sure to get some raised eyebrows: “Government Porn Watcher.”

Thanks to a recent tax law passed by Congress, IRS agents will start reviewing content on OnlyFans to determine if it qualifies as “pornographic activity” – because if it is, the taxman still gets his cut.

“No Tax on Tips,” But Still Tax on T*ts

The bizarre-sounding assignment comes courtesy of the “No Tax on Tips” law passed over the summer. The law is meant to make things easier on workers who earn tips – and probably weren’t reporting most of them anyway – but it includes one glaring exception: tips for pornographic activity are still taxable. So now, to figure out whether a creator’s tips are tax-free or not, agents are literally being asked to watch the content.

What Counts as “Porn”?

It’s a trickier question than you’d think, because there still isn’t an official definition for what counts as “porn” in this context. So agents might be forced to fall back on the classic line uttered by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in 1964: “I know it when I see it.” More of a shrug than a legal standard.

OnlyFans Isn’t Just Porn

Not everything on OnlyFans is adult content. There are celebrities, fitness influencers, chefs, and others using the platform without getting naked. But with almost five million creators in the mix, and no clear breakdown of how many are based in the U.S. or posting R-rated material, the IRS has their work cut out for them.

Perfect Job for Perverts?

This strange new responsibility has been making the rounds online, with people joking that the government has officially found a way to turn being a perv into a pension-eligible career.

So if you were thinking your job was weird today, just know there’s someone out there filling out a government form after binge-watching NSFW content for tax purposes.

Kendrick Lamar Dominates Apple Music’s 2025 Charts, But Drake Tops the Streams

If 2025 belonged to anyone in music, it was Kendrick Lamar. Apple Music dropped its year-end stats, and the numbers paint a pretty clear picture. Kendrick didn’t just have a good year, he had a monster one. And that’s great news for anyone who searched “top songs of 2025,” “Kendrick Lamar Apple Music,” or “most-streamed artist globally.”

The biggest win came from his chart-topping duet with SZA. Their track Luther took the number one spot in the U.S., and it wasn’t the only Kendrick-related song crowding the top of the list. In fact, the Top 10 looks almost like his personal playlist. SZA, Morgan Wallen, Drake, and Post Malone also made their mark.

Here’s the full rundown of Apple Music’s Top 10 songs in the U.S. for 2025:

  1. Luther, Kendrick Lamar and SZA
  2. Not Like Us, Kendrick Lamar
  3. 30 for 30, SZA featuring Kendrick Lamar
  4. I’m the Problem, Morgan Wallen
  5. TV Off, Kendrick Lamar featuring Lefty Gunplay
  6. Die with a Smile, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
  7. NOKIA, Drake
  8. Love Somebody, Morgan Wallen
  9. I Had Some Help, Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen
  10. Just in Case, Morgan Wallen

Morgan Wallen fans didn’t go hungry this year either. He secured four spots in the Top 10, proving that country-pop crossovers aren’t slowing down anytime soon. Drake made the list too, although Kendrick might not love the fact that NOKIA is still hanging in there after everything that went down between them.

On the global stage, the top spot went to APT. by ROSE and Bruno Mars. Luther landed at number two worldwide, which is still an enormous feat considering how competitive the global charts have become.

And here’s the twist ending. Even with Kendrick dropping hits left and right, sparking the most talked-about beef in years, and stacking the U.S. charts like Jenga blocks, he didn’t actually complete the mission he set out for: ending Drake. Because Drake walked away with Apple’s crown as the most-streamed artist globally in 2025.

So Kendrick dominated the charts. Drake dominated the streams. And the rest of us got one of the most entertaining music years in recent memory.

People Exercise Less in the Winter Because It’s “Too Cold and Too Dark”

It’s always easy to come up with an excuse for NOT exercising, and it’s even easier in the WINTER.

In a survey, 31% of people admitted to being “less active” in the winter months.

Here are the Top 10 excuses they gave for not exercising as much:

1.  It’s too cold.  (As opposed to the summer, when the top excuse would probably be “It’s too hot.”)

2.  It’s too dark.

3.  It’s too wet.

4.  It’s harder to find the motivation.

5.  I worry more about safety when exercising in the dark outside.

6.  I have less energy.

7.  I’m more likely to pull a muscle or strain something because of the cold weather.

8.  Hibernation mode kicks in… I’d rather stay in and watch TV.

9.  I’m less body-conscious in the winter because we wear more layers.  (These last two are probably the most honest.)

10.  Costs are get higher in winter due to heating bills and paying for Christmas, so I want to save on a gym membership.

Here are four “tips” to stay motivated: 

  1. Get outdoors every day, even if it’s just for a short walk.
  2. Explore new outdoor places, and new types of indoor exercises.
  3. Stick to regular routines to help cement healthy habits.
  4. And listen to upbeat music all year ’round, at least when being active.  “All I Want for Christmas Is You” isn’t exactly a WORKOUT BANGER.

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