One of the most beloved holiday anthems of all time was not a hit when it was first released over 55 years ago.
José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” took nearly 30 holiday seasons to chart at all, which is hard to believe given its popularity today.
Written by Feliciano for his 1970 album of the same name, “Feliz Navidad” was a simple acoustic song featuring lyrics in both Spanish and English. The Puerto Rican singer-songwriter played guitar and cuatro on the bilingual classic, which only had 19 words total as it delivered a wish for a Merry Christmas.
The holiday song took a shocking 28 years to get any traction on Billboard. According to Feliciano’s official website, "Feliz Navidad" first hit the Billboard charts in 1998 and then again in2017. It finally peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2021.
Feliciano, now 80, once told The New Yorker that the idea for the Christmas song came from his producer, Rick Jarrard.“Rick said, ‘José, I think it’s time for a new Christmas song.’ Because the last huge one was ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,’ by Brenda Lee,” he recalled.
He added that he wrote the song in 10 minutes, with six words in Spanish and 13 in English.
“That’s why it’s the simplest song ever written,” he said. “Nineteen words to it.’ I wanted a song that belonged to the masses.”
Feliciano wrote the song in Los Angeles as he recalled spending holidays with his family in Puerto Rico. But he was careful not to make the song too sentimental.
“We didn't want to put out a schmaltzy Christmas album. So we decided to do it differently,” Feliciano told NPR in a 2020 interview. “'Feliz Navidad' was an entity unto itself. It was expressing the joy that I felt on Christmas and the fact that I felt very lonely. I missed my family, I missed Christmas carols with them. I missed the whole Christmas scene."
Feliciano once credited the song’s simplicity as the secret behind its longevity.
"I don't know how 'Feliz Navidad' became such a favorite,” he once told Grammy.com. “But I would like to say that I think what made 'Feliz Navidad' such a favorite is the simplicity of the song. The song, in total lyric-wise, because it's bilingual, has 19 words."
More than 55 years after its release, “Feliz Navidad” remains one of the most downloaded Christmas classics, gaining new fans each holiday season.
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