By barnaby
Boy Golden, Bob Moses, July Talk, The Beaches, Metric, Dear Rouge, The Glorious Sons, Arkells, Billy Talent, The Darcys, Monowhales, Anyway Gang, Mother Mother, and Dear Rouge stand out in the year-end Alt category.
Kesha
The newly independent pop singer's cover of Lindsay Buckingham's 1983 song from National Lampoon's Vacation was first released as a Spotify exclusive for the holidays. Michael Bublé's Christmas, meanwhile, remains at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums chart.
Kesha has brought an under-appreciated holiday gem back to the charts. Her version of "Holiday Road" debuts on this week's Billboard Canadian Hot 100 (dated Dec. 28, 2024) at No. 83.
"Holiday Road" was originally released in 1983 by Fleetwood Mac legend Lindsey Buckingham and serves as the propulsive opening theme to the Chevy Chase-starting classic comedy road trip film National Lampoon's Vacation.
Kesha's version, originally released this year as an exclusive Spotify single for the holidays, adds some extra '80s synthy touches, feeling both retro and futuristic. It marks the pop singer's first entry on the Canadian Hot 100 since 2020's "Cannibal." Kesha recently went independent, releasing her first music in 2024 on her own Kesha Records.
There is a debate online about whether Buckingham's "Holiday Road" really counts as a Christmas song, despite the word "holiday" in the title. However, it has been covered as part of the December festivities in the past few years diverse variety of acts from indie rock band The Walkmen to country singer Chris Janson.
Kesha's version has hit the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, but has not hit the U.S. version of the Hot 100 – only in Canada.
As expected, Christmas music has taken over the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 and Canadian Albums charts. Mariah Carey's modern classic "All I Want For Christmas Is You" remains at No. 1 on the Canadian Hot 100, with "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," "Last Christmas," "Jingle Bell Rock" and "A Holly Jolly Christmas" rounding out the top 5.
Two slightly more modern holiday hits just miss the top 10 ,with Kelly Clarkson's 2013 song "Underneath The Tree" at No. 11 and Ariana Grande's 2014 song "Santa Tell Me" at No. 14.
One Canadian artist remains at the top, though. Michael Bublé's record breaking 2011 Christmasstays at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums chart, while two of that album's songs are also on the Canadian Hot 100: "It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas" at No. 10 and "Holly Jolly Christmas" at No. 17.
Justin Bieber's "Mistletoe," meanwhile, rises to No. 23 while Celine Dion's These Are Special Times hits No. 60 on the Albums chart.
It's not all Christmas music for Canadian artists on the chart. PartyNextDoor's "Make It To the Morning" debuts at No. 93 on the Canadian Hot 100, joining the Mississauga R&B singer's other hit "Dreamin" which is at No. 82. With anticipation for PartyNextDoor's long-promised collaborative album with Drake continuing to build, his solo songs remain popular in his home country.
Find the full Canadian Hot 100 here and Canadian Albums chart here and keep track of all of Billboard Canada's charts here. You can also find recently-released year-end version of the charts here.
