Uploaded December 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time. Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song. One story is that he wrote it in 1940, poolside at the Biltmore hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. He often stayed up all night writing — he told his secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I've ever written — heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody's ever written!"
Darlene Wright known by her stage name, Darlene Love, is an American popular music singer and actress. She gained prominence in the 1960s for the song "He's a Rebel," a No. 1 American single in 1962, and was one of the artists who performed on the celebrated Christmas album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, produced by Phil Spector in 1963. She is ranked number 84 among Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers.
As a minister's daughter, she grew up listening to gospel music and was a dedicated member of her church. She began singing in her church choir at age ten. During choir practice she caught the attention of choir director Cora Martin-Moore. After singing for Martin she was asked to go to the Music Mart where she sang and did some broadcasts; Love's career began there. As it was her first musical experience, it was also the main influence for her to pursue a music career. Those who knew her described her vocals as "a voice of a nightingale." She claimed, "(singing in) the choir was a big influence on my life. I call it my learning ground. Singing in the choir, I learned harmony.
Beginning in 1986 and continuing for 29 years, Darlene Love performed the song annually on the final new episode before Christmas of Late Night with David Letterman (NBC, 1986–92) and Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 1993–2014), 28 times in all. The exception was in 2007, when Love was unable to perform due to the Writers' Strike; a repeat of her 2006 performance was shown instead.
Beginning in 2015, the tradition of Love's annual performance of the song moved to The View (ABC, 2015–present), where it has continued during its last edition before Christmas in the years since. The song has been used in several movies – including during the main titles of Gremlins, in a scene in GoodFellas in which some of the characters spend money from the Lufthansa Heist on lavish gifts, in Christmas with the Kranks, in the 2012 ABC Family TV movie The Mistle-Tones, and most recently in the 2017 Hallmark Channel TV movie Christmas Getaway. On the December 17, 2011 holiday episode of Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Fallon sang a version of the song with lyrics reflecting upon his past experiences with the show.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten,
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow, snow
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white
The sun is shining
The grass is green
The orange and palm trees sway
There's never been such a day in old L.A.
But it's December the 24th
And I'm longing to be up north
So I can have my very own white Christmas
Oh yeah
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white, yeah, be white
"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time. Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song. One story is that he wrote it in 1940, poolside at the Biltmore hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. He often stayed up all night writing — he told his secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I've ever written — heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody's ever written!"
Darlene Wright known by her stage name, Darlene Love, is an American popular music singer and actress. She gained prominence in the 1960s for the song "He's a Rebel," a No. 1 American single in 1962, and was one of the artists who performed on the celebrated Christmas album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, produced by Phil Spector in 1963. She is ranked number 84 among Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers.
As a minister's daughter, she grew up listening to gospel music and was a dedicated member of her church. She began singing in her church choir at age ten. During choir practice she caught the attention of choir director Cora Martin-Moore. After singing for Martin she was asked to go to the Music Mart where she sang and did some broadcasts; Love's career began there. As it was her first musical experience, it was also the main influence for her to pursue a music career. Those who knew her described her vocals as "a voice of a nightingale." She claimed, "(singing in) the choir was a big influence on my life. I call it my learning ground. Singing in the choir, I learned harmony.
Beginning in 1986 and continuing for 29 years, Darlene Love performed the song annually on the final new episode before Christmas of Late Night with David Letterman (NBC, 1986–92) and Late Show with David Letterman (CBS, 1993–2014), 28 times in all. The exception was in 2007, when Love was unable to perform due to the Writers' Strike; a repeat of her 2006 performance was shown instead.
Beginning in 2015, the tradition of Love's annual performance of the song moved to The View (ABC, 2015–present), where it has continued during its last edition before Christmas in the years since. The song has been used in several movies – including during the main titles of Gremlins, in a scene in GoodFellas in which some of the characters spend money from the Lufthansa Heist on lavish gifts, in Christmas with the Kranks, in the 2012 ABC Family TV movie The Mistle-Tones, and most recently in the 2017 Hallmark Channel TV movie Christmas Getaway. On the December 17, 2011 holiday episode of Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Fallon sang a version of the song with lyrics reflecting upon his past experiences with the show.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten,
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow, snow
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white
The sun is shining
The grass is green
The orange and palm trees sway
There's never been such a day in old L.A.
But it's December the 24th
And I'm longing to be up north
So I can have my very own white Christmas
Oh yeah
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white, yeah, be white
