Feliz Navidad (song)

"Feliz Navidad"
Single by José Feliciano
from the album Feliz Navidad
Released	1970
Recorded	1970
Genre	Latin pop, holiday
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	José Feliciano
Music sample "Feliz Navidad"

For other uses, see Feliz Navidad (disambiguation)

"Feliz Navidad" is a Christmas song written in 1970 by the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano.^[1] With its simple Spanish chorus (the traditional Christmas/New Year greeting, "Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad" meaning "Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness") and equally simple English verse "I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart", it has become a classic Christmas pop song in the United States, throughout the Spanish-speaking world and internationally.

Feliciano's version of "Feliz Navidad" (in which he plays both an acoustic guitar and a Puerto Rican Cuatro) is one of the most downloaded and aired Christmas songs in the United States and Canada. The album drummer was Paulinho Magalhaes. The addition of the horns as a final touch was the idea of producer Rick Jarrard. It was also recognized by ASCAP as one of the top 25 most played and recorded Christmas songs around the world.^[2]

Covers

The song has been covered numerous times and adapted to various languages and released as remixes. Well-known covers include those by Boney M, Michael Bublé featuring Thalía, Glee Cast, Il Volo featuring Belinda, Celine Dion, Clay Walker, The Cheetah Girls, Billy T. James, Luciano Pavarotti, El Vez, Walk off the Earth and Indonesian female group 7icons. The song was also performed by Charo on Pee-wee's Christmas Special.

In 1997 DJ Bob Rivers released the CD More Twisted Christmas, which included a drunk-driving spoof of "Feliz Navidad" called "Police Stop My Car." There is also a Dutch version about a stolen bicycle ^[3]

References