It Must Be Christmas


It Must Be Christmas is the sixth studio album and first Christmas album by American country music artist Chris Young. It was released on October 14, 2016, by RCA Records Nashville. Young co-wrote two of the album's ten tracks. The album features collaborations with Boyz II Men, Brad Paisley and Alan Jackson.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album three stars out of five. " does everything a modern mainstream holiday album should do," writes Erlewine, "it plays upon memories of Christmas while appealing to the moment at hand." He added that the original songs "feel like radio tunes" rather than seasonal material. Chuck Dauphin of country music blog Sounds Like Nashville wrote a positive review in which he praised Young's "classic approach" to the holiday fare. "Whether it be a "New" classic or an evergreen one," he writes, "Young hits all the right notes on the album."

Commercial

Upon release, It Must Be Christmas debuted in the top five of the Billboard Top Country Albums chart at number four and also topped the Holiday Albums chart. The album has sold 74,100 copies in the US as of November 2017.

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.
Vocals
  • Boyz II Men – featured vocals
  • Corey Crowder – background vocals
  • Alan Jackson — featured vocals
  • Brad Paisley – featured vocals
  • Kristen Rogers – background vocals
  • Chris Young – lead vocals, background vocals
Musicians
Production