‘O Holy Night’ voted the nation’s favourite Christmas carol for tenth consecutive year
25 December 2025, 15:00
Aled Jones and Malakai M Bayoh sing ‘O Holy Night’
For a decade complete, ‘O Holy Night’ has been voted the best-loved Christmas carol of all time in our annual poll.
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‘O Holy Night’, a carol of French origin that has been recorded by countless singers from Luciano Pavarotti to Mariah Carey, has been voted the greatest Christmas carol of all time for the tenth consecutive year!
The annual vote for The Nation’s Favourite Carol took place over three weeks, and the Top 30 list was revealed on Classic FM on Christmas Day from 1-3pm by Alexander Armstrong.
Composed in 1847 by Adolphe Adam, ‘O Holy Night’ is still adored the world over, 170 years on. A tale of humanity’s redemption, the ‘Cantique de Noël’ is a much-loved favourite in our annual countdown, and is thought to have been the first carol played on the radio.
Gustav Holst’s setting of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, originally a poem by Christina Rossetti, was voted the nation’s second favourite, with ‘Carol of the Bells’ in third place followed by ‘Silent Night’ and Harold Darke’s setting of Rossetti’s poem.
Elsewhere in our chart, ‘It Came Upon a Midnight Clear’ climbed four places from No.14 to No.10. ‘Angels from the Realms of Glory’ and ‘Ding Dong! Merrily on High’ were two new entries in the chart.
Explore the full Top 30 >
The Nation’s Favourite Carol - Top 30
- O Holy Night
- In the Bleak Mid-Winter - Gustav Holst version
- Carol of the Bells
- Silent Night
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
- In the Bleak Mid-Winter - Harold Darke version
- O Come All Ye Faithful
- O Come, O Come Emmanuel
- Candlelight Carol (Rutter)
- O Little Town of Bethlehem
- Once in Royal David’s City
- Coventry Carol
- Gaudete
- It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
- Joy to the World
- Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
- God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
- Sussex Carol
- Away in a Manger
- Gabriel’s Message
- The Three Kings
- The Holly and the Ivy
- In Dulci Jubilo
- Shepherd’s Pipe Carol
- Bethlehem Down
- Star Carol (Rutter)
- Good King Wenceslas
- See Amid the Winter’s Snow
- Angels from the Realms of Glory
- Wexford Carol