"Feliz Navidad" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by José Feliciano | ||||
from the album Feliz Navidad | ||||
B-side | "The Little Drummer Boy" | |||
Released | November 9, 1970 | |||
Recorded | June 13, 1970 and August 5, 1970 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:00 | |||
Label | RCA Victor Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | José Feliciano | |||
Producer(s) | Rick Jarrard | |||
José Feliciano singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Audio sample | ||||
"Feliz Navidad" (Spanish: [feˈlis naβiˈða(ð)]; lit. transl. "Merry Christmas") is a Christmas song written and first recorded in 1970 by Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano.[1][2] With its simple, heartfelt lyrics - the traditional Spanish Christmas/New Year greeting "Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad" ("Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness"), followed by text in English words "I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart" - it has become a Christmas classic and has gained popularity around the world.
In 2010, the 1970 recording of "Feliz Navidad" on RCA Victor Records by José Feliciano was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[3]
Two years later [in 1970, after the success of the album "Feliciano!" in 1968], in the midst of recording a Christmas album, it was [producer Rick] Jarrard who told Fèliciano they needed a new song and encouraged Feliciano as he virtually improvised the enduring classic "Feliz Navidad".