Usually you'd be accompanied by some xmas songs on your journey. But how do you decide what to listen to? The radio will no doubt be playing festive tunes, but they might not be the ones you really like. Many people will use Spotify to create their own playlist, but they might forget one of the best songs.
To remove all doubt, we have created the definitive driving home for Christmas playlist, using Spotify data to pinpoint the most popular Christmas songs.
The Definitive Driving Home for Christmas Playlist
According to spotify users...
Using all of the 545 "Driving Home for Christmas" playlists we could find on Spotify, one of the world's most popular music streaming services, we analysed the 11,149 songs (which includes covers) to uncover which songs appeared the most. The Top 20 most popular form our definitive driving home for Christmas playlist.
The Top 20
No surprises at number one, obviously Driving Home for Christmas by Chris Rea is at the top, featuring in 98% of the playlists we looked at. Perhaps more surprising is that the seemingly omnipresent (at least at this time of the year) All I Want for Christmas is You has been beaten into the number two spot by Wham! with their classic, Last Christmas, which featured in 348 (64%) playlists compared to Mariah's 347.
From there on it's pretty much as you would expect, until a couple of young-timers make their festive voices heard, with Ariana Grande's Santa Tell Me in at number 14, and Mistletoe by Justin Bieber at number 18, featuring in 25% and 21% of playlists respectively.
Notable absentees include Queen, Slade and even Wizzard who don't make the Top 20, featuring in fewer than 20% of driving home for Christmas playlists.
Listen Now
If you're impressed with the driving home for Christmas playlist and want to give it a whirl, you can give it a listen on Spotify.
| Rank | Song | Artist | No. of Times Chosen | % Included |
| 1 | Driving Home for Christmas | Chris Rea | 532 | 98% |
| 2 | Last Christmas | Wham! | 348 | 64% |
| 3 | All I Want for Christmas Is You | Mariah Carey | 347 | 64% |
| 4 | Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree | Brenda Lee | 220 | 40% |
| 5 | Do They Know It's Christmas? | Band Aid | 214 | 39% |
| 6 | It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year | Andy Williams | 214 | 39% |
| 7 | It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas | Michael Buble | 201 | 37% |
| 8 | Happy Xmas (War Is Over) | John Lennon, The Harlem Community Choir, The Plastic Ono Band, Yoko Ono | 190 | 35% |
| 9 | Fairytale of New York (feat. Kirsty MacColl) | The Pogues, Kirsty MacColl | 162 | 30% |
| 10 | Wonderful Christmastime | Paul McCartney | 159 | 29% |
| 11 | Merry Christmas Everyone | Shakin' Stevens | 148 | 27% |
| 12 | Feliz Navidad | Jose Feliciano | 144 | 26% |
| 13 | Jingle Bell Rock | Bobby Helms | 142 | 26% |
| 14 | Santa Tell Me | Ariana Grande | 138 | 25% |
| 15 | Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (with The B. Swanson Quartet) | Frank Sinatra, B. Swanson Quartet | 137 | 25% |
| 16 | Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! | Dean Martin | 135 | 25% |
| 17 | Step Into Christmas | Elton John | 119 | 22% |
| 18 | Mistletoe | Justin Bieber | 117 | 21% |
| 19 | Christmas Lights | Coldplay | 110 | 20% |
| 20 | White Christmas | Bing Crosby, Ken Darby Singers, John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra | 99 | 18% |
The Top 100
As we've mentioned there's some super popular xmas bangers that haven't made the list. Megastars such as Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole and Cliff Richard can't even get close to the Top 20 - they're way down in 29th, 32nd and 39th position.
The rest of the list is largely taken up by Michael Buble aka Mr Christmas, with UK favourites East 17, Leona Lewis and Shakin' Stevens in there too. See the full breakdown below.
| Rank | Song | Artist | No. of Times Chosen | % Included |
| 21 | Sleigh Ride | The Ronettes | 94 | 17% |
| 22 | Merry Xmas Everybody | Slade | 92 | 17% |
| 23 | I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday | Wizzard | 89 | 16% |
| 24 | Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas | Frank Sinatra | 88 | 16% |
| 25 | Underneath the Tree | Kelly Clarkson | 88 | 16% |
| 26 | Thank God It's Christmas | Queen | 87 | 16% |
| 27 | Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord | Boney M. | 85 | 16% |
| 28 | Holly Jolly Christmas | Michael Buble | 83 | 15% |
| 29 | Blue Christmas | Elvis Presley | 79 | 14% |
| 30 | Stop the Cavalry | Jona Lewie | 78 | 14% |
| 31 | Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas | Sam Smith | 76 | 14% |
| 32 | The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) | Nat King Cole | 75 | 14% |
| 33 | Lonely This Christmas | Mud | 74 | 14% |
| 34 | My Only Wish (This Year) | Britney Spears | 72 | 13% |
| 35 | Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town | Bruce Springsteen | 72 | 13% |
| 36 | Santa Claus Is Coming to Town | Michael Buble | 72 | 13% |
| 37 | Jingle Bell Rock | Daryl Hall & John Oates | 67 | 12% |
| 38 | Winter Wonderland | Tony Bennett | 67 | 12% |
| 39 | Mistletoe and Wine | Cliff Richard | 65 | 12% |
| 40 | Shake up Christmas | Train | 65 | 12% |
| 41 | Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas | Michael Buble | 62 | 11% |
| 42 | Carol of the Bells | Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych, John Williams | 59 | 11% |
| 43 | Santa Baby | Kylie Minogue | 58 | 11% |
| 44 | Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) | Michael Buble | 57 | 10% |
| 45 | Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming) | Melanie Thornton | 57 | 10% |
| 46 | Christmas Time | Bryan Adams | 56 | 10% |
| 47 | One More Sleep | Leona Lewis | 56 | 10% |
| 48 | It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (with Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra) | Perry Como, The Fontane Sisters, Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra | 53 | 10% |
| 49 | Run Rudolph Run | Chuck Berry | 53 | 10% |
| 50 | Santa Claus Is Coming to Town | The Jackson 5 | 52 | 10% |
| 51 | White Christmas | Bing Crosby | 52 | 10% |
| 52 | Little Saint Nick | The Beach Boys, Mark Linett, Sweet, Larry Walsh | 49 | 9% |
| 53 | Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town | Frank Sinatra | 49 | 9% |
| 54 | White Christmas (with Shania Twain) | Michael Buble, Shania Twain | 49 | 9% |
| 55 | A Holly Jolly Christmas | Burl Ives | 48 | 9% |
| 56 | Cold December Night | Michael Buble | 48 | 9% |
| 57 | Please Come Home for Christmas | Eagles | 48 | 9% |
| 58 | All I Want for Christmas Is You | Michael Buble | 47 | 9% |
| 59 | Baby It's Cold Outside (duet with Michael Buble) | Idina Menzel, Michael Buble | 47 | 9% |
| 60 | Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) | Darlene Love | 47 | 9% |
| 61 | I'll Be Home for Christmas | Michael Buble | 47 | 9% |
| 62 | Santa Baby (with Henri Rene & His Orchestra) | Eartha Kitt, Henri Rene & His Orchestra | 46 | 8% |
| 63 | Jingle Bells (feat. The Puppini Sisters) | Michael Buble, The Puppini Sisters | 45 | 8% |
| 64 | What Christmas Means To Me | Stevie Wonder | 45 | 8% |
| 65 | Do They Know It's Christmas? | Band Aid 30 | 42 | 8% |
| 66 | Stay Another Day | East 17 | 42 | 8% |
| 67 | The Power Of Love | Frankie Goes To Hollywood | 42 | 8% |
| 68 | Winter Wonderland | Michael Buble | 42 | 8% |
| 69 | 2000 Miles | Pretenders | 40 | 7% |
| 70 | Rudolph The Red | Dean Martin | 39 | 7% |
| 71 | A Spaceman Came Travelling | Chris de Burgh | 38 | 7% |
| 72 | Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree | Mel & Kim | 37 | 7% |
| 73 | Santa Baby | Michael Buble | 37 | 7% |
| 74 | I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus | The Jackson 5 | 36 | 7% |
| 75 | Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) | Mariah Carey | 35 | 6% |
| 76 | Happy Xmas (War Is Over) | Celine Dion | 35 | 6% |
| 77 | I'll Be Home | Meghan Trainor | 34 | 6% |
| 78 | Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) | The Darkness | 33 | 6% |
| 79 | Santa Baby | Eartha Kitt | 33 | 6% |
| 80 | Baby, It's Cold Outside | Dean Martin | 32 | 6% |
| 81 | Santa's Coming For Us | Sia | 32 | 6% |
| 82 | Home for Christmas | Maria Mena | 31 | 6% |
| 83 | Hallelujah | Pentatonix | 30 | 6% |
| 84 | Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) | Gene Autry | 29 | 5% |
| 85 | I Believe in Father Christmas | Greg Lake | 29 | 5% |
| 86 | The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) 1999 | Nat King Cole | 29 | 5% |
| 87 | Santa Baby | Ariana Grande, Liz Gillies | 28 | 5% |
| 88 | Frosty the Snowman | The Ronettes | 27 | 5% |
| 89 | Christmas Wrapping | The Waitresses | 26 | 5% |
| 90 | Joy To The World | Nat King Cole | 26 | 5% |
| 91 | Silent Night | Michael Buble | 26 | 5% |
| 92 | Sleigh Ride | Ella Fitzgerald | 26 | 5% |
| 93 | Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas | Judy Garland | 24 | 4% |
| 94 | Baby, It's Cold Outside | Brett Eldredge, Meghan Trainor | 23 | 4% |
| 95 | It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas | Bing Crosby | 23 | 4% |
| 96 | Last Christmas | Ariana Grande | 23 | 4% |
| 97 | The Christmas Song | Michael Buble | 23 | 4% |
| 98 | Himmel Pa Jord | Kurt Nilsen, The Norwegian Radio Orchestra | 22 | 4% |
| 99 | Silver Bells | Dean Martin | 22 | 4% |
| 100 | Ave Maria | Michael Buble | 21 | 4% |
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