25 beloved holiday albums to rediscover this winter

8 Days of Christmas – Destiny’s Child

The idea of Beyoncé releasing a Christmas album nowadays is crazy, but back when she was part of the iconic trio Destiny’s Child in 2001, they released the album 8 Days of Christmas and we are definitely thankful they did!

The album’s title track first appeared on the European reissue of their debut album The Writing’s on the Wall in 2000, but that got the wheels turning on a full Christmas album. By this point, Destiny’s Child was officially the trio we know and love now: Bey, Kelly, and Michelle. On 8 Days of Christmas (a play on the classic “The Twelve Days of Christmas”), they covered 9 holiday standards, like “Little Drummer Boy” (featuring Solange) and “This Christmas”, and the girls also had their own solo moments on “Silent Night” (by Beyoncé), “O Holy Night” (by Michelle), and “Do You Hear What I Hear” (by Kelly).

Besides “8 Days of Christmas”, the album also had the original tracks “Platinum Bells”, “Winter Paradise”, and “Spread a Little Love on Christmas Day”, most of which were co-written or co-produced by Beyoncé. They took a more R&B route for their holiday album, bringing their signature sound to the classics to make them more Destiny’s Child-like.

Even though theirs isn’t as traditional as some of the albums on this list — they sing about wanting Chloe shades and a diamond belly ring — it’s nice to get a twist on an old classic, especially if we’re going to hear the same covers from a hundred different artists.