'Feliz Navidad': Fun facts about José Feliciano's Christmas hit
José Feliciano wrote the song to unite people with its holiday cheer and its bilingual lyrics — both in Spanish and English.
Fifty four years later, "Feliz Navidad" remains as popular as ever.
It's appeared in movies and TV shows. It's been covered by musical artists as diverse as Celine Dion, Kacey Musgraves, Michael Bublé, The Wiggles, BTS and Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates.
And it's been heard on the radio by an estimated 3.8 billion people, according to Billboard — where "Feliz Navidad" remains a Top 20 song on Billboard's annual Holiday 100 chart (currently ranked at No. 13).
Mission accomplished.
"For some reason, this little song has united everyone," the Puerto Rican singer-guitarist told NBC's "TODAY" show in 2020 for the song's 50 th anniversary. "Nobody can get angry that you made them sing 'Feliz Navidad' because it's in Spanish. Nobody can get angry because you made them sing the English part.
"I wanted to wish you a merry Christmas. And I think it's wonderful."
'Feliz Navidad's' enduring popularity at Christmas time
"Feliz Navidad" is one of the most played and recorded Christmas songs in the world. But the song wasn't an immediate hit.
"First people had to get used to it," Feliciano told CBS Sunday Morning in 2020 . "Then the year after, it caught on big."
Since then, the song has charted on the Billboard Hot 100 many times over the years, and it's appeared in movies such as "The Grinch" and in TV shows from "All in the Family" to "Glee."
"'Feliz Navidad' is a beloved holiday favorite for listeners around the world," said Gabriela Gonzalez of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in a 2020 press release about the song's 50th anniversary. "Over the last year it was performed in nearly 90 countries, from Argentina to Canada, Norway, Israel, South Africa, India, Japan and New Zealand, to name a few."
How José Feliciano wrote 'Feliz Navidad'
The holiday standard was born on a hot summer day in 1970 at Feliciano's Los Angeles home, where he was meeting producer Rick Jarrard to talk about an upcoming Christmas album.
It was Jarrard who urged Feliciano to write an original Christmas song for the album.
"He comes to me and says, 'José, you know, you should really think about writing a new Christmas song for this album,'" Feliciano told the Arizona Republic in early December . "And I remember thinking, "Oh Rick, I love you, but how do you expect me to compete with Irving Berlin or Brenda Lee? I mean, I don't really think I could do that.'
"So he goes, 'Just think about it. Just give it a shot.'"
And Feliciano did just that.
He says he came up with "Feliz Navidad" within minutes.
Feliciano — who has family in Southwest Florida and has occasionally lived here when not at his main home in Weston, Connecticut — was missing his brothers and extended family at the time. They had always celebrated Noche Buena — otherwise known as Christmas Eve — by drinking rum, caroling and eating traditional Puerto Rican dishes.
He ended up channeling those feelings and a message of unity into "Feliz Navidad."
"I started humming a couple of notes," he told The News-Press in 2010, when he lived in Lehigh Acres. "I wrote it bilingual so that radio stations had no excuse but to play it. It covered everybody."
Feliciano wanted a song that would bring people together people with its positive message and bilingual lyrics.
"My thought when I wrote the song was that it didn't matter what language you were singing in," he told the Associated Press in 2020 . "The feeling of Christmas is privy to all of us."
Jarrard loved the song, but Feliciano had his doubts.
"I played it for him," Feliciano told the Arizona Republic. "And he said, 'José, that's just perfect. Thank you.'
"I remember saying, 'Oh, Rick, but it's too simple. It'll never go anywhere.'"
The lyrics to 'Feliz Navidad'
The song ended up on Feliciano's 1970 self-titled holiday album, later renamed "Feliz Navidad." For the recording, he sang the song and also played guitar and cuatro — a traditional, 10-stringed Puerto Rican instrument that his uncle had taught him.
Part of the charm of "Feliz Navidad" is its simplicity: Just 19 words in English and Spanish, repeated over a 3-minute run time.
Only six of those words are in Spanish: "Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad." Translation: "Merry Christmas, prosperous year and happiness."
The other 13 words are English: "I wanna wish you a merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heart."
"Musically, it's simplistic, but that doesn't take away from the charm of the song at all," musician Bobby Sanabria, co-director of the Bronx Music Heritage Center, told NPR in 2020 for the song's 50th anniversary . "'Feliz Navidad's' one of those kind of songs that, like 'Happy Birthday,' it's very, very iconic. And anybody can sing it."
More about Jose Feliciano: World Series, Grammy Awards
José Feliciano is considered to be the first Spanish-speaking musician to find huge crossover success in the United States.
The Puerto Rican-born performer often disputes that notion, though, pointing to Ritchie Valens of "La Bamba" fame. Valens, however, didn't actually speak Spanish.
Besides "Feliz Navidad," Feliciano had other hits in the '60s and '70s, including his No. 1 cover of The Doors' "Light My Fire" in 1968 and the hit theme song for the '70s TV show "Chico and the Man."
He's won seven Grammy Awards, and Guitar Player magazine lists him in its "Gallery of Greats."
He's also famous for his controversial version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a 1968 World Series game in Detroit. Many fans objected to Feliciano's soulful, Latin-jazz take on the anthem.
Feliciano plays both the guitar and the cuatro, a lute-like instrument indigenous to his native Puerto Rico.
José Feliciano's mixed feelings about 'Feliz Navidad'
Feliciano has said he's proud of "Feliz Navidad," but he's also frustrated by its legacy. Many people know that song and little else.
"At times, it can be an albatross," he told The News-Press in 2010. "Unfortunately, the radio stations in this country don't play me the rest of the year."
Feliciano said he prefers to be famous for other reasons: His cover of The Doors' "Light My Fire," for example. Or for being the first successful rock musician to play a nylon string guitar.
Still, years after recording the song, he said he's come to terms with "Feliz Navidad" and its fame.
"I just want the song to be remembered," he told CBS Sunday Morning in 2020. "And if they mention my name along with what they remember, then even better."
Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 or email him at crunnells@gannett.com .
Follow or message him on social media: Facebook ( facebook.com/charles.runnells.7 ), X (formerly Twitter) ( @charlesrunnells ), Threads (@crunnells1) and Instagram ( @crunnells1 ).
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Feliz Navidad: José Feliciano wanted Christmas hit to unite the world
