Feliz
Navidad
"Feliz
Navidad" is a Christmas song written in 1970 by the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter
José Feliciano. With its simple Spanish
language chorus (the traditional Christmas/New Year greeting, "Feliz navidad,
prospero año y felicidad" or "merry Christmas, prosperous year
and happiness") and equally simple English verse ("I wanna wish you
a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart"), it has become a classic
Christmas pop song in the USA and throughout the Spanish-speaking world. In the
song's original recording, Feliciano plays a Puerto Rican cuatro in the background. Various
artists have covered "Feliz Navidad", including Boney M[1], Céline
Dion[2], The Cheetah Girls[3], Jaci Velasquez[4] The Three Tenors, BoA, David
Hasselhoff and David Crowder Band, but any year, at Christmas time, the original
José Feliciano version of "Feliz Navidad" is one of the most
downloaded and aired Christmas songs in the USA. It was also recognized by ASCAP
as one of the top 25 most played and recorded Christmas songs around the world.
The song is popular in Spanish speaking countries. The
song was featured early in the special, Christmas Eve on Sesame Street as Big
Bird was learning to skate. Billy
T. James recorded a parody of the song with the refrain, 'I wanna wish you a Maori
Christmas.' This
song was also played at the end of the Ugly Betty episode Giving Up The Ghost From
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