A Very Special Christmas, 25th Anniversary

Call it life feeding art. Call it truth in advertising. Call it a vintage Francesca moment. It happened as Francesca Battistelli was working on the follow-up to My Paper Heart, one of the most joyful and successful national debuts in recent memory, and it provides a telling glimpse into the mindset that makes her art so powerfully uplifting.

The multi-platinum, award-winning band Train (Pat Monahan, Jimmy Stafford, and Scott Underwood) is currently on tour in support of its 2012 platinum release, California 37. The album has yielded two hit singles thus far, “Drive By” and “50 Ways To Say Goodbye.” Train made its mark on music history with the GRAMMY Award-winning song “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)” and chart-topping singles like “Meet Virginia” and “Calling All Angels,” earning its third GRAMMY in 2011 for the worldwide number one smash “Hey, Soul Sister” from Save Me, San Francisco.

In August 2007, Vince Gill was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Given his 18 CMA Awards, 20 GRAMMY Awards, and more than 22 million albums sold, this honor was nothing short of well merited. A gifted singer-songwriter and talented player of the guitar, banjo, bass, mandolin, dobro, and fiddle, Vince always puts on an unforgettable performance.

As the first South Korean group to ever make the Billboard Hot 100, this five-girl-member phenomenon made history with their hit single “Nobody.” They launched into international fame while touring with the Jonas Brothers in 2009, and are currently riding high on their new digital single, “Like Money,” featuring Akon.

After winning American Idol at age 17, Jordin Sparks released her self-titled debut to much anticipation. The album was a smashing success, going platinum around the world with more than 2 million copies sold. Jordin recently made her debut on the silver screen in Sparkle, with the late Whitney Houston, and on this year’s 25th anniversary release she covers the song originally performed by Whitney on the very first A Very Special Christmas album in 1987.

Grayson Sanders is a 25-year-old composer and performer based in Brooklyn. At age 11 he won the Connecticut Young Composer’s Competition, and premiered the winning composition with the Hartford Symphony. He attended NYU and won the university’s highest honors in classical composition. He has written four large symphonic works, all premiered by New York-area orchestras. He has scored 15 short films, including a feature for network television. He did classically inspired arrangements performed on Wyclef Jean’s 2008 World Tour and currently works as a freelance composer for multiple New York post production companies.

Like any classic country success story, Rascal Flatts got its start in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Fiddle and Steel Guitar Bar. Rascal Flatts has since produced seven platinum-(or higher!) certified albums, landed 13 singles in the number-one spot on the charts, and acquired more than 40 awards.

OneRepublic took the world by storm in 2007 with their debut release, Dreaming Out Loud. The album included the smash single “Apologize,” which shattered digital sales and airplay records worldwide, and, along with second single “Stop and Stare,” propelled the album to platinum-plus sales and a GRAMMY nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. OneRepublic released its sophomore set, Waking Up, in 2009, and the band has seen three singles–“All The Right Moves,” “Secrets,” and “Good Life”—top the radio charts.

After starting his career singing at a coffee shop in San Diego, Jason Mraz stepped into major international success with the release of his second album, Mr. A-Z, in 2005. He broke records with his five-times-platinum single, “I’m Yours,” which held a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 76 weeks! His newest album, Love Is a Four Letter Word, and the lead single, “I Won’t Give Up,” hit number one on iTunes within hours of being released.

A four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year and three-time ACM Top Female Vocalist, GRAMMY - winning Martina McBride has established her reign over country music with her powerhouse vocals. She is a multi-platinum selling artist that has topped the Country Radio charts with several hit songs. Even with a large collection of trophies and medals, Martina continues striving to reinvent herself, notably on her newest album, Eleven, which includes hit songs “Teenage Daughters” and the GRAMMY - nominated “I’m Gonna Love You Through It.”