Glee will not release a 2013 Christmas album, Columbia Records chairman Rob Stringer has revealed.
Speaking to Billboard about his label’s holiday line-up, Columbia CEO Rob Stringer admitted that Glee will not be putting out a Christmas album for the first time in three years. Columbia, an imprint owned by Sony Records, has handled all official releases of Glee music since season 1.
Glee’s first season did not include a Christmas episode, but the show has celebrated the holidays every year since then, with season 2’s “A Very Glee Christmas” and season 3’s “Extraordinary Merry Christmas.” Each holiday episode had a corresponding full-length album release, including carols and Christmas songs performed by the cast but not featured on screen.
In Glee’s current timeline, the characters last celebrated Christmas in season 4, episode 10 “Glee, Actually.” The episode featured a plot structure based on the Christmas romantic comedy “Love, Actually” and the accompanying soundtrack included the tracks “White Christmas,” “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” and the John Lennon classic “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).”
Given that Glee season 5 is focusing on the second half of the school year which began in season 4, it makes logical sense that we won’t be seeing a 2013 Christmas release from the Glee cast. While the news that we won’t have a Glee Christmas this year is not too surprising, fans may be disappointed to not be receiving a new collection of festive tracks for this holiday season.
When discussing Glee’s past Christmas releases, Stringer told Billboard “I think we sold 1.87 [million] albums of the “Glee” Christmas editions.” Glee’s first Christmas album, in 2010, charted as platinum in the USA, but the two follow-ups did not receive any such accolades.
Will you be sad to not have new Glee Christmas music, even without a Christmas episode? Do you think the cast should release a holiday album anyway?