Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special Is Breaking Records
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special has given way to a handful of brand new Christmas classics in the form of “I Don’t Know What Christmas Is” and “Here It Is Christmastime” by Old 97’s featuring the musical stylings of the Footloose star himself, Kevin Bacon. The original tracks, which aired on the Disney+ holiday special have surpassed the streaming bump which saw Stranger Things launch Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and Metallica’s “Master Of Puppets” back into the mainstream zeitgeist and billboard charts through the needle dropping power of nostalgia, by reaching the top 10 Rock digital sales as original tracks made for the special, according to a report from MovieWeb.
The chart-topping tracks played during the Guardians Holiday Special, which follows the misadventures of Dave Bautista’s Drax and Pom Klementieff’s Mantis as they attempt to kidnap actor Kevin Bacon to deliver as a gift to Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord. The special dropped on Disney+ on November 25th, and like the previous two installments of the James Gunn-led superhero troupe, featured a heavy emphasis on music throughout.
The third and final installment in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, as well as Gunn’s overall involvement with the MCU is set to arrive in theaters on May 5, 2023, and true to its highly musical nature, is rumored to be adding Lady Gaga to its growing ensemble cast.
“Here It Is Christmastime” reached number 10 on Billboard’s Rock Digital Song Sales Chart, number 7 on Holiday Digital Song Sales, as well as reaching number 27 on overall Digital Song sales. Conversely, “I Don’t Know What Christmas Is” opened at number 5 on the Digital Rock Sales chart, number 4 on the Holiday Digital Song Sales, and number 15 overall Digital Song Sales.
While these figures may not be reaching the pop charting heights of figures such as Drake or Taylor Swift, this does show the massive sweeping influence of both the Guardians Holiday Special as well as streaming culture as a whole. The special, which launched to the tune of near universal praise from fans and critics alike, has garnered a ton of attention as one of the most effective holiday specials in recent memory, and will likely be joining the rosters of many families’ holiday viewing traditions.
The Guardians Holiday Special original tracks even gained so much notoriety that Kevin Bacon and the Old 97’s were invited to perform the songs live on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, without their alien makeup. Clearly this shows that these ear worms function as standalone holiday tracks even outside of the special, without the added context of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Before the performance, Kevin Bacon sat with Fallon and discussed his experience playing himself in the holiday special, as well as promoting his upcoming projects such as Beverly Hills Cop 4 with Eddie Murphy.
James Gunn took to Twitter to express gratitude and pride for having contributed to the Christmas jingles, stating “It’s a real dream come true to have co-written a charting song.” alongside a screen grab of Billboard’s chart announcement. Let’s stay tuned in to the musical magic of Guardians 3!
