A Christmas music quiz is the easiest crowd-pleaser of the festive season. Everyone has heard the same songs in every shop since early November, so the whole family can play, from the nan who remembers Slade first time round to the teenager who only knows the TikTok versions. Here are 40 Christmas music quiz questions with answers in four rounds, plus a tie-breaker, ready to read out at a party, a work do or round the table on Boxing Day.
The questions are trivia about the songs and the charts, not the lyrics, so you can print this page and pass it around freely. If you want a lyrics round as well, our Christmas finish the lyrics quiz uses traditional carols with answers.
How to run it
Split into teams of two to five, hand out paper and pens, and read each question twice. Give about thirty seconds per question. Swap sheets between teams for marking at the end of each round and read out the answers. One point per correct answer; half a point if a team gets the artist right but the song wrong is a kind house rule for younger players.
Round 1: Name the artist
1. "Last Christmas" Answer: Wham!
2. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" Answer: Mariah Carey
3. "Fairytale of New York" Answer: The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl
4. "Driving Home for Christmas" Answer: Chris Rea
5. "Merry Xmas Everybody" Answer: Slade
6. "Step into Christmas" Answer: Elton John
7. "Wonderful Christmastime" Answer: Paul McCartney
8. "Feliz Navidad" Answer: José Feliciano
9. "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" Answer: John Lennon and Yoko Ono
10. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" Answer: Brenda Lee
Round 2: UK Christmas number ones
1. Which charity single was the Christmas number one in 1984? Answer: "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid
2. Which two musicians wrote it? Answer: Bob Geldof and Midge Ure
3. Which rock song beat the X Factor winner to Christmas number one in 2009 after a Facebook campaign? Answer: "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine
4. Which pink and yellow spotted TV character was Christmas number one in 1993? Answer: Mr Blobby
5. Which girl group had three Christmas number ones in a row, from 1996 to 1998? Answer: Spice Girls
6. Which Queen song was Christmas number one in both 1975 and 1991? Answer: "Bohemian Rhapsody"
7. Whose sausage roll songs were Christmas number one five years running, from 2018 to 2022? Answer: LadBaby
8. "Fairytale of New York" reached number two in 1987. Which Pet Shop Boys cover kept it off the top? Answer: "Always on My Mind"
9. Which Cliff Richard song was Christmas number one in 1988? Answer: "Mistletoe and Wine"
10. Which boy band's "Stay Another Day" was Christmas number one in 1994? Answer: East 17
Round 3: Christmas music trivia
1. Which Bing Crosby song is often called the best-selling single of all time? Answer: "White Christmas"
2. Who wrote "White Christmas"? Answer: Irving Berlin
3. How old was Brenda Lee when she recorded "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"? Answer: 13
4. Which Wham! song finally reached number one in the UK on New Year's Day 2021, 36 years after it came out? Answer: "Last Christmas"
5. Which Welsh choirboy had a top ten hit with "Walking in the Air" in 1985? Answer: Aled Jones
6. "Walking in the Air" comes from which animated film? Answer: The Snowman
7. Which Slade frontman shouts the famous "It's Christmas!" at the end of "Merry Xmas Everybody"? Answer: Noddy Holder
8. Which 1973 Wizzard song wishes it could be Christmas every day? Answer: "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday"
9. Which Shakin' Stevens song was Christmas number one in 1985? Answer: "Merry Christmas Everyone"
10. Which group had the 1978 Christmas number one with "Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord"? Answer: Boney M.
Round 4: Carols and classics
1. In "The Twelve Days of Christmas", what does my true love give on the fifth day? Answer: Five gold rings
2. And how many lords are a-leaping? Answer: Ten
3. Which carol was first written in German as "Stille Nacht"? Answer: "Silent Night"
4. Which king looked out on the Feast of Stephen? Answer: Good King Wenceslas
5. Complete the carol title: "O Little Town of..." Answer: Bethlehem
6. In "Jingle Bells", what kind of sleigh is it? Answer: A one-horse open sleigh
7. "Deck the halls with boughs of..." what? Answer: Holly
8. Which carol begins with shepherds watching their flocks by night? Answer: "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks"
9. Which composer wrote the tune usually sung to "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"? Answer: Felix Mendelssohn
10. In "The Holly and the Ivy", which of the two bears the crown? Answer: The holly
Tie-breaker
In which year was "Last Christmas" by Wham! first released? Answer: 1984. Closest team wins.
Make it a party, not just a quiz
A quiz keeps the room busy for an hour; singing keeps it going until midnight. When the answers are in, pick a few songs from our Christmas karaoke songs and let the winning team choose first. For more ideas for the rest of the evening, see our Christmas party games.
Or skip the setup completely. Grab The Phone Karaoke is a free party game for 2 to 8 players on one phone: a word lights up, whoever grabs the phone first sings any song containing it for 15 seconds, and everyone else votes. Ask the group to stick to Christmas songs for a festive round and watch how fast "snow", "bells" and "home" turn into chaos.
