Wonderful Christmastime by Paul McCartney Song Info
"Wonderful Christmastime" is a Christmas song by English musician Paul McCartney. Recorded during the sessions for his solo album McCartney II (1980), it was released in November 1979 following Wings' final album Back to the Egg earlier that year. It was McCartney's first solo single in over eight years since "Eat at Home" in 1971. "Wonderful Christmastime" has charted within the top 10 in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom as well as the top 20 in Canada, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland. Despite being regarded as one of McCartney's weaker compositions by some music critics, it is a popular song during Christmas and has been covered throughout the years by numerous artists. McCartney wrote the song in the key of B major, and recorded it entirely on his own during the sessions for his solo project McCartney II. Although the members of Wings are not on the recording, they do appear in the promotional music video, which was filmed at the Fountain Inn in Ashurst, West Sussex. It also includes footage filmed at the Hippodrome Theatre in Eastbourne, where McCartney rehearsed his 1979 UK tour. Wings performed the song during their 1979 tour of the UK. Including royalties from cover versions, it was estimated in 2010 that McCartney makes $400,000 a year from this song, which puts its cumulative earnings at over $15 million.