# Merry Christmas with Love

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Entertainment Weekly | D |
| Rolling Stone | (mixed) |
Merry Christmas with Love is the first Christmas album and second studio album by American recording artist Clay Aiken. It was released on November 16, 2004, through RCA Records. The production on the album was produced by Phil Ramone and Walter Afanasieff.
The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 270,000 copies in its first week. It was also recognized by Billboard as the best-selling Christmas/holiday album of 2004 and the best-selling Christian album of 2005. The album certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in January 2005.
Aiken has toured four times with his Joyful Noise Tour (2004-2007) to promote this album. The album was re-released on August 18, 2009, on the Sony label.

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result |
| 2004 | Billboard Music Awards | Best Selling Christmas Album | Won |
| 2005 | American Christian Music Awards | Outstanding Yule CD | Won |
| 2005 | Billboard Music Awards | Best Selling Christmas Album | Won |

## Tours

2004: The Joyful Noise Tour
* 28-city two-hour holiday concert (November - December 2004)
* Featured 30 piece orchestras as well as both adult and children's choirs invited from each host city.
* The Joyful Noise Tour's official sponsor was Ronald McDonald House Charities.
2005: The Joyful Noise 2005 Tour
* 36-city, 40-concert U.S. and Canada tour (November - December 2005)
* The concert featured a traveling cast of actors, singers, and dancers, as well as a supporting cast recruited from each host city, to provide the theatrical component that threaded together the musical performances.
* The opening act and contributing musician was pop-classical pianist William Joseph.
2006: Holiday Tour
* 18-city tour of cities mostly in the eastern U.S. (December 2006)
* Performed with local orchestras, which also opened the concerts with a program of seasonal music.
2007: Christmas in the Heartland
* 21-date eastern U. S. tour began on November 26 in Wichita, Kansas, and ended on December 22, 2007, in Merrillville, Indiana.
* Local orchestras performed the music.
* Holiday stories submitted and read by fans were spaced throughout the performance as lead in to four of the song selections.
Aiken has ended each of his Christmas tours with his signature Christmas song, "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day".

## Commercial performance

Merry Christmas with Love debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 270,000 copies in its first week. This became Aiken's second US top-ten debut. By the end of 2004, the album sold 1,004,000 copies. The album set a new record for fastest-selling holiday album in the SoundScan era (since March 1991) and tied Celine Dion's record for the highest debut by a holiday album in the history of Billboard magazine. On January 6, 2005, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over a million copies. As of February 2011, the album has sold 1.4 million copies in the United States.

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Canada (Music Canada) | Gold | 50,000$^^$ |
| United States (RIAA) | Platinum | 1,000,000$^^$ |
| $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |||