# One Wish: The Holiday Album

One Wish: The Holiday Album is the only Christmas album by American singer Whitney Houston. It was released by Arista Records on November 18, 2003. Chiefly produced by Mervyn Warren, along with additional production from Troy Taylor, Gordon Chambers and Barry Eastmond, One Wish features a duet with Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown. The album also includes "Joy to the World" and "Who Would Imagine a King," both of which first appeared on The Preacher's Wife soundtrack (1996).
The album received a mixed reception by music critics, many of whom praised the production but were divided upon Houston's vocal performance. Upon its release, One Wish debuted at number 49 on the US Billboard 200, and at number 13 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Its first and only single, a rendition of Freddie Jackson's "One Wish (for Christmas)", reached the top twenty on Billboard's US Adult Contemporary chart. In January 2018, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments figures of over 500,000 copies.

## Promotion

In support of the album, Arista Records released Houston's rendition of Freddie Jackson's song "One Wish (for Christmas)" as a promotional single. Produced by Gordon Chambers and Barry Eastmond, both of whom had also overseen production on Jackson's 1994 original, it reached the top twenty on Billboard's US Adult Contemporary chart in 2004. Houston also recorded a performance video for a shortened version of her cover of "Cantique de Noël (O Holy Night)," which served as an album commercial. A lyric video for "One Wish (for Christmas)," created by filmmaker Katia Temkin showcasing performance footage as well as the song’s lyrics, was released by the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment on December 11, 2020. On December 17, 2022, a lyric video for "The First Noël" was released.

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| Slant | |
New York Daily News editor David Hinckley felt that One Wish "reminds us why we liked her so much in the first place: her voice, for which holiday songs are a splendid vehicle." He noted "there's some elaborate production behind songs like "Joy to the World" and "O Come, O Come Emanuel," but also a stocking-full of lovely singing." AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine remarked that "holiday records are the last place anybody would want to take a risk, since they're designed to be nice, pleasant mood music and, apart from a rather horrid version of "Little Drummer Boy" [..] this suits the bill nicely. The clean, pristine production, heavy on synths, sounds as if it was cut in the late '80s, yet it's also strangely spare, often being no more than a synth and a drum machine. Still, it's a sound that's well suited for Whitney and her thoroughly predictable set of material." Moscow-Pullman Daily News wrote that Houston's "voice [...] dazzles on [the album] [...] as she soulfully interprets holiday classics. Her voice – though at times a bit raspy – captivates on every track." New York Times critic Jones Pareles noted the "lavish swoops, the sultry whispers, the gospelly asides and the meteoric crescendos" from Houston.
Richard Harrington from The Washington Post found that the "album feels like a contractual obligation-slash-holding action" and was "not particularly memorable." Caroline Sullivan, writing for The Guardian, noted that "stuff like this is so piddling for her that [Houston] seems to have zoned out halfway through. Why put any elbow grease into the "project" when all she need do is set her larynx to "reverent," then doze off? Saying that, she gives "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" some a cappella welly, and the cocktail doo-wop of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is quite irresistible. Still, this is the Voice at its numbest." Slant critic Sal Cinquemani found that "one can't help but think that One Wish: The Holiday Album is nothing more than damage control [...] Houston's voice just isn’t what it used to be – she warbles her way through an otherwise understated version of the contemporary classic [...] and sings 'Tiny little tots with their eyes all aglow/Will find it hard to sleep tonight' on Mel Tormé's "The Christmas Song" like she wants to eat them." Rolling Stone described the album as a "lamentable Christmas collection." In 2014, Los Angeles Times critic Randy Lewis included One Wish on his listing of the "12 of the worst holiday albums of the last 20 years." He noted that "for this set, Houston seemed intent on shoehorning more notes into each syllable than Mariah Carey, resulting in an orgy of melismatics that often obliterates the spirit of these holiday tunes."

## Commercial performance

One Wish: The Holiday Album debuted and peaked at number 49 on the US Billboard 200. It marked Houston's lowest chart opening up to then and was a considerable decline from her previous effort Just Whitney (2002), which had debuted at number nine the year before. On Billboard's component charts, it reached number 13 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, becoming her first album to miss the top ten, as well as number five on the Top Holiday Albums chart. In January 2018, One Wish was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for domestic shipments figures in excess of 500,000 units.

## Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.
* Joey Arbagey – A&R
* Julien Barber – viola
* Ray Bardani – mixing
* Sandra Billingslea – violin
* Ralph Blane –
* Edie Lehmann Boddicker – background vocals
* Joseph Bongiorno – upright bass
* Alfred Brown – viola
* Ray Brown Trio – primary artist
* Carmen Carter – background vocals
* Gordon Chambers – producer, vocal arrangement, background vocals
* Bernard Davis – drums
* John Dexter – viola
* Sante d'Orazio – photography
* Earl Dumler – oboe
* Barry J. Eastmond – conductor, engineer, keyboards, producer, string arrangements
* Max Ellen – violin
* Steve Fisher – assistant
* Roxanna Floy – make-Up
* Scott Frankfurt – drum programming, percussion programming
* Ian Freebairn-Smith – background vocals
* Roger Freeland – background vocals
* Michelle George – A&R
* Georgia Mass Choir – primary artist
* Sharlotte Gibson – background vocals
* Sandi Hall – background vocals
* Phil Hamilton – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
* Reggie Hamilton – bass
* John Holmes – assistant
* Ashley Horne – violin
* Gary Houston – background vocals
* Whitney Houston – lead vocals, producer, vocal arrangement
* Regis Iandiorio – violin
* Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar
* Ronald Jenkins – bass
* Richard Thomas Jennings – art direction, design
* Bashiri Johnson – percussion
* Thom "TK" Kidd – engineer
* Olivia Koppell – viola
* Gail Kruvand – bass
* David Kutch – mastering
* Ellin La Var – hair stylist
* Leonid Levin – violin
* Jesse Levy – cello
* Ezekiel Lewis – vocal arrangement, background vocals
* Jason Locklin – assistant
* Stephen Mackey – background vocals
* Joseph Magee – engineer
* Margaret Magill – violin
* Phil Magnotti – string engineer
* Nick Marshall – assistant
* Myrna Matthews – background vocals
* Roger Moody – assistant
* Kermit Moore – cello
* Michael Morton – flute
* Jeff Moses – assistant
* Eugene J. Moye – cello
* Jack Odom – assistant
* Zack Odom – assistant
* Dean Parks – guitar
* Carol Pool – violin
* Dave Reitzas – mixing
* Alex Reverberi – assistant
* Marnie Riley – assistant
* Maxine Roach – viola
* Anthony Ruotolo – assistant
* Matthew Schwartz – a&r
* Tony Shepperd – engineer, mixing
* Rob Skipworth – assistant
* Ivy Skoff – production coordination
* Matt Snedecor – assistant
* Timothy Snell – stylist
* Andy Stein – violin
* Katherine LiVolsi Stern – violin
* Sally Stevens – vocal contractor, background vocals
* Marti Sweet – violin
* Gerald Tarack – concert master, violin
* Craig "Niteman" Taylor – assistant
* Troy Taylor – arranger, bass, drums, keyboards, producer, programming, vocal arrangement, background vocals
* Shelene Thomas – background vocals
* Carmen Twillie – background vocals
* Mervyn Warren – arranger, choir arrangement, conductor, drum programming, keyboards, percussion, percussion programming, piano, producer, string arrangements, vocals, background vocals
* Oren Waters – background vocals
* John West – background vocals
* Gerald White – background vocals
* Michael White – engineer
* Belinda Whitney – violin
* Frank Wolf – engineer
* Harry Zaratzian – viola

## Charts

Weekly chart performance for One Wish: The Holiday Album :
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
| Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) | 29 |
| US Billboard 200 | 49 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) | 14 |
| US Top Holiday Albums (Billboard) | 5 |
Year-end chart performance for One Wish: The Holiday Album :
| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
| US Billboard 200 | 90 |

## Certifications

Certifications for One Wish: The Holiday Album :
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| United States (RIAA) | Gold | 500,000$^^$ |
| $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |||

## Release history

Release dates and formats for One Wish: The Holiday Album :
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
| United States | November 18, 2003 | CDdigital download | Arista | |
| Various | October 13, 2021 | Vinyl | Arista | |