Home for Christmas is the only Christmas album and second studio album by American boy band NSYNC. The album was released, exclusively in the United States, on November 10, 1998, by RCA Records following the success of their self-titled debut album. On October 27, 1999, Home for Christmas was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA for shipment of two million copies in the United States. Home for Christmas was released on September 30, 2002, in the United Kingdom as The Meaning of Christmas on Ariola Express with an altered track listing.
"Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" was released as a single in the United States, and in Germany as well, due to its inclusion on the group's German seasonal album, The Winter Album. As of December 2014, Home for Christmas has sold 2.8 million copies in the United States, making it the fifteenth best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the U.S. since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking music sales in 1991.
Critical reception
During its time of release in 1998, Home for Christmas was met with lukewarm to negative reviews from critics who derided the song lyrics as “sentimental-sounding non sequiturs” However, critics also praised the album for having eleven original tracks, as well as for its “slickly produced adult contemporary ballads and lite dance-pop”. It is also known as a rare NSYNC album that gives Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass vocal opportunities to shine.
NSYNC
- Lance Bass – backing and occasional lead vocals (bass)
- JC Chasez – lead and backing vocals (first tenor/melody)
- Joey Fatone – backing and occasional lead vocals (baritone)
- Chris Kirkpatrick – backing and lead vocals (countertenor/falsetto)
- Justin Timberlake – lead and backing vocals (second tenor/melody)
Additional personnel
- Troy Antunes — bass <small>(track 7)</small>
- Lou Appel — drums and percussion <small>(track 1)</small>
- Joey Argero — bass <small>(tracks 5, 6)</small>
- Alan "Double A" Armitage — mixing assistant <small>(tracks 2–9, 12–14)</small>
- Billy Ashbaugh — drums <small>(track 7)</small>
- Adam Barber — engineer <small>(tracks 2, 4, 7, 9, 11–14, 16)</small>
- Johann Bast — strings <small>(track 12)</small>
- Tony Battaglia — guitars <small>(track 7)</small>
- David Bjella — strings <small>(track 12)</small>
- Joanie Bjella — strings <small>(track 12)</small>
- Scott Bliege — horns <small>(track 6)</small>
- Gary Carolla — producer <small>(tracks 5, 6, 8, 10)</small>, keyboards and drums <small>(5, 6, 8)</small>, arranger <small>(5, 8)</small>, vocal arranger <small>(10)</small>
- Deborah Cole — additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>
- Tom Coyne — mastering
- Frank Delour — drums and percussion <small>(track 1)</small>
- Rob Dorsey — drums and percussion <small>(track 1)</small>
- Lisa Ferrigno — strings <small>(track 12)</small>
- Keith Fluitt — additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>
- Andricka Hall — additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>
- Lawrence Hamilton — additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>
- Matt Harris — assistant engineer <small>(tracks 2–5, 7, 9, 11–14)</small>
- Al Henberger — engineer <small>(track 3)</small>
- Ben Holt — assistant engineer <small>(track 1)</small>
- Manfred Honetschläger — strings arranger and conductor <small>(track 10)</small>
- John James — additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>
- Stephanie James — additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>
- Jürgen Kaiser — strings engineer <small>(track 10)</small>
- Mark Kiczula — assistant engineer <small>(tracks 1, 5)</small>
- Jim Kimball — engineer <small>(track 11)</small>
- Steve MacAuley — engineer <small>(track 8)</small>
- Danny Madden — vocal co-producer <small>(track 1)</small>
- Pat McMakin — mixing <small>(track 11)</small>
- Ann Mincieli — assistant engineer <small>(track 1)</small>
- Frank Motnik — assistant strings engineer <small>(track 10)</small>
- John Poppo — producer, arranger, engineer, and mixing <small>(track 1)</small>
- Jim Porreca — engineer <small>(tracks 5, 6)</small>, assistant engineer <small>(5)</small>
- Jason Rea — assistant engineer <small>(track 1)</small>
- Giles Reaves — assistant engineer <small>(track 11)</small>
- Mia S. Rebel — additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>
- Veit Renn — producer <small>(tracks 2, 4, 7, 9, 12–16)</small>, guitar <small>(4)</small>, strings arranger and conductor <small>(12)</small>
- Mike Rew — assistant engineer <small>(track 1)</small>
- Nicki Richards — additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>
- Peter Ries — producer, engineer, mixing, keyboards, and programming <small>(track 10)</small>
- Evan Rogers — producer <small>(track 3)</small>
- Don Rogozinski — horns <small>(track 6)</small>
- Jennie Rudberg — strings <small>(track 12)</small>
- Peter "Ski" Schwartz — keyboard arrangements, string arrangements, and additional vocal arrangements <small>(track 1)</small>
- Mark Silverman — assistant engineer <small>(tracks 2–4, 7, 9, 11–14)</small>
- Andre Smith — additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>
- Joe Smith — mixing <small>(tracks 2–9, 12–14)</small>
- Brian Snapp — saxophone <small>(track 7)</small>
- Carl Sturken — producer <small>(track 3)</small>
- Chris Trevett – mixing <small>(track 16)</small>
- Mike Tucker — engineer <small>(tracks 3, 5, 6, 8, 10)</small>, additional vocal engineering <small>(1)</small>
- Voices of Praise — additional choir vocals <small>(track 4)</small>
- Rex Wertz — horns <small>(track 6)</small>
- Robin Wiley — producer and arranger <small>(track 11)</small>
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
!Chart (1998)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|US Top Holiday Albums (Billboard)
|align="center"|5
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
!Chart (2023–2024)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
!Chart (1999)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|align="center"|58
|}