Merry Christmas with Love

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.

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.

Musicians

 * Allan Schwartzberg - drums
 * Vinnie Colaiuta - drums
 * David Finck - bass
 * Nathan East - bass
 * Ira Siegel - acoustic guitar
 * Jeff Mironov - guitar
 * Mike Landau - electric guitar
 * Kenny Ascher - piano
 * Steve Ferrera - harp, percussion
 * Walter Afanasieff - keyboard
 * Conesha Mone't - background vocals
 * Quiana Parler - background vocals
 * Jacob Juttrell - background vocals
 * Angela Fisher - background vocals
 * Michael McElroy - background vocals
 * Clarke Anderson - background vocals
 * Darryl Phinnesse - background vocals
 * The McCrary Choir - background vocals
 * Broadway Inspirational Voices - background vocals
 * Kate Coffman - soprano
 * Laura Dean - soprano
 * Tanesha Gary - soprano
 * Catrice Joseph-Hart - soprano
 * Gerti Lee James - soprano
 * Bertilla Baker - alto
 * Tracy Nicole Chapman - alto
 * La-Rita Gaskins - alto
 * Lucia Giannetta - alto
 * Danielle Lee Greaves - alto
 * Maurice Lauchner - tenor
 * John Eric Parker - tenor
 * Glenn Rainey - tenor
 * Eliseo Roman - tenor
 * Christopher Zelno - tenor

Production

 * Andy Zulla - mixing
 * Joel Moss - recording
 * Mark Valentine - additional recording
 * Emanuel Kiriakou - engineer
 * Joe Wohlmuth - additional engineering
 * David Channing - additional engineering
 * Jay Spears - assistant engineer
 * Mike Schroffel - assistant engineer
 * Glenn Pittman - assistant engineer
 * Alex Rodriguez - assistant engineer
 * Dave Reitzas - lead vocal engineer
 * Jorge Calandrelli - arrangement
 * Patrick Williams - arrangement
 * Rich Davis - production coordination
 * Elena Barere - concert master
 * Torrie Zito - conductor
 * William Ross - conductor, arranger
 * Humberto Gatica - orchestra engineer
 * Sandy Decrescent - orchestra contractor
 * David Lowe - orchestra contractor
 * Jill Dell'Abate production manager
 * Joe Yannece - mastering