*First line is the artist name. 1961. This is a standard Christmas song, but this version of it has become a classic. The singer had many hits. His daughter, Natalie, had many hits of her own. He died in 1965 at age 45 from cancer. He faced a great deal of discrimination in his career which started in the 1930s. And left us with beautiful music. The simple title to this song is The Christmas Song.