Songfacts®:

• "XMAS" is an upbeat Christmas anthem built on a literal gimmick: the lyrics spell out its title:
  
  X, the kisses that I got for you
  M, and a very Merry Christmas too
  A, all the love that's in the room
  S, yes, yes, yes!
  
  If you're thinking this sounds suspiciously like a festive cousin to the Village People's "Y.M.C.A.," congratulations, you've rumbled Kylie Minogue's thinking.
• Minogue conceived the idea for "XMAS" in the summer of 2015 in Berlin, shortly after completing her first Christmas album, Kylie Christmas. While she was relaxing on a terrace with friends after a couple of glasses of wine, she was inspired to adapt the Village People's "Y.M.C.A." as "XMAS." She held onto the chorus for approximately 10 years before finally recording and releasing the track.
• In the music video, directed by Sophie Muller, Minogue recreates the iconic lift from Dirty Dancing. This was, by her account, rather nerve-wracking.
  
  "I was a bit scared as I've never done it before," she told The Sun. "We did a couple of practices before we did the main one. The thing is, you just need to trust the other person. The first one I got up, but I overshot it. The second was fine. The third one was good. The bruises were worth it the next day."
• Kylie Minogue wrote "XMAS" with Richard Stannard, Duck Blackwell and Luke Fitton.
  
  Richard Stannard has been one of Kylie's most important and long-standing collaborators, with a songwriting partnership that started with three tracks on her 2000 Light Years album. Stannard is also famous for writing Spice Girls hits, including "Wannabe" and "2 Become 1."
  
  Duck Blackwell began working with Kylie on her 2020 album Disco, co-writing and co-producing multiple tracks.
  
  Luke Fitton is Kylie's touring guitarist. While Fitton has been part of Kylie's live band, "XMAS" is his first songwriting credit on a Kylie Minogue release.
• "XMAS" was released as an Amazon Music Original on November 5, 2025. The Amazon exclusive follows several other successful festive singles from the streaming service, including Sam Ryder's "You're Christmas To Me" and Tom Grennan's "It Can't Be Christmas."
• The song is also included on the 10th-anniversary edition of Kylie Christmas, titled Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped), released on December 5, 2025. This expanded reissue includes four newly recorded songs alongside the original Kylie Christmas tracks.
• "XMAS" climbed to #1 on the UK Singles chart in the Christmas week of 2025 to become Kylie Minogue's eighth UK chart-topper. This made her the first female solo artist to top the chart in four different decades, a feat only previously achieved by Elton John, Elvis Presley and Queen.