A very special Christmas

In 1987, Keith Haring was commissioned to create the cover art for what would become one of the best-selling Christmas albums of all times. Its legendary track list features Christmas songs recorded by Madonna, Eurythmics, Whitney Houston and Bon Jovi, and many other chart-toppers of the era.

Although the artwork is clearly inspired by the biblical story of Mary and Christ, the project was set up to raise funds and awareness for the Special Olympics: the world's largest sports event for children and adults with disabilities.

In his journals, Keith Haring wrote on October 3 1987 that the chairperson of the Special Olympics reached out to thank him for his design and asked if the artwork could be further used for their Christmas cards.

Since 1987, the cover image has been reused for a series of follow-up releases, all in different colours. A Very Special Christmas 2 was released in green, two years after Keith Haring had passed away in 1990, at the age of 31. In more recent years, the album saw re-releases on cassette tape and CD.

As of 2021, approximately $131 million in royalties and investment proceeds have been generated by the sale of the albums, according to the AVSC website. A first edition LP is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The album was produced by Jimmy Iovine for A&M records.

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