Merry Christmas Darling was made popular by The Carpenters. They originally recorded the song and re-released it again in 1974 and 1977. The song is on their 1978 album Christmas Portrait.
The song was written in 1944 by Frank Pooler. He was eighteen at the time and wrote it about his current love interest. Twenty two years later, in 1966, he was a choral director at the California State University, where Karen and Richard Carpenter were students and beginning to find success. They asked if he had any ideas for holiday songs. Pooler gave them the lyrics to the song he wrote so long ago and stated he didn’t think much of the original melody. Richard Carpenter rewrote the tune in fifteen minutes and the group later released the song.
The song has been recorded by numerous others including Natalie Cole, Ellvis Presley, Amy Grant and Vanessa Williams.