The album is a compilation of seasonal holiday favorites, mainly in English, with a few selections in Italian, German, and French, produced by multiple Grammy Award winner David Foster, containing duets with Mary J. Blige, Natalie Cole, Reba McEntire, Katherine Jenkins, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and The Muppets. It also includes "God Bless Us Everyone", the only original song of the album, which Bocelli recorded for the closing of the 2009 film, A Christmas Carol.

A Spanish version of the album, called Mi Navidad, was released November 23, 2009, and a PBS Christmas special of the album, filmed in the Kodak Theatre, was released on DVD December 8, 2010, after airing on PBS stations nationwide.

With over 2.2 million copies sold in the last two months of 2009 in the United States alone, the album was the best-selling holiday album of the year, and one of the best-selling albums of 2009, with worldwide sales exceeding 5 million copies.