"Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" is a Christmas song performed by English singer-songwriter David Bowie and American singer Bing Crosby. Recorded on 11 September 1977 at Elstree Studios in London for Crosby's television special Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas, the song features Crosby singing 1941 standard "The Little Drummer Boy" while Bowie sings the counterpoint tune "Peace on Earth", written by the special's musical supervisors Ian Fraser and Larry Grossman, and scriptwriter Alan Kohan, specifically for the collaboration. The duet was one of Crosby's final recordings before his death in October 1977.
Following the special's broadcast during the 1977 holiday season, "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" went unavailable for many years. It was finally released as a single by RCA Records in November 1982 and was a commercial success, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart. It became one of the best-selling singles of Bowie's career, with total estimated sales over 400,000 in the UK alone. The song has since become a Christmas classic in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom and has been referred to by The Washington Post as "one of the most successful duets in Christmas music history".
Last Updated: May 28, 2017
