How Noddy Holder’s Wife Lives with Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’

The 1973 glam-rock classic “Merry Xmas Everybody” continues to chart every December, creating an odd situation for the wife of Slade guitarist and co-writer Noddy Holder.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would end up married to a man as synonymous with Christmas (almost) as much as Santa himself,” Suzan Holder writes in an article for Cheshire Life magazine. “The track is now as much part of Christmas as crackers and cranberry sauce.

“Trying to do my Christmas shopping is often a bizarre experience as my husband's voice follows me everywhere I go,” she added. “I’ll be hunting for something suitable for him ... and there he’ll be, blasting from a speaker. It’s very distracting.”

Slade has been estimated to earn as much as $600,000 annually on holiday-season residuals from “Merry Xmas Everybody.” Turns out, Noddy has his own problems with the song’s constant presence.

Suzan, a journalist and TV producer, recalled a specific incident involving their adult son when was just four years old. “It’s as if the playlist senses his presence,” she explained. “Django decided to sing along while shouting, ‘It’s your song, Daddy! Daddy, it’s you!’ Noddy said he had to [run away] as Django’s antics began to draw a crowd.”

She also confirms that Noddy recites the famous outro vocal from “Merry Xmas Everybody” to her in person every year: “Yes, he does wake me up on Dec. 25 by bellowing ... can you guess? If you think it's loud on the record, you have no idea.”

Watch Slade’s ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ Video