Forte dei Marmi (Italy), Nov 26 (IANS/AKI) Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will have even more to celebrate during this year’s holiday season. His latest album, ‘My Christmas’, is the number one album on Billboard’s holiday and classical chart in the US and is number two on Billboard’s top 200.

Bocelli’s album which was released in the US Nov 3 has reinforced his position as one of the most celebrated artists in the history of Italian music.

The album contains 16 timeless Christmas favourites and half a dozen cameos from artists including Natalie Cole and Mary J. Blige.

Bocelli has chosen numbers that are well known around the world, including ‘I Believe’, which he sang in front of an emotional Pope John Paul II, and ‘Silent Night’, as well as the popular Italian Christmas carol ‘Tu Scendi dalle Stelle’ (From Starry Skies Thou Comest).

‘For me ‘Tu Scendi dalle Stelle’ is the Christmas song par excellence,’ Bocelli said. ‘When I hear it I remember the festivities of my youth.’

Bocelli said the album’s producer David Foster had embellished the album with classics including, ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’ and ‘What a Child This is’.

‘Foster and I have a really beautiful rapport, before we work we play music together,’ he said. ‘Above all no-one says no to him. And thanks to him, duets like the ones with Natalie Cole and Mary J. Blige were possible.’