These Are Special Times

These Are Special Times is the seventeenth studio album and sixth English‑language release by Canadian singer Celine Dion, as well as her first English‑language Christmas album. It was issued in Europe on 30 October 1998 by Columbia Records and in the United States on 3 November 1998 through Epic Records. The album includes covers of well‑known Christmas standards and several original songs, such as "I'm Your Angel" and "The Prayer". Dion collaborated primarily with producers David Foster and Ric Wake, who oversaw most of the project. These Are Special Times followed the major commercial success of her previous English‑language albums, Falling into You (1996) and Let's Talk About Love (1997).

Upon release, These Are Special Times received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised Dion's vocal performance and the album's polished production. It has been certified six times platinum by the RIAA for shipments of six million copies in the United States. In Canada, it sold one million copies and was certified diamond by the CRIA. With global sales exceeding 12 million copies, it ranks among the best‑selling Christmas albums of all time.

The album produced two singles. "I'm Your Angel" was released as the lead single on 16 November 1998 and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. "The Prayer", a duet with Andrea Bocelli, was issued as a promotional single on 1 March 1999 and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 56th Golden Globe Awards. Both "I'm Your Angel" and "The Prayer" received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 41st and 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, respectively. In 2021, Billboard ranked These Are Special Times as the eighth greatest holiday album of all time.