The Friday File: Among the 10 songs with the most royalties, “The Christmas Song” (1944) at #10 with $19 million in royalties, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (1961) at #6 with $27 million and “White Christmas” (1940) at #2 with $36 million have a Christmas theme. The highest grossing song ever is “Happy Birthday” with over $50 million in royalties (and climbing by $5,000/day) since its debut in 1893.