Mel Tormé (1925–1999), the American jazz singer and songwriter known as “the Velvet Fog,” and Robert Wells (born Robert Levinson, 1922–1998), an American songwriter and television producer, co-wrote “The Christmas Song” (“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) in 1945 during a hot California summer, reportedly finishing the tune in around 40 minutes. Tormé, also a prolific vocalist and composer of over 250 songs, and Wells, who wrote over 400 published songs and won six Emmy Awards for his television work, collaborated closely between 1945 and 1949.

“The Christmas Song,” first popularized by Nat King Cole, became one of the most-recorded and most-performed holiday songs of all time, cementing both writers’ legacies in the American popular songbook.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Christmas_Song