The Chipmunks

Alvin and the Chipmunks are a cartoon band whose high-pitched singing voices have appeared on a chart-topping Billboard hit as well as multiple Grammy-winning albums. Ross Bagdasarian created the virtual group in 1958, after scoring a Number 1 hit earlier that same year with "Witch Doctor." By recording his own voice and speeding up the playback, he was able to create a squeaky, chipmunk-like vocal sound that helped "Witch Doctor" top the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. He repeated the trick with "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)," which was released in 1958 as Alvin and the Chipmunks' debut single. The song climbed to Number 1, won three Grammy Awards, and became a holiday staple for more than half a century. It also launched Alvin and the Chipmunks' long run of musical releases, which continued with the group's 1959 debut album, Let's All Sing With the Chipmunks. Peaking at Number 4 in the US, Let's All Sing With the Chipmunks was followed by albums like 1962's platinum-selling Christmas with the Chipmunks, 1963's Top 10 hit Christmas with the Chipmunks Vol. 2, 1980's gold-certified Chipmunk Punk, and 1981's Urban Chipmunk. The latter two releases also showcased Alvin and the Chipmunks' willingness to perform songs from various genres, a versatility that led to platinum sales for the group's first country-oriented album, Chipmunks in Low Places, in 1992. A live-action movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks, was released in 2007 and spawned a platinum-selling soundtrack of the same name, which also peaked at Number 5 on the Billboard 200. The soundtrack to the 2009's Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, was similarly successful, climbing to Number 6 in the US and going gold. A steady stream of albums followed during the 2010s, including 2017's Nuts 2 U and 2019's YOLO.