Carey’s holiday hit finally reaches No. 1
Can it ever really be Christmas without Mariah Carey?
The self-proclaimed “Queen of Christmas” has landed the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 for her famous holiday hit, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
This is the first time the 25-year-old song has hit No. 1. The song’s previous record was No. 3 on the chart.
Billboard announced that the song topped this week’s chart, giving Carey her 19th No. 1 of her career. She is only behind the Beatles, who have had 20 songs top the Hot 100 chart.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the first holiday song to top the Hot 100 chart since “The Chipmunk Song” in 1958-59.
Now a holiday classic, the song was first released in 1994 on Carey’s “Merry Christmas” album. She was 24 when she recorded it.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” has been featured in the 2003 movie “Love Actually” and is used as Carey’s official holiday kickoff anthem every year. Ariana Grande and CeeLo Green have covered the tune.
To date, Carey has earned more than $60 million in royalties off the song.
Since 2014, she has performed a concert in honor of the classic song annually.
Amazon is debuting a mini-documentary about the history of the song, called “Mariah Carey is Christmas.”
Each holiday season Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” begins to climb the Billboard charts as its popularity resurfaces. Last year the song hit a peak at No. 3 and set a new oneday streaming record on Spotify.
Carey’s 1994 album, “Merry Christmas,” is currently No. 1 on the Billboard R&B albums chart. Carey wrapped her All I Want for Christmas Is You Tour on Sunday at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
“There are the classics — the standards that everybody grew up with — and then there are the reinterpretations or new originals,” said Dave Bakula, a senior analyst for Nielsen Music. “Mariah lives in that sweet spot of both.”
“This song is not one of those things that decays year over year, with some old-style message,” he added. “It’s a simple, straight-ahead pop gem that just happens to be about Christmas.”