It’s December… And (no surprise) Mariah Carey‘ is back atop the Billboard charts.
The 55-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” dashes through all competition on the Billboard Hot 100 once again, surging nine spots to No. 1 for a 15th total week at the summit on the chart.
The carol reigns in a record-extending sixth holiday season.
It was originally released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in November 1994 and, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists, it hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in December 2017, and the top five for the first time in the 2018 holiday season.
It led at last, prior to this week, over the holidays in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two), 2021 (three), 2022 (four) and 2023 (two).
“When I wrote [it], I had absolutely no idea the impact the song would eventually have worldwide,” Carey marveled in 2021. “I’m so full of gratitude that so many people enjoy it with me every year.”
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” became Carey’s 19th Hot 100 No. 1, the most among soloists and one away from The Beatles’ overall record 20. It also made Carey the first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the chart in four distinct decades (1990s, 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s).
Carey’s insta-classic drew 38.2 million streams (up 42%) and 24.4 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 56%) and sold 3,000 downloads (up 81%) in the U.S. Nov. 29-Dec. 5, according to Luminate.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” ties for the sixth-longest command among the 1,176 total No. 1s dating to the Hot 100’s Aug. 4, 1958. start. (All seven songs have led since the list adopted electronically-monitored Luminate data in November 1991, at which point longer commands than before subsequently became more common.)
Below is a recap of the seven longest-leading Hot 100 No. 1s – with Carey the only artist with two entries on the elite list:
19 weeks, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey, 2024
19, “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, 2019
16, “Last Night,” Morgan Wallen, 2023
16, “Despacito,” Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber, 2017
16, “One Sweet Day,” Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men, 1995-96
15, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey, 2019-24
15, “As It Was,” Harry Styles, 2022
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations.