Mariah Carey’s Christmas cheer is already spreading nationwide…
The 54-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer-songwriter’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs retrospective, has jingled its way back to the Billboard Hot 100 dated November 25, 2023.
Carey’s insta-classic carol re-enters the Hot 100 at No. 17 with 14 million official streams (up 29%), 7.6 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 333%) and 1,500 sold (up 7%) in the U.S. in the November 10-16 tracking week, according to Luminate.
The song, originally released in 1994, hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in December 2017. In December 2019, it ascended to the summit at last, for three weeks that holiday season. It became the second holiday song ever to reign, after “The Chipmunk Song,” by The Chipmunks with David Seville, spent four weeks at No. 1 beginning in December 1958.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” led the Hot 100 for two more weeks in the 2020 holiday season, thus, passing “The Chipmunk Song” for the most for a Yuletide song, and for three more weeks over the 2021 holidays and a single-season-best four frames during the 2022 season, upping its total to 12 weeks at No. 1.
“When I wrote [it], I had absolutely no idea the impact the song would eventually have worldwide,” Carey marveled of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in 2021. “I’m so full of gratitude that so many people enjoy it with me every year.”
With its 2019 coronation, Carey claimed her 19th Hot 100 No. 1, extending her mark for the most among soloists and moving to within one of The Beatles’ overall record 20.
Plus, when “All I Want for Christmas Is You” dominated the Hot 100 dated Jan. 4, 2020, Carey became the first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in four distinct decades (the 1990s, 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s).
The song has also helped Carey claim the longest span of any soloist topping the Hot 100 – 32 years and five months, dating to her first week atop the chart dated August 4, 1990, with her debut single “Vision of Love” – and swell her total to 91 weeks at No. 1 among all her leaders, the most of any act.
Carey performed “All I Want for Christmas Is You s” on an awards show for the first time as part of the 2023 Billboard Music Awards (November 19). She was also honored with the Billboard Chart Achievement Award for the song, presented to her by her 12-year-old twins, Monroe and Moroccan.
“Billboard has been an integral part of my life for a very long time now,” Carey said in her acceptance speech. “Even though I don’t acknowledge time, I kind of have to admit that some of my most memorable times in my career are connected to Billboard and the BBMAs. One thing I really have to say that I’m really grateful for is the fact that my fans have been here with me through the hits, through the misses, the No. 1s and the Bubbling Unders.”
Below “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” three other holiday classics make annual resurgences on the Hot 100, led by Wham!’s “Last Christmas” at No. 32 (11.3 million streams, up 41%).