Mariah Carey is the reigning Queen of Christmas…
The 52-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” remains atop the Billboard Hot 100 for an 11th total week.
It leads for a third week this holiday season, as it has topped the chart over the holidays each year since December 2019.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You,” on Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings, was first released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in 1994 and, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists, it first reached the Hot 100’s top 10 in December 2017 and first hit the top five in the 2018 holiday season, before dominating over the holidays in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two), 2021 (three) and now 2022 (three to-date).
The insta-holiday classic drew 48.7 million streams (up 18%) and 39.5 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 19%) and sold 11,000 downloads (up 3%) in the U.S. in the December 16-22 tracking week, according to Luminate. Adding to the song’s momentum, Carey’s two-hour holiday special Merry Christmas to All! premiered on December 20 on CBS.
The song adds a fourth total week at No. 1, and second in a row, on the Digital Song Sales chart, following frames on top in 2005 and 2019; rebounds 2-1 for an 18th week atop Streaming Songs; and jingles 14-11 for a new high on Radio Songs, where it reached a previous No. 12 best over the 1994 holidays and has returned to the top 15 in each of the last four holiday seasons.
Carey becomes the second artist, and first woman, with three songs that have topped the Hot 100 for 11 or more weeks each. She joins Boyz II Men for the honor – with Carey and the group having teamed for one song contributing to the feat:
Mariah Carey:
16 weeks, “One Sweet Day,” with Boyz II Men, 1995-96
14 weeks, “We Belong Together,” 2005
11 weeks (to-date), “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” 2019-22
Carey’s track extends the longest span from a song’s first week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 to its latest, to over three years and a week (December 21, 2019-December 31, 2022).
Plus, the latest week atop the Hot 100 for “Christmas” extends Carey’s record for the longest span of an artist ranking at No. 1 on the chart: 32 years and nearly five months, dating to her first week at No. 1 on the list dated August 4, 1990, with her debut single “Vision of Love.”
With “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Carey adds her record-extending 90th week at No. 1 on the Hot 100, dating to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958 inception.
Most Weeks at No. 1 on Hot 100:
90, Mariah Carey
60, Rihanna
59, The Beatles
54, Drake
50, Boyz II Men
47, Usher
43, Beyoncé
37, Michael Jackson
34, Adele
34, Elton John
34, Bruno Mars
“Christmas” 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, dating to her first week at the summit with “Vision of Love.” The song is additionally the only title to have led in four separate runs on the survey.
Carey’s holiday song expands its record for the most time atop the Hot 100 for a holiday song. The only other seasonal single to lead, “The Chipmunk Song,” by David Seville & the Chipmunks, spent four weeks at No. 1 beginning in December 1958.