Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Makes Historic Return to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the gift that keeps on giving…

The half-Venezuelan Grammy-winning singer has made an unprecedented return to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, rising from No. 2.

Carey’s insta-classic carol logs its sixth total week atop the Hot 100 and becomes the first song in the chart’s history to have led in three distinct runs on the ranking.

The song 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’ seasonal playlists, it hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in December 2017, before ascending to No. 1 in both December 2019 (for three weeks)

Carey’s single out paces six holiday classics in the Hot 100’s top 10, with Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” rising to No. 2 and Wham!’s “Last Christmas” returning to the tier at No. 9.

Carey’s “Christmas” drew 37.6 million U.S. streams (up 16%) and 26.1 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 7%) and sold 7,400 downloads (up 7%) in the December 10-16 tracking week, according to MRC Data.

The song spends a 13th total week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and rises 9-7 on Digital Song Sales; and 24-23 on Radio Songs. It also leads the multi-metric Holiday 100 chart for a 49th week, of the chart’s 54 total weeks since the list launched in 2011; it has topped the tally for 34 consecutive weeks, dating to the start of the 2015-16 holiday season, and dominates as the top title on the recently-revealed Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart.

Since its release, the song has upped its U.S. totals to 4.3 billion in radio audience, 1.4 billion streams and 3.7 million in download sales.

Carey’s “Christmas” first topped the Hot 100 dated December 21, 2019, and led again on the next two lists, dated December28, 2019, and January 4, 2020.

The following holiday season, it returned to No. 1 on the chart dated December 19, 2020, and, after a week at No. 2 , topped the January 2, 2021, dated tally.

As “Christmas” rules the latest, December 25, 2021-dated chart, it claims its sixth total week at No. 1 in its third seasonal run at the summit, becoming the first song in the Hot 100’s 63-year history to lead in three distinct chart runs. The track has re-entered the survey each November or December dating to 2012.

(As “Christmas” has made four interrupted climbs to the top of the Hot 100, on charts dated Dec. 21, 2019, Dec. 19, 2020, Jan. 2, 2021, and now Dec. 25, 2021, it ties 24kGoldn’s “Mood,” featuring iann dior, beginning in October 2020, and Drake’s “Nice for What,” in 2018, as the only songs with four separate ascents to No. 1; unlike “Christmas,” the latter two tracks logged their four distinct rises to No. 1 over unbroken chart stays.)

Carey’s “Christmas” now boasts the longest span from a song’s first week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 to its latest: two years and four days (December 21, 2019- December 25, 2021).

It passes the only other song to lead the Hot 100 over multiple runs: Chubby Checker’s “The Twist,” which topped the tally dated September 19, 1960, before, thanks to new popularity among adult audiences, leading the lists dated Jan. 13 and 20, 1962, ruling again after a gap of a year, three months and three weeks. (Still, that break remains the longest between Hot 100 reigns.)

With its sixth week atop the Hot 100, Carey’s “Christmas” extends its record for the most time at No. 1 among holiday songs. The only other seasonal single to jingle to the apex, “The Chipmunk Song,” by David Seville & the Chipmunks, spent four weeks on top beginning in December 1958.

With “Christmas,” Carey claims her record-extending 85th week at No. 1 on the Hot 100, dating to the chart’s August 4, 1958, inception.

Most Weeks at No. 1 on Hot 100
85, Mariah Carey
60, Rihanna
59, The Beatles
52, Drake
50, Boyz II Men
47, Usher
41, Beyoncé
37, Michael Jackson
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 on top with her debut single, “Vision of Love,” in 1990.

Further, “Christmas” is Carey’s record fifth Hot 100 No. 1 to rule for six weeks or more. She one-ups Boyz II Men, Drake and Usher, each with four such leaders.

Plus, it’s not only fitting that “Christmas” leads the Hot 100 dated Dec. 25, 2021, but Carey is the only artist to top the chart on multiple rankings dated Dec. 25: her “Hero” began a four-week stay at No. 1 on the Dec. 25, 1993, Hot 100. (This week’s chart is the 10th dated Dec. 25 in the list’s history.)

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated December 25) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (December 21).

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Earns Fourth Week at No. 1 on Billboard Global 200

Posted on January 4, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey is still celebrating some Christmas magic…

The 51-year-old half-Venezuelan American singer’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” remains the biggest song in the world, as it spends a fourth frame at No. 1 on the latest Billboard Global 200.

The chart’s streaming and sales tracking period encompassed December 25-31, and even with six days of measurement after Christmas, Carey’s 1994 holiday hit rules the Billboard Global 200 despite a 55% drop to 58.3 million streams and a 60% slide to 11,000 sold worldwide in the tracking week. The song was first released on her 1994 album Merry Christmas.

Carey unwraps yet another present, as “Christmas” now solely boasts the most weeks at No. 1 in the Global 200‘s brief history. It passes three songs that have each led for three weeks, including Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez‘s “Dákiti,” which rebounds 10-2, and BTS‘ “Dynamite” (12-3). (The chart’s other three-week No. 1 to-date: Cardi B‘s “WAP,” featuring Megan Thee Stallion.)

Rounding out the Global 200’s top five, The Weeknd‘s “Blinding Lights” rebounds from No. 17 to No. 4, returning to its best rank, and 24kGoldn‘s “Mood,” featuring Iann Dior, jumps 15-5, after reaching No. 2.

Plus, Karol G earns her first Global 200 top 10, as “Bichota” climbs 21-9, with 63.6 million streams (down 8%) and 1,000 sold (up 6%) worldwide.

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Remains the Biggest Song in the World, Topping Two Billboard Global Charts

Posted on December 28, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey is pulling a double…

The 51-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” remains the biggest song in the world, as her 1994 carol spends a third frame at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart.

The track also ascends to No. 1 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. survey.

Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” tops the Billboard Global 200 for a third week, up 55% to 130 million streams and 30% to 27,000 sold worldwide in the week ending December 24.

The song, first released on Carey’s 1994 holiday album Merry Christmas, claims the second-most weekly streams since the chart began, trailing only the weekly high for BTS‘ “Life Goes On” (152.5 million, Dec. 5).

Meanwhile, the insta-classc holiday track rises to No. 1, from No. 2, to top the Global Excl. U.S. chart for the first time, with 58.5 million streams (up 22%) and 11,000 sold (up 3%) in territories outside the U.S. in the week ending December 24.

The two charts (the latest of which are dated January 2, 2021) premiered in September and rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The Billboard Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the U.S.

Chart rankings are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Becomes the Hot 100’s Longest-Leading Holiday No. 1

Posted on December 27, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey has officially chipped away at the holiday history books…

The 51-year-old half-Venezuelan American’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” returns to No. 1, from No. 2, on the Billboard Hot 100 for a fifth total week atop the chart.

The song, originally released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in 1994, first reigned for three weeks last holiday season and added its fourth frame at No. 1 two weeks ago.

Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” on Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings, drew 54.9 million U.S. streams (up 35%) and sold 12,000 downloads (up 24%) in the week ending December 24, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. It also tallied 33.7 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 11%) in the week ending December 27.

As it logs its fifth total week atop the Hot 100, Carey’s insta-classic solely claims the mark for the most time at No. 1 among holiday hits in the chart’s 62-year, five-month history. One other Yuletide track had led the list: “The Chipmunk Song,” by The Chipmunks with David Seville, for four weeks beginning in December 1958.

Carey’s holiday track also becomes the first song to rank at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in three distinct years: 2019, 2020 and, now, 2021. It has led the lists dated December 21 and 28, 2019; January 4, 2020; December 19, 2020; and January 2, 2021.

The carol spends a ninth total week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and rises 6-2 on Digital Song Sales and 17-13 on Radio Songs. It also rules the multi-metric Holiday 100 chart for a 45th week, of the chart’s 50 total weeks since the list launched in 2011; it has topped the tally for 30 consecutive weeks, dating to the start of the 2015-16 holiday season.

Carey adds her record-extending 84th career week at No. 1 on the Hot 100, dating to the chart’s August 4, 1958, inception.

Most Weeks at No. 1 on Hot 100
84, Mariah Carey
60, Rihanna
59, The Beatles
50, Boyz II Men
50, Drake

“Christmas” last year became Carey’s 19th Hot 100 No. 1, the most among soloists and lifting her to within one of 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.

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Notches Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard Global 200 Chart

Posted on December 24, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey is proving her holiday power…

The 51-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning songstress’”All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the biggest song in the world for a second week, as her 1994 carol spends a second frame at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart.

Carey’s insta-classic holiday single tops the Billboard Global 200 for a second week, up 6% to 83.7 million streams and 19% to 21,000 sold worldwide in the week ending December 17.

The song was first released on Carey’s 1994 holiday album Merry Christmas.

The chart (dated December 26) premiered in September and ranks songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The Billboard Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data.

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” Rises to No. 1 on Billboard Global 200 Chart

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey’s global domination during the holiday season is complete…

The 51-year-old half-Venezuelan American singer’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is officially the biggest song in the world, as it rises to No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart twenty-six years after its original release.

Carey’s insta-classic Christmas track rises from No. 2 to No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200, up 19% to 79.3 million streams and 18% to 17,000 sold worldwide in the week ending December 10.

The song, first released on Carey’s 1994 album Merry Christmas, returns to No. 1 on the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100, which it led for the first time last holiday season.

Meanwhile, Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” jingles 3-2 on the Global Excl. U.S. chart, with 51.4 million streams (up 20%) and 10,000 sold (up 27%) outside the U.S.

The charts (the latest of which is dated December 19) premiered in September and ranks songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The Billboard Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data.

The Empire State Building’s New Music-to-Light Show Showcases Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Careyis lightin’ up the holidays in a big way…

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of her Merry Christmas album and its iconic single “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100this week, the 49-year-old half-Venezuelan American singer dropped by the Empire State Building to flip the switch to the top of the legendary skyscraper’s brand new music-to-light show with Carey’s insta-classic holiday track at the heart of it.

Designed by Marc Brickman, the lights of the NYC landmark will correspond with the notes of her holiday hit — which will play simultaneously on iHeartMedia New York’s Z100, Power 105.1, 103.5 KTUand 106.7 Lite FM starting at 8:00 pm from Thursday through Christmas Day.

“Each year, the Empire State Building partners with iHeartRadio to celebrate the holiday season with a spectacular LED music-to light show,” said Jean-Yves Ghazi, the President of the Empire State Building observatory, said by way of Carey’s introduction. “This year, we’re delighted to be syncing our tower of lights and counting down to Christmas with this holiday classic that’s also celebrating reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 on its 25th anniversary.”

Billboard‘s Hannah Karp and Gary Trust were also on hand to celebrate the occasion and present Carey with an award for her most recent Billboardchart accomplishment.

“Topping the Billboard charts is nothing new for Mariah: until this week, she had had 18 songs reach No. 1 on our Hot 100 chart, which is more than any other female solo artist,” said Karp. “But it’s extremely rare for a Christmas song to top the Hot 100, and it’s equally tough to crack the Christmas market with an original tune that can outsell or outstream traditional carols.”

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 25 years after its initial release; it had previously broken into the top 10 in 2017 and rose as high as No. 3 in 2018, and Carey is elated to add this particular song to her collection of No. 1s.

“We definitely wanted to kick it into high gear this year with the song to celebrate the 25th anniversary, but I definitely didn’t expect it to hit No. 1 two weeks before Christmas!” she told Billboard shortly after hearing the news on Monday. “I just want to thank everybody. I want the world to have the best holiday ever.”

Mariah Carey Earns 19th No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 with “All I Want for Christmas Is You”

Posted on December 16, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a pre-Christmasgift for Mariah Carey…

Completing a journey 25 years in the making, the 49-year-old half-Venezuelan American singer’s 1994 insta-holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You” crowns the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time, jingling 3-1 on the chart dated December 21, 2019.

Originally released in 1994 on Carey’s album Merry Christmas, the modern classic reached the Hot 100‘s top 10 at last in December 2017 and rose to its prior No. 3 high last holiday season (and matched the rank last week).

Carey adds her 19th Hot 100 No. 1, extending her record for the most among soloists. She also moves to within one of The Beatles‘ overall-record 20 Hot 100 No. 1s.

Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the second holiday No. 1 ever on the Hot 100, joining The Chipmunks‘ “The Chipmunk Song” (with David Seville), which ruled for four weeks in 1958-59.

Carey joins an elite club of acts with Hot 100 No. 1s in the 1990s, 2000s & 2010s. Its previously-inducted members: Christina Aguilera, Britney Spearsand Usher.

Carey’s decade-by-decade breakout: 14 No. 1s in the ’90s, four in the ’00s and now one in the ’10s.

Notably, no act has ever logged time at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in four distinct decades, consecutively or otherwise. Thus, if “Christmas” is No. 1 on the chart dated Jan. 4, two weeks from now, Carey would become the first artist to achieve the honor.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and sales data.

Mariah Carey Partners with Spotify for Special Holiday Playlist Centered Around “All I Want For Christmas Is You”

Posted on November 24, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey is living a Christmas stream…

The 49-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning songstress is sharing a new video she recorded for Spotify as part of the streamer’s 25th anniversary celebration of the singer’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” single.

Carey’s perennial holiday chart-topper, with more than 520 million global streams on Spotify — where it is on 12 million playlists — is the centerpiece of a collaboration between the singer and the streaming service called Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You Experience.

The collection, out this week, is curated with original content that compliments the deluxe anniversary edition of Mariah’s Merry Christmas album and will “serve as the ultimate destination” for Carey fans around the world, according to Spotify.

The 37-track collection includes the title song, of course, as well as renditions of “Silent Night,” “O Holy Night,” “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” “Joy to the World,” “Santa Cluas is Comin’ to Town” as well as a number or remixes and tracks recorded live at St. John the Divine.

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Makes Its Annual Return to the Billboard Hot 100

Posted on November 19, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey is back in her holiday territory…

The 49-year-old half-Venezuelan American songstress makes her now-annual return to the Billboard Hot 100 with “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which re-enters at No. 39 on the November 23-dated chart.

The 1994 carol concurrently returns to the Streaming Songs list, up 58% to 15.2 million U.S. streams in the tracking week ending November 14, according to Nielsen Music.

“All I Want for Christmas is You” returns to both charts the earliest that it ever has since it began its yearly jaunt back onto the Hot 100 beginning in 2012. Last year, it re-entered at No. 29, and at No. 30 on Streaming Songs, on charts dated December 1, 2018. To compare, that week it drew 14.4 million streams, vs. this week’s 15.2 million.

The last time that the insta-holiday-classic scaled Streaming Songs, it dashed all the way to No. 1, crowning the January 5-dated chart with 51.9 million streams in the tracking week ending December 27 (which, of course, included Christmas Day).

Aiding its total this season, a new video, featuring unreleased footage from the original 1994 clip’s shoot, was released November 1 (with 54% of the song’s overall streams in the latest tracking week from video views).

While Carey boasts the first holiday song on the Hot 100 and Streaming Songs this season, chances are she won’t be alone for long. The closest Yuletide track below the 50-position Streaming Songs threshold, Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” shows 8.2 million streams, up 83%, followed by Brenda Lee‘s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (7.8 million, up 102%) and Burl Ives‘ “A Holly Jolly Christmas” (7.3 million, up 75%).

The streaming total of “All I Want for Christmas is You” accounts for the bulk of its Hot 100 activity, although the song also drew 9.5 in airplay audience (up 217%) and sold 4,000 (up 1%) in the tracking week. Its airplay, as well as its streaming and sales, should only continue to surge as adult radio stations, among other formats, continue to flip to all-holiday music. The song scored 43 and 17 plays on KOSTLos Angeles and WLTW New York, respectively, in the week ending November 17, with both stations among those that have, ahead of Thanksgiving, begun decorating their playlists with wall-to-wall holiday songs.

Looking ahead to its expected radio run this season, ” All I Want for Christmas is You” has peaked with over 40 million in weekly all-format airplay audience in each of the past four holiday seasons.

As for the history of Carey’s holiday favorite on the Hot 100, it’s every bit as tangled as Christmas tree lights just taken down from the attic.

To recap, Carey’s album Merry Christmas was originally released on November 1, 1994 (and rereleased this Nov. 1, coincidentally, the 100th and 125th anniversaries of the first Billboard magazine, dated Nov. 1 1894). However, ” All I Want for Christmas is You,” from the set, was not then made a commercially-available physical single (i.e., it was not available for purchase as a cassette or CD single on its own in stores) and, per rules at the time, was ineligible to chart on the Hot 100. Still, it became a big radio hit upon its arrival, reaching No. 12 on the Radio Songs chart that season.

In December 1998, all cuts became eligible for the Hot 100 and beginning in 2012, coinciding with the addition of streaming to the chart’s data feed, ” All I Want for Christmas is You ” has hit the Hot 100 annually since, as, per current rules, songs released years earlier are eligible to debut or return if ranking in the top 50 and are gaining in multiple metrics with a significant reason for their resurgences.

In December 2017, “Christmas” hit the Hot 100’s top 10 at last, while last season it rose to No. 3, becoming the highest-charting holiday hit since “The Chipmunk Song,” by The Chipmunks with David Seville, led for four weeks beginning December 22, 1958.

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