Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ — 30 years of the holiday classic by the numbers
When Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” was released 30 years ago on Oct. 29, 1994, it began her ascent to the Queen of Christmas throne.
Three decades later, the 55-year-old pop superstar is everybody’s favorite holiday diva.
“It’s the gift that keeps on giving — to her fans and to Mariah,” said Gary Trust, managing director of charts and operations at Billboard, to The Post.
“It ranks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Holiday Songs chart. For every holiday song that’s ever been out, this is the biggest. The chart reflects that.”
The first single from Carey’s “Merry Christmas” album — which she co-wrote and co-produced with Walter Afanasieff — took the octave-leaping singer to historic heights.
“It helped make Mariah the first artist to be No. 1 on the Hot 100 in four distinct decades: the ’90s, ‘00s, ’10s and ’20s,” said Trust.
But the seasonal standard had a long, slow climb to the top of the charts.
“Its history on the charts is as tangled as Christmas lights when you’re putting them up on a tree,” said Trust. “Part of it is chart machinations. When the single came out in 1994, it was sent to radio, but you couldn’t buy it on its own in stores. You could only buy it on the ‘Merry Christmas’ album.
“And at the time,” he explained, “Hot 100 rules were such that you had to be a physically commercially available single to be on the Hot 100.”
But the streaming era sent “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to the top of the charts in 2019 — where, just like Santa, it has returned every year since then.
“There is just something a little magical that really has put it above all other Christmas songs during the season,” said Trust. “It’s not going away.”
Here, we break down some of the significant numbers behind the holiday classic.
1 — Carey earns at least 1 cent every single time the song is played. And when the song is on repeat all around the world, those pennies add up.
5 — Since first going No. 1 in 2019, the holiday juggernaut has hit the top of the charts for five consecutive years. And the streak is likely to continue in 2024.
14 — “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has spent 14 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, tying it with Carey’s 2005 smash “We Belong Together.” But “One Sweet Day,” her 1995 blockbuster with Boyz II Men, still has it beat — at least for now — with 16 weeks at the chart summit.
19 — When “All I Want for Christmas Is You” first topped the charts in 2019, it became Carey’s 19th No. 1 song, putting her one behind The Beatles’ record of 20.
25 — It took a quarter century for the song to finally go No. 1 in 2019, when it became Carey’s first chart-topper since 2008’s “Touch My Body.”
26 — Spreading Christmas cheer all over the globe, the tinsel tune has hit No. 1 in 26 countries.
61 — It was 61 years between “All I Want for Christmas Is You” going No. 1 in 2019 and the previous holiday chart-topper, 1958’s “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late).”
93 — Fourteen weeks at No. 1 for “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has stretched Carey’s record to 93 for the most atop the Billboard Hot 100.
23,700,000 — On Christmas 2023, the song blew up Spotify with 23.7 million streams. But Taylor Swift broke Carey’s single-day record with “Fortnight” in April with 25.2 million streams.
60,000,000 — In streaming alone, Carey has raked in more than $60 million from the song, which doesn’t even include more money through album sales, downloads, licensing and other types of royalties.
1,832,654,277 — As we head into its 31st holiday season, the song is closing in on 2 billion streams on Spotify.
