Mariah Carey, queen of Christmas, is finally getting the recognition she deserves. Her holiday anthem “All I Want for Christmas Is You” just reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time, 25 years after it was first released — and in doing so, it’s brought Carey one step closer to making history.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” finally hit No. 1 on Billboard, 25 years after its release
If the song can hold the top spot a little longer, Mariah Carey will make history.
Constance Grady is a senior correspondent on the Culture team for Vox, where since 2016 she has covered books, publishing, gender, celebrity analysis, and theater.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You,” first released in 1994, was an instant classic, and remains one of the only post-’60s releases to make it into the holiday songbook canon. But it was first released as a noncommercial single, which made the song ineligible for the Hot 100 chart.
A series of rule changes (older songs were ineligible until they weren’t, noncommercial singles were ineligible until they weren’t) pushed “All I Want” on and off the Billboard charts every holiday season after, as the song itself became ever more firmly entrenched as a seasonal classic — until in 2017, it hit No. 9 on the Hot 100 and entered the top 10 for the first time. In 2018, it hit No. 3. Now, two years later and more acclaimed than ever thanks to its 25th anniversary, it’s finally reached No. 1 on the chart.
As Billboard reports, the milestone is a record-setter in a few ways. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has now taken the longest trip from release to No. 1 of any other song on the Hot 100 before. Its new status also solidifies Carey’s status as the artist who has spent the longest cumulative time at No. 1 on the Hot 100: She clocks in at 80 weeks now, while Rihanna and the Beatles linger behind at a distant 60 and 59, respectively. And it also puts Carey within spitting distance of two major landmarks.
“All I Want for Christmas” is Carey’s 19th No. 1 hit. The only artists with more hits than she is are the Beatles, with 20. If Carey gets one more, she’ll tie their record; with two, she’ll beat them. (Rihanna is in third place with 14.) Moreover, Carey is now one of only four artists who have had No. 1 hits every decade since the 1990s, joining Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Usher. Which means that if “All I Want for Christmas Is You” can just hold onto its spot through the first week of January, Mariah Carey will become the only artist in Billboard history to have a No. 1 hit in four consecutive decades.
Come on, internet. Don’t we owe her, after all she’s given us? All Mariah Carey wants for Christmas is us … and for us to play her song.
