A Holiday Record

Every year around November 1st, the “Defrosting of Mariah Carey” memes start to post on social media. It’s become quite the joke. Back in the day, Bing Crosby was the “King of Christmas.” I suppose that title today would go to Michael Buble’. However, the undisputed “Queen of Christmas” has got to be Mariah Carey.

Say what you want about her Christmas music, but the numbers don’t lie. Mariah hit a milestone record this week. According to Billboard Mariah’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-tying 19th total week atop the chart. It matches the reigns of two hits that led over one release cycle each — Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” in 2024, and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, in 2019 — for the longest command over the chart’s 67-year history.

The song was originally released in 1994 on her “Merry Christmas” album. It hit the Top Ten in 2017, went Top Five in 2018 and since 2019 it has hit number one every year. It was number one for for three weeks, two weeks in 2020, three weeks in 2021, four weeks in 2022, two weeks in 2023 and four weeks in 2024. This week it hit number one again which makes Carey the first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the chart in four distinct decades (1990s, 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s)!

In 2021, Mariah said, “When I wrote [it], I had absolutely no idea the impact the song would eventually have worldwide. I’m so full of gratitude that so many people enjoy it with me every year.”

Now up to 19 weeks, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” extends its mark as the holiday song with the most time logged atop the Hot 100, among three Yuletide No. 1s. “The Chipmunk Song,” by the Chipmunks with David Seville, led for four weeks beginning in December 1958, followed by Brenda Lee’s three weeks in the 2023 holiday season with “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”

Who knows, maybe she’ll achieve a new record next week …