You wouldn’t believe it, but in the 25-odd years since it was released unto the world in 1994, Mariah Carey‘s enduring and frankly eternal Christmas classic All I Want For Christmas Is You has not once reached the upper echelons of the US single charts. Despite all that popularity and all that seasonal relevance, one mantle the song has never attained is the #1 slot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. But now, just in time for Christmas 2019, that’s finally changed.
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Billboard announced this morning that All I Want For Christmas has topped the Hot 100 charts for the very first time ever, some 25 years after it was first released.
.@MariahCarey‘s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is officially No. 1 on the #Hot100 for the first time this week, 25 years after its release.
— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) December 16, 2019
The tune is set to top the charts when the next report comes out on December 21st, jumping up from 3 to 1 and dethroning Heartless by The Weeknd in the process.
Following the announcement, Carey reacted accordingly on Twitter.
We did it 😭❤️🐑🎄🦋 https://t.co/Cp80uhYdI9
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) December 16, 2019
The arrival of All I Want For Christmas at the top of the Billboard charts carries with it a number of other deeply interesting statistical achievements.
For starters, it’s the first time in a staggering 61 years that a Christmas or holiday single has topped the US Billboard charts, which generally doesn’t favour novelty Christmas tunes as heavily as, say, the UK or Australia. The only other time a festive tune has reached the chart pinnacle in the US was way back in 1958, when The Chipmunk Song – yes, as in Alvin & co – peaked at number one for four weeks.
The 25-year journey to number one also represents the longest time between release and hitting #1 of any song in Billboard history. The previous high-water mark there was Elton John‘s Candle In The Wind, which was initially released in 1973, but didn’t hit #1 until 24 years later in 1997, albeit in re-recorded, slightly re-written form.
It’s also Carey’s 19th overall US #1 hit, bringing her within one of equalling the dizzying mark of 20 set by The Beatles. Her last number one hit came 11 years ago when Touch My Body hit peak in 2008, making it the longest time between #1s for an artist since Dr Dre went 12 years between guesting on No Diggity in 1996 and teaming up with Eminem and 50 Cent for Crack a Bottle in 2009.
So there you go, folks. It’s a Christmas bloody miracle. You love to see it.
