Mariah Carey becomes first artist to hit No. 1 in four separate decades
Mariah Carey’s legendary music career has been on Santa’s “nice” list since 1990.
As the iconic singer-songwriter’s perennial holiday hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” tops the domestic chart (dated Jan. 4) for a third consecutive week, Carey becomes the first artist in history to score a No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 in four separate decades, the publication announced Monday.
Originally released in 1994, the single became Carey’s 19th overall No. 1 hit after rising to the chart’s top position earlier in December, giving her the most No. 1 singles for a solo artist in history. She also holds the record for most singles (10) to have ruled the chart for three weeks or more, though her overall tally still trails that of The Beatles’ (20 total No. 1 songs) by one.
Carey previously logged 14 songs at No. 1 in the ’90s (the first being 1990’s “Visions of Love”), followed by four in the 2000s. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” rebounds on the chart as her only No. 1 single of the ’10s and the first No. 1 single of the ’20s decade so far. The feat puts Carey ahead of eight other artists — Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Usher — who’ve ranked atop the Billboard Hot 100 in three separate decades.
The single’s third chart-topping week was bolstered by a 33 percent increase in streaming from last week, as the song registered 72.2 million U.S. streams for the week ending Dec. 26 (aided by the release of a new music video for the song, which dropped on Dec. 20). It also sold 17,000 digital copies and captured 30.9 million radio impressions across the same frame.
“When it first came out, it was more of a gradual thing,” Carey previously told EW about the track’s success. “It was popular, but it didn’t have what it has now. I feel like people have grown up with the song and it’s become a part of people’s lives in terms of the way they celebrate the holidays. That makes me feel really proud as someone that loves Christmas so much.”
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