Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ Returns to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

Gary Trust
Updated ·8 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Like Santa setting off on his annual airborne sleigh ride, Mariah Carey makes her ascent back to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The modern carol logs its ninth total week atop the Hot 100 and becomes the first song to have led in four distinct runs on the ranking.

The song was first released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in 1994 and, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists, it hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in December 2017 and the top five for the first time in the 2018 holiday season, before reigning over the holidays in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two) and 2021 (three).

More from Billboard

Related

Metro Boomin
Metro Boomin

Metro Boomin Scores Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With 'Heroes & Villains'

12/12/2022

“Christmas” paces five holiday classics in the Hot 100’s top 10, while Metro Boomin debuts two titles in the bracket – “Creepin’,” with The Weeknd and 21 Savage (No. 5), and “Superhero (Heroes & Villains),” with Future and Chris Brown (No. 8) – both from his new album Heroes & Villains, which launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Dec. 17) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 13). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Here’s a deeper look at Carey’s latest Hot 100 coronation with “Christmas,” on Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings.

Streams, airplay & sales: “Christmas” drew 36.2 million streams (up 19%) and 29.9 million radio airplay audience impressions (up less than 1%) and sold 6,000 downloads (up 23%) in the U.S. in the Dec. 2-8 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The song holds for a 17th total week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and No. 7 on Digital Song Sales and rises 23-17 on Radio Songs. It also crowns the multi-metric Holiday 100 chart for a 54th week, of the chart’s 59 total weeks since the list launched in 2011. It has topped the tally for 39 consecutive weeks, dating to the start of the 2015-16 holiday season, and rules as the top title on the Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart.

No. 1 in a fourth separate chart run: Carey’s “Christmas” first topped the Hot 100 dated Dec. 21, 2019, and led again on the next two lists, dated Dec. 28, 2019, and Jan. 4, 2020.

The following holiday season, it returned to No. 1 on the chart dated Dec. 19, 2020, and, after a week at No. 2, topped the Jan. 2, 2021-dated tally.

As “Christmas” returned to rule the Dec. 25, 2021-dated chart, it became the first song in the Hot 100’s now-64-year history to lead in three distinct chart runs. It held atop the charts dated Jan. 1 and 8, 2022, and now becomes the first title to have led in four separate stays on the ranking.

(Among all Hot 100 No. 1s, Harry Styles’ “As It Was” has made the most ascents to the top: five, all over one chart run.)

Longest span atop the Hot 100: Carey’s “Christmas” extends the longest span from a song’s first week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 to its latest: three years (Dec. 21, 2019-Dec. 17, 2022).

Plus, the latest week atop the Hot 100 for “Christmas” extends Carey’s record for the longest span of an artist ranking at No. 1 on the chart: 32 years, four months and three weeks, dating to her first week at No. 1 on the list dated Aug. 4, 1990, with her debut single “Vision of Love.”

Notably, when “Christmas” first hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2019, Carey passed Cher, whose solo leaders span 27 years and five months, from “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” (from its first week at No. 1 in 1971) through “Believe” (through its last week on top in 1999). (If Cher’s career as half of duo Sonny & Cher were combined with her solo output, her No. 1 span would cover 33 years, seven months and two weeks, from the twosome’s “I Got You Babe,” which hit the top spot in 1965, through “Believe.”)

Most weeks at No. 1 for a holiday hit: With its ninth week atop the Hot 100, Carey’s “Christmas” expands its record for the most time at No. 1 for a holiday song. The only other seasonal single to lead, “The Chipmunk Song,” by David Seville & the Chipmunks, spent four weeks at No. 1 beginning in December 1958.

Carey’s record 88th week atop Hot 100: With “Christmas,” Carey adds her record-extending 88th week at No. 1 on the Hot 100, dating to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, inception.

Most Weeks at No. 1 on Hot 100:
88, Mariah Carey
60, Rihanna
59, The Beatles
54, Drake
50, Boyz II Men
47, Usher
43, Beyoncé
37, Michael Jackson
34, Adele
34, Elton John
34, Bruno Mars

“Christmas” became Carey’s 19th Hot 100 No. 1, the most among soloists and one away from The Beatles’ overall record 20. It also made Carey the first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the chart in four distinct decades, dating to her first week at the summit with “Vision of Love.”

Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” originally released in 1958, rises from No. 3 to its No. 2 Hot 100 best (a.k.a., a new old-fashioned way of scaling the chart, as it has reached the runner-up rank in each of the last three holiday seasons). It tallied 34.3 million streams (up 15%), 26.1 million in radio airplay audience (essentially even week-over-week) and 5,000 sold (up 19%) Dec. 2-8.

The late Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” from 1957, lifts 5-3 on the Hot 100 and the late Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” from 1964, climbs 6-4. As with Lee’s Yuletide standard, Helms’ and Ives’ return to their respective highs reached in each of the last three holiday seasons.

Metro Boomin blasts in with two songs in the Hot 100’s top 10, as “Creepin’,” with The Weeknd and 21 Savage, debuts at No. 5 and “Superhero (Heroes & Villains),” with Future and Chris Brown, opens at No. 8. The tracks start at Nos. 4 and 6 on Streaming Songs with 30.8 million and 27.4 million streams, respectively.

Metro Boomin hits a new Hot 100 best and doubles his career top 10 total as a billed recording artist, as he previously debuted and peaked at Nos. 9 and 10, respectively, with “Runnin” (with 21 Savage) and “Mr. Right Now” (with 21 Savage and featuring Drake) in October 2020. Metro Boomin co-produced and co-wrote those songs and has done the same for six other top 10s, including the No. 1s “Bad and Boujee” by Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert (2017), and “Heartless” by The Weeknd (2019); he also co-wrote Big Sean’s 2017 top 10 hit “Bounce Back.”

Thanks to “Creepin’,” The Weeknd adds his 15th Hot 100 top 10 and 21 Savage, his 14th. With “Superhero,” Future and Chris Brown stretch their top 10 totals to 10 and 17, respectively.

Concurrently, “Creepin’ ” premieres at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs, while “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” starts atop Hot Rap Songs, with the charts using the same methodology as the Hot 100. Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage claim their first, seventh and fifth No. 1 each on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and their first, 10th and first apiece on Hot R&B Songs. Metro Boomin, Future and Brown notch their first, third and fifth No. 1 each on Hot Rap Songs.

Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” falls to No. 6 after spending its first six weeks on the Hot 100 at No. 1 starting in November, with 74.6 million in radio reach (up 8%), 18.6 million streams (down 11%) and 7,000 sold (down 48%).

Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” dips 4-7 on the Hot 100, after it topped the Oct. 29-dated chart, as it rules Radio Songs for a fourth week (78.6 million in audience, up 2%).

Wham!’s “Last Christmas” advances 10-9 on the Hot 100, after the 1984 release first reached the top 10 during the 2020 holidays and hit a No. 7 high last holiday season.

Closing out the Hot 100’s top 10, Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex” falls 7-10, after it spent its first three weeks on the chart at its No. 2 best beginning in November.

Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Dec. 17), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 13).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

Best of Billboard

Click here to read the full article.