Mariah Carey’s Christmas song: 24 facts about 30 years of “All I Want for Christmas Is You”

During Advent there is no escape from her, at Christmas markets, in department stores, everywhere – of course we mean Mariah Carey and her hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You”. The composition is now 30 years old.

A collection of 24 things or curious facts about the song:

01. Every year around November 1st (in 1994 the song was released exactly on November 1st) the break for the song is said to be over. Then the “Queen of Christmas” Mariah Carey posted on social media that the time had come to play him again.

02. Carey has already made a few joke videos in 2024, but it hasn’t gotten that far yet. Together with the actress Kerry Washington, who is committed to Kamala Harris and the Democrats, Carey posted a video on Instagram at the end of October saying that it was not her season yet, but – in reference to the US election – it was voting season: “Time to vote to give!” – All we need is: “Youuu,” both of them sang with the melody of the hit.

03. Carey is busy during Advent because of her hit. Last year, Carey visited the White House over Christmas with her twins Monroe and Moroccan, born in 2011, meeting President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

04. This year Carey is planning another Christmas tour (“Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time”), which won’t start until after the elections (on November 6th). It takes you to the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, to Palm Springs, Dallas, Boston and finally to Brooklyn, New York (December 17th).

05. For younger people, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is now the Christmas song of all – more so than, for example, “O Tannenbaum”, “Silent Night” or “White Christmas”.

06. The 30-year-old song has now surpassed the 40-year-old “Last Christmas” by Wham! overtaken as the number one Christmas pop song (for some it is also a real pain in the ass).

07. In the USA, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” was only at number 1 on the Billboard charts for the first time 25 years after its release – in 2019 – as the first Christmas song in 61 years.

08. In Germany, the song also only reached number one for the first time in 2019.

09. The song has so far accumulated 17 weeks at number one in Germany, four of them in 2023. If it manages four weeks again in 2024 or even more, then it could break the record of “Komet” by Udo Lindenberg and Apache 207 (21 weeks in place one).

10. GfK Entertainment, as chart investigator, says: “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has been in the single charts for 98 weeks so far, so it should break the 100 week mark in 2024. A new chart entry is expected at the beginning/mid of November. In 2023 it was on November 10th, in 2022 it was on November 18th.

11. An anecdote about the song is that Mariah Carey recorded it in the middle of summer and the studio is said to have been decorated with pine greenery and fairy lights to create the right mood.

12. Carey’s then-husband Tommy Mottola plays Santa Claus in the 1994 video clip, who, among other things, gives Mariah a gift.

13. Mariah Carey co-wrote the song with producer Walter Afanasieff.

14. An anecdote says that the song was written in just 15 minutes. But that’s probably not true; according to Afanasieff, it was more work.

15. The story of the songwriting duo Carey/Afanasieff is not as harmonious as a Christmas song would ideally be. The two have been at odds for decades.

16. Speaking of trouble: There have been complaints against the song several times, for example because others said they had invented the lines “All I Want for Christmas Is You” earlier.

17. Carey adapted “All I Want for Christmas Is You” for a children’s book in 2015, in which she is the main character. There is also an animated film from 2017 about it: “Little Mariah wants nothing more than a puppy for Christmas…”

18. There are a lot of merchandising items for the hit: like a Mariah Carey Christmas Barbie doll, because Carey is the Queen of Christmas. The “Barbie Signature X Mariah Carey Holiday Celebration” costs 115 euros.

19. There are extras for the song’s 30th anniversary, such as the double album “Merry Christmas – 30th Anniversary Deluxe Vinyl” for around $100.

20. Carey has released various versions in recent years, including one with Justin Bieber as a duet. But many people think that nothing beats the original from 1994.

21. Before Carey released “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and the album “Merry Christmas” in 1994, she had only released a few other albums. At the time, she thought it was too early in her career for Christmas music because only older people were doing it, she said on a TV show. But her love for the festival changed her mind.

22. Carey’s favorite line in “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is said to be “I won’t even wish for snow,” because she actually loves snow very much. Since Los Angeles is never really a winter wonderland, the singer likes to travel to Aspen (Colorado) in winter, which is considered a kind of St. Moritz in the USA.

23. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” – and eggnog: Last year, Carey told People magazine about her festivities that she sometimes drinks eggnog at Christmas (but she prefers other things) and that she puts tinsel on the tree I don’t like it that much.

24. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Carey recently said again about “All I Want for Christmas Is You” that her goal was to create something that would last. “I think when I wrote it I had in mind that I wanted it to be timeless too. I wanted it to feel like a modern classic.” An evergreen. Mission accomplished.