Ok Christmas is days away. You’ve got parties and shopping to do this weekend. You’ve got the family get-together On Christmas Day. You’ll be in your car, at the mall, and at the crib so you know what that means. You’ll be hearing lot of this week’s #CultureClassics selection, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the wildly successful Christmas song from one of the greatest R&B voices of all-time Mariah Carey. She co-wrote and co-produced the song which dropped on November 1, 1994, as the lead single from her fourth studio album and first holiday album, Merry Christmas. The track was a monster hit from the start and is now considered the best-selling modern day Christmas song.

Every December the song tops the Billboard charts including 2017 when the song reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it its highest peak since its original ’94 release. And then this year, it rose to the #1 spot becoming Mariah’s 19th number #1 hit. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” also topped the Billboard Holiday 100 chart for a record 27th straight weeks. No other song has spent more than two weeks at No. 1 on the Holiday 100 since the chart’s launch in 2011. 

And the numbers just keep coming. It was the first holiday ringtone to be certified double-platinum. Additionally, of songs recorded before the year 2000, it is the best-selling digital single by a woman (16 million copies sold), as well as the overall best-selling holiday digital single and on Spotify alone it has been streamed a staggering 435 million times and the classic video has been watched on YouTube almost 500 million times. The song has earned over $60 million in royalties.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the most played holiday song of all-time because its a banger. It’s catchy, it’s pop, it’s Christmas.  A “holiday standard.” from one of our greatest creators for The Culture that has and indeed will continue to stand the test of time and run the holidays for The Culture. 

#FunFact: Carey released a children’s book based on “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in 2015, which went on to sell over 750,000 copies. She also released an animated family film based on the book and song in 2017.

If you enjoyed that look at a throwback R&B classic. Check out more of our #CultureClassics:

• “Thriller” by Michale Jackson
• “I Used to Love H.E.R.” by Common
• “If It Isn’t Love” by New Edition

Written by @TalentedMrFord

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