Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ Is Already Almost Back To No. 1 On The Hot 100

We’re a week into December, so it’s around the time of year that Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” makes its annual climb to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Last year, the song famously topped the chart, and this year, it’s actually ahead of schedule.

On the Hot 100 dated December 14, 2019, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was at No. 3 before reaching the top spot the next week. On the latest Hot 100, dated December 12, 2020, the timeless single is once again near the top, this time at No. 2. It was also the most-streamed song of the week.

“All I Want For Christmas Is You” is actually one of three vintage holiday classics in the top ten this week, as Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” place at No. 4 and No. 9, respectively. On a related note, the Burl Ives compilation Best Of Burl Ives: 20th Century Masters/The Christmas Collection debuted on the Billboard 200 this week at No. 76.

Carey recently spoke with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about writing the song, saying:

“I’ve reinterpreted this song a lot of times and started writing it on a junky, little keyboard, whatever. And I’m not a good player, but I know what I hear. And then I usually have somebody great translate that for me into the chords. But I’m hearing the chords as I hear the melody. So I started that one, and I’ll just always have the recollection of writing it. And it’s my first Christmas song that I ever wrote. And then I was just like, ‘What do I really, really want to hear at Christmas? What do I want to talk about? But how do I make it all-encompassing in terms of the love aspect of it?” And I think that, you know what, I’m not saying it’s the world’s greatest thing, but it makes me happy. And it’s made a lot of other people happy. And when I see people dancing in the streets to the song and having these big, huge festivals, and they’re playing it, it’s what holidays mean to me. It’s the memories. It’s being around the people. It’s the song that takes you through the memories that you can create your own new memories from.”

She added, “For me… Christmas music is timeless and should be timeless. And if it strikes a chord with people, that’s the goal. And so I have so many memories attached to the song, but people come to me and tell me about their memories. And that’s what means the most.”