Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ makes chart history after 23 years

The diva's holiday classic is back on the Billboard Hot 100's Top 10 list

Dec 19, 2017

Mariah Carey‘s holiday classic, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” is back on the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10 list.

For the first time, the 1994 hit broke into the Top 10 songs, reaching No. 9 on the list. That’s up from its prior peak at No. 11.

It’s no surprise going into the holiday season that this Christmas classic cracked the top hits. After all, just reading the title already has us singing it in our heads!

But even with the holidays around the corner, Christmas songs don’t usually hit the Top 10. In fact, Carey’s classic is the first Top 10 song with the word “Christmas” in its title.

Why now?

It’s highly unusual to see a song from the 1990s on the Top 10 charts. And it’s even more unusual to see that song break the Top 10 for the first time 23 years after its release.

Back in 1994, when Carey released Merry Christmas, the song was not a commercially-available single. According to Billboard rules, then, it could not chart on the Top 100.

However, it did debut at No. 12 on the Radio Songs.

Then, in 1998, when album cuts became available for the Hot 100, Carey hit No. 83.

In 2012, when Hot 100 added streaming to its formula, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” began a new annual tradition of hitting the Hot 100. During the 2015-16 season, Carey hit No. 11. And until this week, that was her highest ranking.

With so many people streaming Christmas music this holiday season, that puts “All I Want for Christmas Is You” higher on the charts than it has been in the song’s history.

Other chart-toppers: ‘Perfect’ and ‘MotorSport’

As for the number one spot, that’s still held by Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé’s “Perfect.”

Migos, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B‘s “MotorSport” also jumped ahead several spots this week, vaulting into the No. 6 spot from No. 15 after the premiere of its official music video.