Plus Pages

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Post Christmas: Mariah's Holiday Hit Still Tops


Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” holds at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The carol, released in 1994, adds its seventh total week on top, after notching three weeks at No. 1 beginning in December 2019 and two more starting in December 2020, before it returned to the summit a week ago.

Notably, with this week’s Hot 100 dated Jan. 1, 2022, Carey’s “Christmas” is the first song to lead Hot 100 charts dated in four distinct years (2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022). (It was already the only song to reign in as many as three years.)

The song leads eight Yuletide favorites in the Hot 100’s top 10, including one in the tier for the first time: The Ronettes‘ “Sleigh Ride,” up from No. 13 to No. 10. The track was originally released in 1963, just after the group posted its lone top 10: its classic “Be My Baby,” which hit No. 2. The act’s return to the top 10 is record-breaking, as it ranks in the region after a break of 58 years and two months.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Jan. 1) will update on Billboard.com Wednesday (Dec. 29). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Mariah Carey poses with a plaque commemorating 1 billion Spotify streams
for “All I Want For Christmas Is You”

Deeper Dive:

Streams, airplay & sales: Carey’s “Christmas,” on Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings, drew 47.5 million U.S. streams (up 26%) and 32 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 25%, good for top Airplay Gainer honors on the Hot 100) and sold 8,100 downloads (up 9%) in the Dec. 17-23 tracking week, according to MRC Data.

The song claims a 14th total week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and rises 7-6 on Digital Song Sales and 23-13 on Radio Songs. It also leads the multi-metric Holiday 100 chart for a 50th week, of the chart’s 55 total weeks since the list launched in 2011; it has topped the tally for 35 consecutive weeks, dating to the start of the 2015-16 holiday season, and dominates as the top title on the recently-revealed Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart.

The song was first released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in 1994 and has increased its Hot 100 fortunes in recent years as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ seasonal playlists.

No. 1 in its 50th week on Hot 100: As it spends its 50th week on the Hot 100, Carey’s “Christmas” is the first song to lead in as late as its 50th frame on the survey. A week earlier, when it reigned in its 49th week, it passed Los Del Rio’s “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” which led through its 46th week on the chart in November 1996. (The latter also logged multiple runs on the Hot 100, first running up 20 weeks in September 1995-January 1996 before it resurged and returned in May 1996 and lasted on the list through February 1997.)

Longest span atop the Hot 100: Carey’s “Christmas” extends its mark for the longest span from a song’s first week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 to its latest: two years and 11 days (Dec. 21, 2019-Jan. 1, 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: 31 years and five months, dating to her first week at No. 1 on the chart dated Aug. 4, 1990, with her debut single “Vision of Love.”

No comments:

Post a Comment