Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ Finally Hit No. 1

It’s annual “All I Want for Christmas Is You” season, also known as “December.” Mariah Carey’s ode to love and Christmas has done well every year since its 1994 release, but the infectious carol only now officially reigns from the top of the charts.

Billboard revealed Monday that “All I Want for Christmas Is You” rests comfortably at the top spot on the Hot 100 chart for the week of Dec. 21 (the full chart will be available Tuesday).

The feat means Carey’s song has now broken multiple records: “All I Want” is the first holiday song to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100 since the Chipmunks’ 1958 “The Chipmunk Song”.

Also, it is the most-streamed track on Spotify by a female artist in a 24-hour window; and its 20 weeks in the British singles Top 10 chart is the most of any Christmas song.

In June 1994, Carey hung up Christmas decorations in the Hamptons rental home where she was staying to create the right mood. Former frequent collaborator Walter Afanasieff, who co-wrote “All I Want,” came up with a basic chord structure.

“She would sing a melody and I would do a chord change,” Afanasieff told the newspaper. “It was almost like a game of ping-pong, back and forth, until we had it.”

Billboard compiles ratings based on streaming, radio airplay and sales data for its Hot 100 chart. But it has changed the eligibility rules over the years.

Streaming may be a big reason Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” and other older holiday songs are doing so well on the charts these days. (“All I Want’s” 25-year journey to No. 1 is the longest of all songs in Billboard history.)

Here’s what Carey said about this achievement…

“It’s something my die-hard fans think about, and people that are really close to me are talking to me about it literally all year,” she told the New York Times.

“But I don’t need something else to validate the existence of this song. I used to pick it apart whenever I listened to it. But at this point, I feel like I’m finally able to enjoy it.”

Beginning in 2014, Carey has performed a slate of Christmas shows anchored by the megahit, with stops in Las Vegas, Paris, London, and Madrid.

On Sunday, she closed this year’s run with a sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden, performing “All I Want for Christmas” as a long-teased encore surrounded by 11 Christmas trees, a gospel choir, her two children, bursts of fake snow and, of course, Santa Claus.