Mariah Carey's ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ earns more than US$2.5M a year
As Christmas nears again, one song can be heard over the airwaves, in department stores and at festive parties — Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
It is the most-streamed holiday track of all time, reports British newspaper, The Independent .
Released three decades ago, Carey continues to reap financial rewards from the record-breaking song to the tune of an estimated US$2.5-3 million, according to data from Forbes .
That’s in addition to the US$60 million in royalties the singer received when the song was first released three decades ago in 1994. It appeared on her fourth studio album, Merry Christmas, and then went gone on to become a global success, topping the charts in 26 countries. Billboard estimated that the “Queen of Christmas” made at least US$2.7 million in 2022 .
Since being posted to Carey’s official YouTube Channel in 2009, the video has been seen almost 800 million times. And that’s with the bulk of the views limited to the holiday season.
Every year, in November, Carey shares a video on social media informing her followers that the holiday season can begin. This year Carey disciplined an unruly elf for stealing her lipstick, singing the phrase “it’s time” before riding off in a sleigh.
Carey also undertakes an annual holiday concert schedule. This year’s installment is called Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time at Dolby Live in Las Vegas from Nov. 28 to Dec. 13.
It made history in 2021, become the first and only holiday song to win the Recording Industry Association of America’s Diamond Award, which recognizes 10 million sales and streaming units in the U.S.
She went on to perform the song at the Billboard Music Awards in 2023, marking her first awards show performance for the song, with her twins, son Moroccan and daughter Monroe, presenting her with a special Billboard Chart Achievement award. It is the highest-charting holiday single by a solo artist on the Billboard U.S. Hot 100 and routinely lands on the music charts in dozens of countries year after year.
“All I Want For Christmas is You” has also become one of the most covered modern Christmas pop songs. In 2011, Carey even re-recorded the song as a duet with Justin Bieber for his album Under the Mistletoe.
There are now literally dozens of covers. Canadian singer-songwriter Michael Bublé released his own version in November 2011, as the lead single from his Christmas album.
It also showed up in the perennial holiday film “Love Actually.”
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