Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hits 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, tying “Old Town Road” and “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” as the longest-running leaders ever. NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 05: Mariah Carey performs during the opening show of Mariah Carey: All I Want For Christmas Is You at Beacon Theatre on December 5, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Mariah Carey)
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There’s no denying that the holiday season has officially begun, as Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is once again the No. 1 song in America. The biggest hit of the superstar’s career returns to the top spot on the Hot 100 every year, and its latest run in first place on the competitive songs tally has begun once more.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” makes history every time it finds its way back to No. 1 on the Hot 100, but this frame is especially notable, as Carey’s yuletide classic ties one of the most important all-time records on the Billboard charts.
Mariah Carey Replaces Taylor Swift at No. 1
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” surges from No. 5 to No. 1 on the Hot 100, Billboard’s ranking of the most consumed songs in the U.S. Carey replaces “The Fate of Ophelia” by Taylor Swift, which slips from first place to sixth.
The biggest four tunes in the country are all related to the upcoming holiday, as “Last Christmas” by Wham!, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” from Brenda Lee, and “Jingle Bell Rock” by the late Bobby Helms improve to Nos. 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Former chart champion “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters manages to stand out as the most popular non-Christmas cut in the nation as it descends slightly to No. 5.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” Ties the All-Time Hot 100 Record
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” has now controlled the Hot 100 for 19 nonconsecutive weeks. As it returns to the chart’s throne, Carey’s smash ties both “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus and “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey as the longest-running No. 1s in American history. All three tracks enjoyed separate and very different journeys to a 19-frame reign, but they now share the same spot in the record books, at least for the moment.
Will “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Make History Again in a Few Days?
Typically, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” tops the Hot 100 for several weeks every year. That will almost certainly be the case in 2025, and there’s every reason to believe that in just a few days, when Billboard refreshes its rankings once more, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” will become the first 20-week No. 1 in the more-than-half-century-long history of the Hot 100.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 16: Mariah Carey attends the 2024 Fresh Air Fund Spring Benefit at The Ziegfeld Ballroom on May 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Ostuni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
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Once the cut reaches that landmark number, and then continues to add to that sum this season and in future years, it’s possible that no track will ever be able to catch up.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” Needed 25 Years to Reach No. 1
While “All I Want for Christmas Is You” was initially released in 1994, the song needed a quarter-century before reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100. The unavoidable holiday staple is the only tune to return to the highest rung on the list year after year, and it has led the charge for at least a pair of weeks in each of the last six years.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” commanded the Hot 100 for four frames in both 2022 and 2024, for three in 2019 and 2021, and for two in 2020 and then 2023.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” Returns to No. 1 on the Streaming Songs Chart
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” gains ground across all three metrics that feed into where a song lands on the Hot 100 this week. The blockbuster returns to No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, where it has now run the show for 23 nonconsecutive stints – an all-time record.
Carey has previously pushed her single all the way to No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart, though at the moment, it settles for fourth place. By the time the big day rolls around, there is a good chance that “All I Want for Christmas Is You” will once again rank as one of the top 10 most heard tracks across all radio stations in the country. This time around, the tune ascends from No. 40 to No. 21. Of the three charts that help build the Hot 100, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has only failed to conquer the Radio Songs chart, where it has previously topped out at No. 7.