Mariah Carey has reacted after her festive classic All I Want For Christmas Is You officially broke the record for the longest-running No. 1 song in Billboard Hot 100 history, reaching an unprecedented 20 weeks at the top of the chart.
The song, first released in 1994, continues to dominate charts nearly three decades later, returning to No. 1 every Christmas season and cementing its status as the most successful holiday song of all time.
Speaking to Billboard, Carey admitted she was stunned by the milestone when interviewer Tetris Kelly broke the news. When asked how it felt to break the record, the singer responded: “It’s amazing. Honestly, it really is. I can’t lie.”
@billboard The Christmas Queen is now the #Hot100 queen 🎄 @Mariah Carey reacts to her record-breaking 20th week at No. 1 with “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” #mariahcarey #billboardcharts #lambily ♬ original sound - billboard
The achievement sees Carey reclaim a record she previously held with One Sweet Day, her collaboration with Boyz II Men, which spent 16 weeks at No. 1 in the mid-1990s before being surpassed in recent years. Reflecting on losing the title, Carey said: “It was robbed of me.” She added that while she was disappointed at the time, the enduring success of her Christmas hit has more than made up for it.
All I Want For Christmas Is You has become a global phenomenon, generating an estimated €435,000 every year and continuing to surge in popularity with each festive season. On Spotify alone, the song has amassed over 2.37 billion streams as of late 2025, making it the first holiday song in history to surpass 2 billion streams, a milestone it reached in December 2024. Across all platforms — including YouTube, Apple Music and Amazon Music — its total streaming figures are significantly higher, placing it among the most streamed songs of all time.
During the Christmas period, the track consistently earns millions of streams each week, regularly topping global charts and outperforming new releases. Asked how long the record-breaking run could continue, Carey laughed: “I don’t know. I feel like 30? 40?”
Despite its dominance, Carey acknowledged the song’s seasonal nature, saying: “Yeah, but at a certain point it’s not Christmas anymore… but I love it.” She added that she was heading off to enjoy the holidays herself while continuing her Christmas shows "I’m about to get to my holiday destination and go enjoy the holidays myself because I’m putting on this Christmas show. So we’re doing this every night, but really I just want to be celebrating it."
Originally recorded for her album Merry Christmas, the song has grown into a cultural staple, soundtracking festive seasons across Ireland and beyond. Its annual resurgence shows no sign of slowing — and with each December, Mariah Carey’s reign as the undisputed Queen of Christmas only grows stronger.
