The queen of Christmas can finally claim her crown.
After 25 long years, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas (Is You)” is finally number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of December 21, reminding fans everywhere that it’s not the holidays without her.
Not that most people could imagine the yuletide season without Carey’s iconic carol. Around Christmastime, it’s almost impossible to turn on the radio without hearing those familiar jingle bells and Carey crooning about the gift that is at the very top of her list.
Carey reacted to the news on social media, sharing a plethora of emojis including a lamb in honour of her fans, affectionately referred to as the “Lambily.”
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Carey said that she wrote “All I Want For Christmas” in “about an hour and a half,” in a recent episode of Billy on the Street. The song became a cultural phenomenon and has been featured during nearly countless moments of holiday programming, memorably in the iconic 2003 Christmas movie Love, Actually.
Carey told Cosmopolitan that she had to get into the Christmas spirit to write the 1994 hit, which involved decorating a tree and putting on It’s A Wonderful Life to really get in the mood.
"I was going over all the things I think about at Christmas time that make me happy and how to turn it around and make it into a love song,” Carey told Cosmo.
Though it might seem long overdue for Carey’s song to hit number one, it’s rare for a holiday song to top the charts. The last song to do so was The Chipmunk’s “The Chipmunk Song” in 1958 and 1959, according to Billboard. (Sure, you may have heard “All I Want For Christmas” a thousand times this December alone, but at least the radio is playing “The Chipmunk Song” more sparingly these days.)
In addition to topping the Billboard Hot 100, Carey’s song is also the top streaming song for the second week in a row. It’s also one that inches her closer and closer to the record set by The Beatles, per Billboard. Carey is currently at 19 number one songs on the Hot 100, while The Beatles boast 20.
Sure, the only thing Carey wants for Christmas is “you,” but these long-awaited accolades are definitely the next best thing.