It’s official: ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ is the Greatest Holiday Song of All Time

The numbers don’t lie: Mariah Carey’s Christmas carol is the best holiday song in history!

It's official: ‘All I Want for Christmas is You' is the Greatest Holiday Song of All Time
(Image from YouTube: Mariah Carey)

If we had a peso for every time Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” blast through mall’s speakers, we’d probably be millionaires by now. It’s the song that heralds the holidays (three months before it actually comes), puts us under an inescapable LSS loop, and kicks off our Christmas spirits into full gear — and for those, it definitely deserves Billboard’s title of “Greatest Holiday Song of All Time.”

This isn’t up for debate, though; Billboard really sat down and crunched the numbers, which led to a two lists outlining the Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs and the Greatest of All Time Top Holiday Albums.

For the former, Carey’s Christmas carol decidedly snagged the top spot. In the 50 weeks that the “Holiday 100” chart has existed since its inception in December 2011, the track has topped all but five, including the last 30 weeks in a row since December 2015.

“When I wrote [it], I had absolutely no idea the impact the song would eventually have worldwide,” Carey marvels to Billboard of the holiday hymn, released in 1994 as part of her album, Merry Christmas. “How could I? It was so early on in my career and most young artists, at that time, weren’t really making Christmas music at the onset of their careers.”rrr

“When writing [it], I was tapping into a bittersweet mixture of longing and festiveness,” Carey added. “I had grown up wishing I could have a functional family Christmas like the ones I saw on TV or in the movies, but truth is … that never happened! So, I wrote the song for the little girl in me filled with holiday spirit.”

“The record really has brought me full circle, and I’m so full of gratitude that so many people enjoy it with me every year.”

The track is followed by “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee; Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock”; “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You) by Nat King Cole; and Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas.” Basically, every supermarket in the Philippines’ holiday playlist, in no particular order.

Meanwhile, the 1965 album A Charlie Brown Christmas by famed American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi topped Billboard’s 50-position Greatest of All Time Holiday Albums roll. 

The album, which includes such classics like “Christmas Time is Here,” has spent a record 297 weeks on the weekly Top Holiday Album charts since December 1965 through the latest data from November 20. Christmas by Michael Bublè trailed behind, followed by — who else? — Carey’s aforementioned Merry Christmas release. The next two ranks both belong to Mannheim Steamroller, with A Fresh Aire Christmas and Christmas coming in at fourth and fifth, respectively. 

Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower ranks earning less.

Art Daniella Sison  

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