Is it really the winter holiday season if you don’t hear Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You?”
Off of the music legend’s 1994 album “Merry Christmas,” the timeless track has been in rotation for almost 30 years. In 2021, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” became the first and only holiday single to become RIAA diamond-certified (10 million copies sold or streamed), according to RIAA.
“The continued love for my song never ceases to amaze me and fill my heart with a multitude of emotions,” Carey shared at the time. “It blows my mind that ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ has endured different eras of the music industry. The RIAA DIAMOND award?! Wowww! I’m so fortunate to have the greatest fans on Earth, my Lambily, who continue to support my legacy. I love you.”
“As for publishing, she is one of two songwriters credited on the song — [Walter] Afanasieff being the other — so if they each wrote 50%, that means that Carey’s share of the publishing would be $830,000,” the outlet explained. “If she owns her publishing, after a 10% administration fee, her take-home pay would be $747,000. If she has a 75/25 co-publishing deal, her share would be just over $622,000; and if she doesn’t own the publishing on that song, her publishing royalties would be about $415,000.”
To this day, Carey’s Christmas hit has reached new highs on the charts despite three decades having passed since its release. On Dec. 11, 2023, it was reported that it has remained No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 for a total of 15 weeks across the past four holiday seasons.
