Mariah Carey Did Not Expect 'All I Want for Christmas' To Be a Hit — Here's Why

Mariah Carey never expected her "All I Want for Christmas Is You" to become a hit.

The singer released the track with her first holiday album in 1994. It ultimately became her most popular Christmas song, although she dropped more related music in the past years, including "All I Want For Christmas Is You," "Oh Santa!" "Charlie Brown Christmas," "When Christmas Comes," "Joy To The World," and "O Holy Night," among others.

In her interview with W Magazine, Carey detailed how she created the song while playing some keys on her keyboard. Per the singer, she did not want the music to feel specific and offer a classic and timeless feeling to everyone instead. Still, she reportedly could not imagine that the track would have a huge part in her life.

Carey specifically said that "All I Want for Christmas Is You" success was not expected since she did not think it would be a good idea to release a holiday album in the 1990s.

"Okay, so the idea of me doing a Christmas album at all came from the record company," she said. "It was very early in my career, and I thought it was a little early for me to be doing that, but I was like, 'Well, I love Christmas.' I had some very sad Christmases as a child, but I always try to find the bright light there."

But amid all doubts, Carey made it.

Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" Sets Records, Earns Whopping Sales

Each year since its release, the track continuously dominated the charts.

She received her first-ever Diamond Award trophy for a Holiday song from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2021.

"The continued love for my song never ceases to amaze me and fill my heart with a multitude of emotions," she penned. "It blows my mind that "All I Want for Christmas is You" has endured different eras of the music industry."

In 2020, it scored the top spot in Spotify's record for the biggest single-day streams with 17.223 million. This year, it jumped from No. 5 to No. 1 on Billboard's Global 100 chart, marking its ninth total week on the top spot since the chart was created in 2020.

On top of these, the song saw a whopping increase in streams and sales, recording 64.5 million streams (47 percent increase) and 8,000 sales (62 percent increase).

The music magazine ranks songs in the Global 200 chart based on streaming and sales activities in more than 200 countries globally. It includes worldwide data, including statistics from the US.

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