All I Want for Christmas Is You
Encyclopedia
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" is a song by American singer-songwriter
Mariah Carey
. It was released by Columbia Records
on November 1, 1994 as the lead single from her fourth studio album
, Merry Christmas
. The song was written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff
, both of whom were also the producers. An uptempo love song, the instrumentation includes bell chimes
and heavy back-up vocals
, as well as use of synthesizers. The song's lyrics declare that the protagonist does not care about Christmas presents or lights; all she wants for Christmas is to to be united with her lover for the holidays.
Two music videos were commissioned for the song, both being filmed during the month of December 1993. The song's primary music video features grainy home footage of Carey, her dogs and family during the holiday season, as well as Carey dressed in a Santa suit frolicking on a snowy mountainside. Then husband Tommy Mottola
makes a cameo appearance as Santa Claus, bringing Carey a gift and leaving on a red sleigh. The second video was filmed in black and white format, and features Carey dressed in 1960s style, while paying homage to The Ronettes
, alongside back up singers and male dancers.
Carey performed "All I Want for Christmas is You" during a slew of live television appearances and tours throughout her career. She first sang it live during the Japanese leg of her Daydream World Tour
(1996), Butterfly World Tour
(1998) and Charmbracelet World Tour
(2002–03), as well as the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade in 2004 and 2010, both of which aired on ABC
. A So So Def remix
version was released in 2000, and a dance mix in 2009. In 2010, Carey re-recorded the song for her second holiday album, Merry Christmas II You
, titled "All I Want for Christmas Is You (Extra Festive)".
Critically, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has been lauded, with The New Yorker
calling it "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon". The song was commercially successful, reaching the number two position on the single charts of Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom, and the top ten in several other countries. The song became the nineteenth-best-selling digital single of the 20th century, the highest-charting entry by a female or holiday song on the list. The Daily Telegraph
hailed "All I Want for Christmas Is You" as the most popular and most played Christmas song of the decade in the United Kingdom. Rolling Stone
ranked it fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list, calling it a "holiday standard."
pressured her to record a Christmas album so that she would be perceived as an entertainer, not just as a pop singer. Since Carey was brought up as Christian and always celebrated Christmas, she agreed to create a holiday-themed album. Carey wrote "All I Want for Christmas Is You" while recording the album in mid-1994. In an interview, Carey explained the inspiration behind the song:
Ostensibly, the song was inspired by Carey's romantic sentiments toward her then-husband Tommy Mottola
. After the album's release, many promotional singles were released; while other songs were sent to Christian airplay radio stations, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was sent to pop and Top 40 channels. Author Chris Nickson described the song as "fun and mellow", and he felt its uptempo
beat contrasted with the album's strong religious theme, broadening the album's appeal to teenage audiences.
pop style. Its lyrics declare that the singer does not care about Christmas presents or lights; all she wants for Christmas is to spend time with her lover. The song incorporates various instruments, including bell chimes
, bass effect
and cowbells. The song layers background vocals throughout the chorus and sections of the bridge
. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing
, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is set in common time
and in the key
of G major
. Carey's vocal range
in the song spans from the note
of G3 to the high note of G5. Carey wrote the song's lyrics and melody, while Walter Afanasieff
arranged and produced the track. Many of the instrumentals were synthetically created with computerized equipment. According to Roch Parisien from Allmusic, the song contains "The Beach Boys
-style harmonies, jangling bells, and a sleigh-ride pace, injecting one of the few bits of exuberant fun in this otherwise vanilla set."
, wrote that Carey sang with a lot of soul. According to Barry Schwarz from Stylus Magazine
, "to say this song is an instant classic somehow doesn't capture its amazingicity; it's a modern standard: joyous, exhilarating, loud, with even a hint of longing." Schwartz praised the song's lyrics as well, describing them as "beautifully phrased," and calling Carey's voice "gorgeous" and "sincere." Bill Lamb from About.com
called it a "contemporary classic." Kyle Anderson from MTV
labeled the track "a majestic anthem full of chimes, sleigh bells, doo-wop flourishes, sweeping strings and one of the most dynamic and clean vocal performances of Carey's career". While reviewing the 2009 remix version, Becky Bain from Idolator
called the song a "timeless classic" and wrote, "We love the original song to pieces—we blast it while decorating our Christmas tree and lighting our Menorah." In his review for Carey's Merry Christmas II You
, Thomas Connor from the Chicago Sun-Times
called the song "a simple, well-crafted chestnut and one of the last great additions to the Christmas pop canon". Shona Craven of Scotland
's The Herald
, said, "[it's] a song of optimism and joy that maybe, just maybe, hints at the real meaning of Christmas." Additionally, she felt the main reason it was so successful is the subject "you" in the lyrics, explaining, "Perhaps what makes the song such a huge hit is the fact that it's for absolutely everyone." Craven opened her review with a bold statement: "Bing Crosby may well be turning in his grave, but no child of the 1980s will be surprised to see Mariah Carey's sublime All I Want For Christmas Is You bounding up the charts after being named the nation's top festive song." In a 2006 retrospective look at Carey's career, Sasha Frere-Jones
of The New Yorker
said, the "charming" song was one of Carey biggest accomplishments, calling it "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon". Dan Hancox, editor of The National
, quoted and agreed with Jones' statement, calling the song "perfection". In 2010, Rolling Stone
ranked "All I Want for Christmas Is You" fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list, calling it a "holiday standard."
during its original release, because it was not released commercially as a single. This rule lapsed in 1998, however, allowing the song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 (peaking at number 83 in January 2000). The song topped the Hot Digital Songs
in December 2005, but it was unable to attain a new peak on the Hot 100 because it was considered a recurrent single and was thus ineligible for chart re-entry. Every December from 2005 to 2008, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 Re-currents chart. It has become the best-selling holiday ringtone, and it is the first holiday ringtone to be certified double-platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA). Additionally, of songs recorded before the year 2000, it is the nineteenth best-selling digital single, the best-selling digital single by a woman, and the best-selling holiday digital single. As of October 26, 2011, Nielsen SoundScan
estimated the sales of the digital track at over 1,918,000 downloads.
In the United Kingdom, the song entered the UK Singles Chart
at number five during the week of December 10, 1994. The following week, the song peaked at number two, staying there for the final three weeks of December. As of December 5, 2010, it had spent fifty weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and it was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry
(BPI). It is Carey's best-selling single in the UK, with sales estimated at over 670,000 units as of 2008. In 2010, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was named the number-one holiday song of the decade in the United Kingdom. The song peaked at number two on the Australian Singles Chart
and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA), denoting shipments of over 70,000 units. During its sixth and seventh week on the 2009 singles chart, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" topped the Ultratop
charts in Wallonia and Flanders
. In Denmark, it peaked at number four, staying in the chart for sixteen weeks and being certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). "All I Want for Christmas Is You" became Carey's best-selling single in Japan. It was used as the theme song to the popular drama , and was titled . It sold in excess of 1.1 million units in Japan, and became the best-selling Japanese single of 1994. Due to strong sales and airplay, the song re-charted in Japan in 2010, peaking at number six on the Japan Hot 100
. The single has been certified the Million award by the Recording Industry Association of Japan
(RIAJ) on two different formats (compact disc and ringtone), in 1994 and 2008, respectively.
es were commissioned. Carey re-released the song commercially in Japan in 2000, with a new remix known as the So So Def remix. The remix contains new vocals and is played over a harder, more urban beat; it features raps by Jermaine Dupri
and Bow Wow. The remix appears on Carey's compilation album Greatest Hits
(2001) as a bonus track. In 2009, a remix produced by Carey and Low Sunday, called "Mariah's New Dance Mix", was released. The mix laid the original 1994 vocals over new electronic instrumentation. The remix garnered a positive response. MTV
's Kyle Anderson wrote that "it's difficult to improve perfection," but that the remix "does dress up the song in a disco thump that should make your office Christmas party 28 percent funkier than it was last year." Idolator
's Becky Bain praised the song's catchiness.
In 2010, Carey re-recorded the song for her thirteenth studio and second holiday album, Merry Christmas II You. Titled "All I Want for Christmas Is You (Extra Festive)", the new version featured re-recorded vocals, softer bell ringing and stronger drumming, and an orchestral introduction that replaced the a capella introduction. Steven J. Horowitz from Rap-Up
wrote that the new version "sound[ed] just as enjoyable as it did in 1994." While the song was praised, it drew criticism for being too similar to the original. Thomas Connor from the Chicago Sun-Times
wrote that the new version "just seems to add a few brassy backup singers to the exact same arrangement." Caryn Ganz from Rolling Stone
agreed, writing that it was "hard to figure out what's 'extra festive'" about the new version. Dan Hancox, editor of The National, also felt the new version was unnecessary. In 2011, pop singer Justin Bieber
also recorded a version of the song as a duet with Carey, titled "All I Want for Christmas Is You (Superfestive!)", on his holiday album, Under the Mistletoe
.
and frolicking through the snowy mountainside. Outdoor scenes were shot at the Fairy Tale Forest in New Jersey
, where Carey's then-husband Tommy Mottola made a cameo appearance as Santa Claus
. It continues with scenes of Carey getting ready for her album cover photo shoot and spending time with her dog Jack. It concludes with Santa Claus leaving Carey with a bag of presents and waving goodbye. In the song's alternate video, inspired by The Ronettes
, Carey dances in a 1960s-influenced studio surrounded by go–go dancers
. For a 1960s look, the video was filmed in black and white, with Carey in white boots and teased up hair. This video was also directed by Carey. There are two edits to this version of the video.
Another video was created for the So So Def remix, but it does not feature Carey or the hip-hop musicians that perform in the song. Instead, the video is animated and based on a scene in the video from Carey's "Heartbreaker
" (1999). It features cartoon cameo appearances by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bow Wow, Luis Miguel
(Carey's boyfriend at the time), Carey's dog Jack, and Santa Claus. Kris Kringle
is credited with directing the music video. Since 2009, the song has been included in a music video accompanying ESPN's Christmas Day coverage of the NBA
.
(1996), Butterfly World Tour
(1998), Rainbow World Tour
(2000), Charmbracelet World Tour
(2002–03) (also sung during the December leg of the tour) and The Adventures of Mimi Tour
(2006). Additionally, Carey performed the song at the 2004 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade, which aired on ABC
. Carey sang the So So Def remix version at the opening night of her Angels Advocate Tour
on New Year's Eve
. On November 9, 2010, Carey taped a live Christmas Special featuring the song, which aired on December 13, 2010 on ABC
. Additionally, Carey performed the song alongside "Oh Santa!
" airing on ESPN
and ABC
throughout the day on Christmas Day of 2010. On December 3, she performed both songs at the Walt Disney World Resort
theme park, Magic Kingdom
, in a performance that was taped and aired part of the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade on ABC. She performed them again in a music video promoting the day's NBA games that aired on both networks.
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" has been covered by various singers and bands. Shania Twain
performed the song live on The Today Show in December 1998, alongside other holiday tunes. "All I Want For Christmas Is You" was featured on the soundtrack for the 2003 British film Love Actually
, where it was covered by Olivia Olson
. In 2004, Swedish pop group Play covered the song for their Christmas album, Play Around the Christmas Tree
. My Chemical Romance
's version appeared on the 2004 charity album Kevin & Bean's Christmastime in the 909. In October 2005, American girl group The Cheetah Girls recorded the song for their first holiday album, Cheetah-licious Christmas
. At the 2007 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade in Anaheim, California, Miley Cyrus
performed the song. Singing duo Same Difference
performed the song during the season finale of the fourth season
of the UK TV show The X Factor
. American country music
artist Whitney Duncan
covered the song on November 2008, which was featured as a digital single. John Mayer
performed an acoustic version of the song in New York in 2008. During a British televised Christmas Special, Alexandra Burke
, winner of the fifth series of The X Factor
, performed the song on November 24, 2009. A Japanese band, Suemitsu & the Suemith
, covered "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on their 2008 compilation album Best Angle for the Pianist - Suemitsu & the Suemith 05-08. In 2010, Celtic Thunder
covered the song for their Christmas album Celtic Thunder Christmas. Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy
also covered the song in 2010 for the Christmas album, All I Want For Christmas, an album which features Christmas songs from various Australian artists. Country music band Lady Antebellum
covered "All I Want for Christmas Is You" for their 2010 holiday EP
A Merry Little Christmas
. Their version entered Billboards Country Songs Chart at number fifty-seven on December 8, 2010. American music group Big Time Rush
featuring Miranda Cosgrove
covered the song for their 2010 EP Holiday Bundle. During the week of December 8, 2010, their cover of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" debuted at number nine on
Billboards Holiday Chart. Michael Bublé
included a cover of the song on his upcoming holiday album, set to be released towards the end of 2011. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was also covered on the cast of Glee
s newest Christmas album, Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2, on which it is sung by Amber Riley
who plays Mercedes on the show.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
. It was released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
on November 1, 1994 as the lead single from her fourth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
, Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas (Mariah Carey album)
Merry Christmas is a holiday album and fourth studio album by American singer Mariah Carey. Released by Columbia Records on November 1, 1994, the album features both cover versions of popular Christmas tunes, including some original material...
. The song was written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff is a multiple Grammy-award-winning record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his long association with Mariah Carey, for whom he was producer and co-writer for several years, beginning in 1990...
, both of whom were also the producers. An uptempo love song, the instrumentation includes bell chimes
Chime (bell instrument)
A carillon-like instrument with fewer than 23 bells is called a chime.American chimes usually have one to one and a half diatonic octaves. Many chimes play an automated piece of music. Prior to 1900, chime bells typically lacked dynamic variation and the inner tuning required to permit the use of...
and heavy back-up vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
, as well as use of synthesizers. The song's lyrics declare that the protagonist does not care about Christmas presents or lights; all she wants for Christmas is to to be united with her lover for the holidays.
Two music videos were commissioned for the song, both being filmed during the month of December 1993. The song's primary music video features grainy home footage of Carey, her dogs and family during the holiday season, as well as Carey dressed in a Santa suit frolicking on a snowy mountainside. Then husband Tommy Mottola
Tommy Mottola
Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola is an American music executive, co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He is the ex-husband of Mariah Carey and is married to Mexican singer Thalía...
makes a cameo appearance as Santa Claus, bringing Carey a gift and leaving on a red sleigh. The second video was filmed in black and white format, and features Carey dressed in 1960s style, while paying homage to The Ronettes
The Ronettes
The Ronettes were a 1960s girl group from New York City, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett ; her older sister, Estelle Bennett; and their cousin Nedra Talley...
, alongside back up singers and male dancers.
Carey performed "All I Want for Christmas is You" during a slew of live television appearances and tours throughout her career. She first sang it live during the Japanese leg of her Daydream World Tour
Daydream World Tour
The Daydream World Tour is a series of concerts by American R&B singer Mariah Carey. The tour took place during early to mid-1996, and kicked-off at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, and ended at London, England's Wembley Arena.-History:...
(1996), Butterfly World Tour
Butterfly World Tour
Butterfly World Tour is the third concert tour by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. The tour promoted Carey's album at the time, Butterfly , and included songs from several of her previous albums. The tour visited Asia, Australia and the United States, with rehearsals taking place in...
(1998) and Charmbracelet World Tour
Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey
Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey is the name of Mariah Carey's 2003–04 worldwide concert tour. It takes its name from Carey's 2002 album Charmbracelet, which had been released six months earlier.-History:...
(2002–03), as well as the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade in 2004 and 2010, both of which aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. A So So Def remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
version was released in 2000, and a dance mix in 2009. In 2010, Carey re-recorded the song for her second holiday album, Merry Christmas II You
Merry Christmas II You
Merry Christmas II You is the thirteenth studio album and second Christmas album by American singer Mariah Carey. The album was released on November 2, 2010 and features four original songs, all-time Christmas classics and a re-recorded version of her 1994 Christmas hit "All I Want for Christmas Is...
, titled "All I Want for Christmas Is You (Extra Festive)".
Critically, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has been lauded, with The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
calling it "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon". The song was commercially successful, reaching the number two position on the single charts of Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom, and the top ten in several other countries. The song became the nineteenth-best-selling digital single of the 20th century, the highest-charting entry by a female or holiday song on the list. The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
hailed "All I Want for Christmas Is You" as the most popular and most played Christmas song of the decade in the United Kingdom. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
ranked it fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list, calling it a "holiday standard."
Background and writing
Mariah Carey's label Columbia RecordsColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
pressured her to record a Christmas album so that she would be perceived as an entertainer, not just as a pop singer. Since Carey was brought up as Christian and always celebrated Christmas, she agreed to create a holiday-themed album. Carey wrote "All I Want for Christmas Is You" while recording the album in mid-1994. In an interview, Carey explained the inspiration behind the song:
I'm a very festive person and I love the holidays. I've sung Christmas songs since I was a little girl. I used to go Christmas caroling. When it came to the album, we had to have a nice balance between standard Christian hymns and fun songs. It was definitely a priority for me to write at least a few new songs, but for the most part people really want to hear the standards at Christmas time, no matter how good a new song is.
Ostensibly, the song was inspired by Carey's romantic sentiments toward her then-husband Tommy Mottola
Tommy Mottola
Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola is an American music executive, co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He is the ex-husband of Mariah Carey and is married to Mexican singer Thalía...
. After the album's release, many promotional singles were released; while other songs were sent to Christian airplay radio stations, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was sent to pop and Top 40 channels. Author Chris Nickson described the song as "fun and mellow", and he felt its uptempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
beat contrasted with the album's strong religious theme, broadening the album's appeal to teenage audiences.
Composition
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" is an uptempo song, composed in a contemporaryContemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
pop style. Its lyrics declare that the singer does not care about Christmas presents or lights; all she wants for Christmas is to spend time with her lover. The song incorporates various instruments, including bell chimes
Chime (bell instrument)
A carillon-like instrument with fewer than 23 bells is called a chime.American chimes usually have one to one and a half diatonic octaves. Many chimes play an automated piece of music. Prior to 1900, chime bells typically lacked dynamic variation and the inner tuning required to permit the use of...
, bass effect
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
and cowbells. The song layers background vocals throughout the chorus and sections of the bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony/ATV Music Publishing is a music publishing company co-owned by The Michael Jackson Family Trust and Sony. The organisation was originally founded as Associated TeleVision in 1955 by Lew Grade. In 1957, ATV acquired Pye Records as a wholly owned subsidiary...
, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is set in common time
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
and in the key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of G major
G major
G major is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp, F; in treble-clef key signatures, the sharp-symbol for F is usually placed on the first line from the top, though in some Baroque music it is placed on the first space from the bottom...
. Carey's vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
in the song spans from the note
Note
In music, the term note has two primary meanings:#A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound;#A pitched sound itself....
of G3 to the high note of G5. Carey wrote the song's lyrics and melody, while Walter Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff is a multiple Grammy-award-winning record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his long association with Mariah Carey, for whom he was producer and co-writer for several years, beginning in 1990...
arranged and produced the track. Many of the instrumentals were synthetically created with computerized equipment. According to Roch Parisien from Allmusic, the song contains "The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
-style harmonies, jangling bells, and a sleigh-ride pace, injecting one of the few bits of exuberant fun in this otherwise vanilla set."
Critical response
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" was well-received by music critics. Parisien called the song "well-crafted", complimenting its instrumentation and melody. Steve Morse, editor of The Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, wrote that Carey sang with a lot of soul. According to Barry Schwarz from Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
, "to say this song is an instant classic somehow doesn't capture its amazingicity; it's a modern standard: joyous, exhilarating, loud, with even a hint of longing." Schwartz praised the song's lyrics as well, describing them as "beautifully phrased," and calling Carey's voice "gorgeous" and "sincere." Bill Lamb from About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
called it a "contemporary classic." Kyle Anderson from MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
labeled the track "a majestic anthem full of chimes, sleigh bells, doo-wop flourishes, sweeping strings and one of the most dynamic and clean vocal performances of Carey's career". While reviewing the 2009 remix version, Becky Bain from Idolator
Idolator (website)
Idolator is a music blog. Created by the blog network Gawker Media in August 2006, Idolator was later sold to rival blog network Buzz Media, which also owns music blog Stereogum. From the 2007 departure of original head writer Brian Raftery until November 2009, the blog's head writer was Maura...
called the song a "timeless classic" and wrote, "We love the original song to pieces—we blast it while decorating our Christmas tree and lighting our Menorah." In his review for Carey's Merry Christmas II You
Merry Christmas II You
Merry Christmas II You is the thirteenth studio album and second Christmas album by American singer Mariah Carey. The album was released on November 2, 2010 and features four original songs, all-time Christmas classics and a re-recorded version of her 1994 Christmas hit "All I Want for Christmas Is...
, Thomas Connor from the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
called the song "a simple, well-crafted chestnut and one of the last great additions to the Christmas pop canon". Shona Craven of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
's The Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
, said, "[it's] a song of optimism and joy that maybe, just maybe, hints at the real meaning of Christmas." Additionally, she felt the main reason it was so successful is the subject "you" in the lyrics, explaining, "Perhaps what makes the song such a huge hit is the fact that it's for absolutely everyone." Craven opened her review with a bold statement: "Bing Crosby may well be turning in his grave, but no child of the 1980s will be surprised to see Mariah Carey's sublime All I Want For Christmas Is You bounding up the charts after being named the nation's top festive song." In a 2006 retrospective look at Carey's career, Sasha Frere-Jones
Sasha Frere-Jones
Sasha Frere-Jones is an American writer, music critic, and musician. He has written for Pretty Decorating, ego trip, Hit It And Quit It, Mean, Slant, The New York Post, The Wire, The Village Voice, Slate, Spin, and The New York Times...
of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
said, the "charming" song was one of Carey biggest accomplishments, calling it "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon". Dan Hancox, editor of The National
The National (Abu Dhabi)
The National is a government-owned English-language daily newspaper published in Abu Dhabi. The editor-in-chief since June 8, 2009 has been Hassan Fattah. Prior to this, and from the launch of the newspaper Martin Newland was editor-in-chief. Mubadala Development Company, an investment company...
, quoted and agreed with Jones' statement, calling the song "perfection". In 2010, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
ranked "All I Want for Christmas Is You" fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list, calling it a "holiday standard."
Sales and impact
In the first week of January 1995, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary and at number 12 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. The song placed on these two charts again in December 1995 and in December 1996. The song was ineligible for inclusion on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
during its original release, because it was not released commercially as a single. This rule lapsed in 1998, however, allowing the song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 (peaking at number 83 in January 2000). The song topped the Hot Digital Songs
Hot Digital Songs
The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
in December 2005, but it was unable to attain a new peak on the Hot 100 because it was considered a recurrent single and was thus ineligible for chart re-entry. Every December from 2005 to 2008, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 Re-currents chart. It has become the best-selling holiday ringtone, and it is the first holiday ringtone to be certified double-platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA). Additionally, of songs recorded before the year 2000, it is the nineteenth best-selling digital single, the best-selling digital single by a woman, and the best-selling holiday digital single. As of October 26, 2011, Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
estimated the sales of the digital track at over 1,918,000 downloads.
In the United Kingdom, the song entered the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at number five during the week of December 10, 1994. The following week, the song peaked at number two, staying there for the final three weeks of December. As of December 5, 2010, it had spent fifty weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and it was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
(BPI). It is Carey's best-selling single in the UK, with sales estimated at over 670,000 units as of 2008. In 2010, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was named the number-one holiday song of the decade in the United Kingdom. The song peaked at number two on the Australian Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA), denoting shipments of over 70,000 units. During its sixth and seventh week on the 2009 singles chart, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" topped the Ultratop
Ultratop
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...
charts in Wallonia and Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. In Denmark, it peaked at number four, staying in the chart for sixteen weeks and being certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). "All I Want for Christmas Is You" became Carey's best-selling single in Japan. It was used as the theme song to the popular drama , and was titled . It sold in excess of 1.1 million units in Japan, and became the best-selling Japanese single of 1994. Due to strong sales and airplay, the song re-charted in Japan in 2010, peaking at number six on the Japan Hot 100
Japan Hot 100
The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com ....
. The single has been certified the Million award by the Recording Industry Association of Japan
Recording Industry Association of Japan
The Recording Industry Association of Japan is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved the music industry...
(RIAJ) on two different formats (compact disc and ringtone), in 1994 and 2008, respectively.
Remixes and 2010 version
When the song was first released as a single in 1994, no remixRemix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es were commissioned. Carey re-released the song commercially in Japan in 2000, with a new remix known as the So So Def remix. The remix contains new vocals and is played over a harder, more urban beat; it features raps by Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
and Bow Wow. The remix appears on Carey's compilation album Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Mariah Carey album)
Greatest Hits is the eleventh album by American singer Mariah Carey, released in the United States on December 4, 2001 by Columbia Records. It is a greatest hits double album: CD 1 is primarily a collection of Carey's hits from 1990 to 1995, while CD 2 is primarily a collection of hits from 1996 to...
(2001) as a bonus track. In 2009, a remix produced by Carey and Low Sunday, called "Mariah's New Dance Mix", was released. The mix laid the original 1994 vocals over new electronic instrumentation. The remix garnered a positive response. MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Kyle Anderson wrote that "it's difficult to improve perfection," but that the remix "does dress up the song in a disco thump that should make your office Christmas party 28 percent funkier than it was last year." Idolator
Idolator (website)
Idolator is a music blog. Created by the blog network Gawker Media in August 2006, Idolator was later sold to rival blog network Buzz Media, which also owns music blog Stereogum. From the 2007 departure of original head writer Brian Raftery until November 2009, the blog's head writer was Maura...
's Becky Bain praised the song's catchiness.
In 2010, Carey re-recorded the song for her thirteenth studio and second holiday album, Merry Christmas II You. Titled "All I Want for Christmas Is You (Extra Festive)", the new version featured re-recorded vocals, softer bell ringing and stronger drumming, and an orchestral introduction that replaced the a capella introduction. Steven J. Horowitz from Rap-Up
Rap-Up
Rap-Up is a magazine launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the hip hop and R&B aspect of the music industry, and...
wrote that the new version "sound[ed] just as enjoyable as it did in 1994." While the song was praised, it drew criticism for being too similar to the original. Thomas Connor from the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
wrote that the new version "just seems to add a few brassy backup singers to the exact same arrangement." Caryn Ganz from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
agreed, writing that it was "hard to figure out what's 'extra festive'" about the new version. Dan Hancox, editor of The National, also felt the new version was unnecessary. In 2011, pop singer Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...
also recorded a version of the song as a duet with Carey, titled "All I Want for Christmas Is You (Superfestive!)", on his holiday album, Under the Mistletoe
Under the Mistletoe
Note: denotes a co-producer-Charts:-Sales and certifications:...
.
Music videos
There are three music videos for "All I Want for Christmas Is You". The first, primary video was shot in the style of a home video; it was directed and filmed by Carey during the Christmas season of 1993. The video begins with Carey placing holiday ornaments on a Christmas treeChristmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
and frolicking through the snowy mountainside. Outdoor scenes were shot at the Fairy Tale Forest in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, where Carey's then-husband Tommy Mottola made a cameo appearance as Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
. It continues with scenes of Carey getting ready for her album cover photo shoot and spending time with her dog Jack. It concludes with Santa Claus leaving Carey with a bag of presents and waving goodbye. In the song's alternate video, inspired by The Ronettes
The Ronettes
The Ronettes were a 1960s girl group from New York City, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett ; her older sister, Estelle Bennett; and their cousin Nedra Talley...
, Carey dances in a 1960s-influenced studio surrounded by go–go dancers
Go-Go dancing
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at a discotheque. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s when women at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City began to get up on tables and dance the twist...
. For a 1960s look, the video was filmed in black and white, with Carey in white boots and teased up hair. This video was also directed by Carey. There are two edits to this version of the video.
Another video was created for the So So Def remix, but it does not feature Carey or the hip-hop musicians that perform in the song. Instead, the video is animated and based on a scene in the video from Carey's "Heartbreaker
Heartbreaker (Mariah Carey song)
"Heartbreaker" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on September 21, 1999 by Columbia Records as the lead single from Carey's seventh studio album, Rainbow . The song was written by Carey and Jay-Z and produced by the former and DJ Clue...
" (1999). It features cartoon cameo appearances by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bow Wow, Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri is a Mexican singer. He is widely known only by the name Luis Miguel and is often referred to as "El Sol de México"...
(Carey's boyfriend at the time), Carey's dog Jack, and Santa Claus. Kris Kringle
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
is credited with directing the music video. Since 2009, the song has been included in a music video accompanying ESPN's Christmas Day coverage of the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
.
Live performances and cover versions
Carey has performed the song during concerts as well as live televised performances. It was part of the set-list during the Japanese shows of Carey's Daydream World TourDaydream World Tour
The Daydream World Tour is a series of concerts by American R&B singer Mariah Carey. The tour took place during early to mid-1996, and kicked-off at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, and ended at London, England's Wembley Arena.-History:...
(1996), Butterfly World Tour
Butterfly World Tour
Butterfly World Tour is the third concert tour by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. The tour promoted Carey's album at the time, Butterfly , and included songs from several of her previous albums. The tour visited Asia, Australia and the United States, with rehearsals taking place in...
(1998), Rainbow World Tour
Rainbow World Tour
The Rainbow World Tour was a worldwide arena concert tour in the year 2000 by American R&B artist Mariah Carey.-History:Carey had released her ninth album Rainbow in November 1999 and decided to go on tour to promote it. Unlike her previous outing, the Butterfly World Tour, marked Carey's first...
(2000), Charmbracelet World Tour
Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey
Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey is the name of Mariah Carey's 2003–04 worldwide concert tour. It takes its name from Carey's 2002 album Charmbracelet, which had been released six months earlier.-History:...
(2002–03) (also sung during the December leg of the tour) and The Adventures of Mimi Tour
The Adventures of Mimi Tour
The Adventures of Mimi: The Voice, The Hits, The Tour was a 2006 concert tour of arenas by American R&B singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was one of a few tours in her then-sixteen year career and was named after a fan's "Carey-centric" diary of the same name...
(2006). Additionally, Carey performed the song at the 2004 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade, which aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Carey sang the So So Def remix version at the opening night of her Angels Advocate Tour
Angels Advocate Tour
The Angels Advocate Tour is the seventh concert tour by American R&B singer Mariah Carey, in support of her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. The tour visited North America, also Egypt, Brazil and Singapore...
on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
. On November 9, 2010, Carey taped a live Christmas Special featuring the song, which aired on December 13, 2010 on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Additionally, Carey performed the song alongside "Oh Santa!
Oh Santa!
"Oh Santa!" is a pop song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released by Island Records on October 11, 2010 as the lead single from her second Christmas album, Merry Christmas II You . The song was co-written and co-produced by Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox...
" airing on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
throughout the day on Christmas Day of 2010. On December 3, she performed both songs at the Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
theme park, Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...
, in a performance that was taped and aired part of the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade on ABC. She performed them again in a music video promoting the day's NBA games that aired on both networks.
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" has been covered by various singers and bands. Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
performed the song live on The Today Show in December 1998, alongside other holiday tunes. "All I Want For Christmas Is You" was featured on the soundtrack for the 2003 British film Love Actually
Love Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...
, where it was covered by Olivia Olson
Olivia Olson
Olivia Olson is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is known for her role of Joanna, singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" in Love Actually , and for her voice-roles as Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in Phineas and Ferb and as Marceline the Vampire Queen in Adventure Time with Finn and...
. In 2004, Swedish pop group Play covered the song for their Christmas album, Play Around the Christmas Tree
Play Around the Christmas Tree
Play Around the Christmas Tree is the fourth album and the first Christmas album by Play. It was the last studio album by Play before its 2005 break-up and until 2010.-Track listing:#"Sleigh Ride" – 3:24#"Winter Wonderland" – 2:03#"O Holy Night" – 3:38...
. My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
's version appeared on the 2004 charity album Kevin & Bean's Christmastime in the 909. In October 2005, American girl group The Cheetah Girls recorded the song for their first holiday album, Cheetah-licious Christmas
Cheetah-licious Christmas
Cheetah-licious Christmas is pop group, The Cheetah Girls' Christmas album. It is also the first album the girls released as an official musical group, however group member Adrienne Bailon later stated that the album does not serve as their official debut album. It was released by Walt Disney...
. At the 2007 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade in Anaheim, California, Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana....
performed the song. Singing duo Same Difference
Same Difference
Same Difference can refer to:* Same Difference, a British singing duo* Same Difference , an album by Swedish death metal band Entombed* Same Difference , a show which aired on Channel 4...
performed the song during the season finale of the fourth season
The X Factor (UK series 4)
The fourth UK series of The X Factor was broadcast on ITV in autumn 2007. The first show aired on 18 August 2007 and the series was won by Leon Jackson on 15 December 2007, with Rhydian Roberts the runner-up and Dannii Minogue emerging as the winning mentor...
of the UK TV show The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
. American country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist Whitney Duncan
Whitney Duncan
Whitney Duncan is an American country music artist, who was the fifth place finalist on the fifth season of Nashville Star. She has released one studio album and has charted on the U.S...
covered the song on November 2008, which was featured as a digital single. John Mayer
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
performed an acoustic version of the song in New York in 2008. During a British televised Christmas Special, Alexandra Burke
Alexandra Burke
Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke is a British R&B and pop recording artist who rose to fame after winning the fifth series of British television series The X Factor in 2008...
, winner of the fifth series of The X Factor
The X Factor (UK series 5)
The fifth UK series of The X Factor was broadcast on ITV in 2008. The series started on 16 August and was won by Alexandra Burke on 13 December, with new judge Cheryl Cole emerging as the winning mentor. Auditions in front of producers were held in April/May, with callbacks in front of the judges...
, performed the song on November 24, 2009. A Japanese band, Suemitsu & the Suemith
Suemitsu & The Suemith
Suemitsu & the Suemith is a Japanese solo project headed by Suemitsu Atsushi . He performs piano and vocals for the project...
, covered "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on their 2008 compilation album Best Angle for the Pianist - Suemitsu & the Suemith 05-08. In 2010, Celtic Thunder
Celtic Thunder
Celtic Thunder is a singing group composed of male soloists who perform both solo and ensemble numbers. Celtic Thunder debuted in August 2007 at The Helix in Dublin, Ireland...
covered the song for their Christmas album Celtic Thunder Christmas. Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy
Jessica Mauboy
Jessica Hilda Mauboy , is an Indigenous Australian R&B singer-songwriter and actress. In 2006, Mauboy was the runner-up on the fourth season of Australian Idol, she had auditioned for the talent show in Alice Springs to pursue a recording career...
also covered the song in 2010 for the Christmas album, All I Want For Christmas, an album which features Christmas songs from various Australian artists. Country music band Lady Antebellum
Lady Antebellum
Lady Antebellum is an American country pop music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2006. The trio is composed of Charles Kelley , Dave Haywood and Hillary Scott .The group made its debut in 2007 as guest vocalists on Jim Brickman's single "Never Alone", before signing to Capitol...
covered "All I Want for Christmas Is You" for their 2010 holiday EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
A Merry Little Christmas
A Merry Little Christmas (Lady Antebellum album)
-Chart performance:-End of year charts:...
. Their version entered Billboards Country Songs Chart at number fifty-seven on December 8, 2010. American music group Big Time Rush
Big Time Rush
Big Time Rush is a Nickelodeon television series created by Scott Fellows about the Hollywood misadventures of four hockey players from Minnesota—Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos, after they are selected to form a boy band. The series premiered with an hour-long pilot episode, "Big Time...
featuring Miranda Cosgrove
Miranda Cosgrove
Miranda Taylor Cosgrove is an American actress and singer-songwriter. Her career began at the age of three, where she participated in television commercials. Cosgrove's film debut was in 2003, as Summer Hathaway in School of Rock...
covered the song for their 2010 EP Holiday Bundle. During the week of December 8, 2010, their cover of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" debuted at number nine on
Billboards Holiday Chart. Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
included a cover of the song on his upcoming holiday album, set to be released towards the end of 2011. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was also covered on the cast of Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
s newest Christmas album, Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2, on which it is sung by Amber Riley
Amber Riley
Amber Patrice Riley is an American actress and singer best known for her role on the series Glee as Mercedes Jones.-Early life and career:...
who plays Mercedes on the show.
Peak positions
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
2 |
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
11 |
| Dutch Singles Chart Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
2 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
14 |
| Italian Singles Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
1 |
| Japanese Singles Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
2 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
4 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
17 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
18 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
2 |
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
| UK Singles Chart | 8 |
| US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 6 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 12 |
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
831 |
| Japanese Singles Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
431 |
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 32 |
| Danish Singles Chart Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
6 |
| European Singles Chart | 9 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
8 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 8 |
| UK Singles Chart | 4 |
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
| Danish Singles Chart | 4 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
17 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 16 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 3 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 12 |
| UK Singles Chart | 12 |
| US Billboard Holiday Songs Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine... |
1 |
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium Back Catalog Singles Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... (Flanders) |
1 |
| Belgium Back Catalog Singles Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... (Wallonia) |
1 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 12 |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 12 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
18 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 4 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Scottish Singles Chart Scottish Singles and Albums Chart The Scottish Singles Chart and Scottish Albums Chart are charts compiled by The Official Charts Company, based on physical and digital sales in the STV North, STV Central and ITV Border regions.... |
20 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 13 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 10 |
| UK Singles Chart | 19 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Singles Sales | 62 |
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 22 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 11 |
| Dutch Single Chart | 19 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 16 |
| Italy Singles Chart | 6 |
| Japan Hot 100 Japan Hot 100 The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com .... |
6 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 3 |
| Scottish Singles Chart | 25 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 12 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 16 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
45 |
| UK Singles Chart | 18 |
| US Billboard Holiday Songs | 1 |
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
| UK Singles Chart | 39 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
863 |
| US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 113 |
Michael Bublé Version
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 1 |
End of decade charts
| Decade-end chart (2000–2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Holiday Songs | 1 |
Certifications
| Country (Provider) | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... ) |
Platinum |
| Denmark (IFPI) | Gold |
| Italy (FIMI Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... ) |
Gold |
| Japan (RIAJ Recording Industry Association of Japan The Recording Industry Association of Japan is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved the music industry... ) |
Million |
| Million (Master Tone) | |
| United Kingdom (BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... ) |
Platinum |
| United States (RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... ) |
Gold |
| 2× Platinum (Master Tone) |
See also
- Christmas musicChristmas musicChristmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
- List of best-selling singles in Japan
- List of best-selling singles worldwide