As Mariah Carey is fond of declaring, “It’s time!”
Almost.
Thanks to the song that has become the biggest hit of her career, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the pop diva has been inching her way back up through the record books. As of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart dated Dec. 21, the song has spent two weeks at No. 1 for the year, which brings it overall total to a whopping 16 weeks. It looks like she’s going to reclaim her title for the longest-running chart-topping single of all time. But she’ll have to wait another year or two to get there.
Carey previously owned the record for longest-running No. 1 hit with the release of “One Sweet Day,” her collab with Boyz II Men, on Nov. 14, 1995. During that era both artists were accustomed to racking up long runs at No. 1. Carey had topped the chart for eight weeks apiece with “Fantasy” and “Dreamlover,” while Boyz II Men had ruled the roost for 13 weeks with “End of the Road” and then 14 weeks with “I’ll Make Love to You.” So it made sense that their combined powers led “One Sweet Day” to 16 historic weeks in the top spot, a record that stood alone for decades.
No one even tied that mark until 2017, when the Latin crossover smash “Despacito (Remix)” by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber became the song of that summer and achieved 16 weeks on top. But a young breakthrough artist would be the one to rewrite history. In 2019 Lil Nas X released “Old Town Road,” the rap-country hybrid whose popularity exploded with the release of its remix with Billy Ray Cyrus. It was unmovable from the No. 1 spot for an unprecedented 19 weeks. And just a few short weeks ago, another country crossover act, Shaboozey, matched those 19 weeks with “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Shaboozey was knocked down when Kendrick Lamar debuted his new album GNX and its lead single “Squabble Up.” Then Carey’s holiday standard took over from Lamar.
“All I Want for Christmas” has returned to No. 1 during every holiday season for the last six years. Each time it adds a few weeks to its tally. At this rate she could hit the milestone 20 weeks as early as 2025 and reclaim her all-time record, provided Shaboozey or some other artist doesn’t notch that many weeks on top between now and then. It would be fitting for Carey to reclaim this crown as she currently holds another record, for the most No. 1 singles by any solo artist (19, behind only The Beatles with 20). She has also spent more cumulative weeks at No. 1 than any other artist in history (95 and counting). And she had the most consecutive years charting a No. 1 song (11 in a row, from 1990 to 2000). She is arguably the most successful solo singles artist of all time, and “All I Want for Christmas” is poised to go down as the most successful single of all time.
