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Mariah Carey’s iconic holiday single “All I Want For Christmas Is You” continues to cement its place in history as the longest-running number one single on the Billboard Hot 100. The charts publication announced on Monday that the song had spent its 20th week at the top of the charts amid this current season, as the song has become a Christmas tradition to listeners since its initial release in 1994.
Billboard reported that the success of music streaming contributed to the level of success that “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is currently seeing. It entered the top 10 of the Hot 100 for the first time in 2017 and landed in the top 5 in 2018. Since 2019, it has spent time at the top slot each holiday season.
The record for the longest-running number one single was previously tied between Carey, Shaboozey for “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and Lil Nas X for “Old Town Road.” In 2019, Lil Nas X took the title over from Carey and Boyz II Men, whose single “One Sweet Day” held the longevity record for 16 weeks in a row. The 1995 R&B collaboration held that spot for 23 years until it tied with the “Despacito” remix from Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber in 2017, and was ultimately broken by ‘Old Town Road” two years later.
Following the success of the country-trap song by Lil Nas X, whose real name is Montero Hill, Carey celebrated the “Old Town Road” takeover by “passing the torch” to Hill on Twitter.
“Sending love & congrats to @LilNasX on breaking one of the longest running records in music history! We’ve been blessed to hold this record with a song that means a great deal to @BoyzIIMen and myself and has touched so many,” she said. “Keep living your best life!”
Carey, known for her humor, reposted that tweet and added a new photo of herself holding the torch once again, no caption necessary.
According to Billboard, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is also the longest charting title by a female artist, tied with Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” both having spent 77 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It has also cemented Carey as the first artist to have number-one singles in four distinct decades since its release in the ’90s.
