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MUSIC FEATURE

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MARIAH CAREY MERRY CHRISTMAS This month we’re diving Santa hat-first into a particularly magical AlbumTales, all about the reigning queen of festive holidays Mariah Carey and her incredibly enduring 1994 record Merry Christmas . Words Bryget Chrisfield

Year 1994

Making Billboard chart history First released in 1994, Mariah’s highest selling single, All I Want for Christmas Is You , has topped the Billboard Top 100 for three years running – in 2019, 2020, and 2021 – and we’re pretty sure the odds are in this yuletide classic’s favour to take out pole position this year as well. Previous to breaking this Billboard chart record last year, Mariah’s Christmas smash tied with Chubby Checker’s 1960 dance hit The Twist , which hit the number one spot upon its release, before returning to top the charts again in 1962. Dallas bar bans All IWant for Christmas (‘til December) We just love this story about a Dallas bar called Stoneleigh P, that has reportedly taken to taping a sign to its jukebox – annually, on November 1 – that reads: “Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You will be skipped if played before Dec 1. After Dec 1 this song is only allowed once a night.” During a CNN interview, the bar’s general manager

confirmed: “Once we hear those twinkles, we run for the remote.” When a photo of said sign went viral, one tweeter accused Stoneleigh P of declaring “war on Christmas”. Then Mariah responded in iconic fashion by tweeting an image of herself, mid-battle in full warrior attire – taken from the 2015 Game of War: Fire Age ad she starred in – captioned: “Is this the war on Christmas I’ve heard about?” Worship at the church of Mariah Mariah performed All I Want for Christmas Is You live for the very first time in an actual church to open her 1994 St. John the Divine Benefit Concert, and the good news is that you can now experience this entire concert on YouTube – watch her (ahem) sleigh! The sad truth behind Mariah’s masterful whisper-singing In her fabulous NewYork Times number one best-selling memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey (we recommend you listen to

It’s no secret that the best-selling female artist of all time, Mariah Carey, is also the Queen of Christmas: her Merry Christmas album remains the most successful Christmas album ever, 28 years since its original release. Altogether now: “All I want for Christmaaaaaaaaas is yoooooou/ OO-oo-oo, bay-bee!...” – oh, don’t be such a Scrooge! If you’re gonna listen to a Christmas song, it might as well be delivered by an angel with an extraordinary five octave range! Not only is this song one of the best-selling singles of all time, it’s also one of the best-selling Christmas ringtones (who knew that was even a thing?!).

L-R: Mariah in the original video for All IWant for Christmas IsYou (1994); Getting angelic in the updated 2019 video. Source: youtube.com/c/MariahCarey

70 DECEMBER 2022

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