All I Want for Christmas Is You

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" is a song by American singer Mariah Carey from her fourth studio album and first holiday album, Merry Christmas (1994). Written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, the song was released as the lead single from the album on October 29, 1994, by Columbia Records. The track is an uptempo love song that includes bell chimes, backing vocals, and synthesizers. It has received critical acclaim, with The New Yorker describing it as "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon".^[3] The song has become a Christmas standard, with a significant rise in popularity every December.^[4]

This article is about the Mariah Carey song. For other uses, see All I Want for Christmas Is You (disambiguation).

"All I Want for Christmas Is You"

"Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)"
"Joy to the World"

1994

October 29, 1994 (1994-10-29)

August 1994

The Hit Factory (New York City)

4:01

Columbia

Mariah Carey
Walter Afanasieff

Walter Afanasieff
Mariah Carey

The song was a success when first released, reaching number six on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart in the United States and number two in the United Kingdom and Japan. The advent of music streaming has led to renewed success for the single, which now annually re-enters charts worldwide in the weeks before Christmas and has reached number one in over 30 countries, partially due to it being added to popular seasonal playlists.^[5] The single has broken the record for the longest gap between release and reaching number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom, 25 and 26 years respectively.^[6]^[7] The song has sold 16 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling digital singles of all time.^[8] As of 2023, the Associated Press estimates the song's royalty earnings at $100 million.^[9] That same year, the song was selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.^[10]^[11]

Reception[edit]

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" received widespread acclaim. Roch Parisien from AllMusic called the song "a year-long banger", complimenting its instrumentation and melody.^[23] Steve Morse, editor of The Boston Globe, wrote that Carey sang with a lot of soul.^[26] 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".^[27] 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."^[28] 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."^[28] 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."^[29]

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".^[30] Music & Media commented, "Phil Spector's Christmas album has been the main inspiration for this carol in a "Darlene Love against the wall of sound" tradition."^[31] Music Week wrote, "Mariah meets Phil Spector, some chimes and the inevitable sleigh-bells; this is everything you would expect from a Mariah Carey record."^[32] In a 2006 retrospective look at Carey's career, Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker said, the "charming" song was one of Carey's biggest accomplishments, calling it "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon".^[3] Dan Hancox, editor of The National, quoted and agreed with Jones's statement, calling the song "perfection".^[33] According to Barry Schwartz 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."^[34]

Remixes[edit]

When the song was first released as a single in 1994, no remixes were commissioned. Carey re-released the song commercially in Japan in 2000, with a new remix known as the So So Def remix.^[103] The remix contains new vocals and is played over a harder, more urban beat that contains a sample of Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force's "Planet Rock;" it features guest vocals by Jermaine Dupri and Bow Wow. The remix appears on Carey's compilation album Greatest Hits (2001) as a bonus track.^[103] A 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.^[103] 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. In 2009 and 2010, the song was included in a music video accompanying ESPN's (and their sister station, ABC) Christmas Day coverage of the NBA.^[104]^[105]

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."^[30] Idolator's Becky Bain praised the song's catchiness.^[29]

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 slow vocal introduction.^[106] Steven J. Horowitz from Rap-Up wrote that the new version "sound[ed] just as enjoyable as it did in 1994."^[107] 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 exactly the same arrangement."^[27] Caryn Ganz from Rolling Stone agreed, writing that it was "hard to figure out what's 'extra festive'" about the new version.^[108] Dan Hancox, editor of The National, also felt the new version was unnecessary.^[33]

Music videos[edit]

The first, primary video for the song was shot in the style of a home movie using Super 8 film; it was directed and filmed by Carey during the Christmas season of 1993.^[121] The video begins with Carey decorating a Christmas tree with holiday ornaments and frolicking through a 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.^[18] It continues with scenes of Carey preparing for the Christmas season of 1994, 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.^[96] It has more than 713 million views on YouTube as of December 2021.^[122] 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.^[121]

In 2019, along with the release of the deluxe 25th-anniversary edition of Merry Christmas, Carey released two new music videos for the song. The first featured unreleased footage of the original video.^[123]^[124] The second, directed by Joseph Kahn, was a "revamped" version titled the "Make My Wish Come True Edition", with new scenes of Carey in 2019. In this new video, Carey, now 50, is seen lip-synching to her 25-year-old voice from 1994.^[124]^[125] A montage of celebrities lip-syncing the song was also released on Carey's Vevo channel that same year.^[126] Some celebrities featured in the video include Ryan Reynolds, Kim Kardashian, and James Corden.^[126]

Lawsuit[edit]

On June 3, 2022, songwriter Andy Stone from Vince Vance & the Valiants filed a copyright lawsuit against Carey, alleging that she "exploited" and made "undeserved profits" off his song, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which was written five years prior to Carey's version. Despite sharing the same title, the two songs were musically different.^[127] On November 2, 2022, Stone dropped his lawsuit,^[128] but in November 2023, the lawsuit was refiled.^[129] The case is being moved to California from Louisiana.^[130]

Legacy[edit]

Cultural impact[edit]

Due to the song's lasting impact, Carey was dubbed the "Queen of Christmas".^[131] As of 2023, the Associated Press estimates the song's royalty earnings at $100 million.^[9]^[132] The song has been described as a "yuletide tune" by Forbes, who went on to say that the song has "become debatably the unofficial song of Christmas each year".^[133] Time writer Cady Lang stated that there are multiple reasons for the song's popularity, the first being the "powerhouse vocals of the beloved elusive chanteuse."^[134] She also noted the song's impact on pop culture stating that it is "a reminder that pop music, and maybe especially Christmas-themed pop music, can be as transportive for the singer (and the songwriter) as it is for the listener".^[133]