Originally released in 1994, Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You is one of the best-loved modern festive songs out there. With an estimated 16 million copies sold, the track is the best-selling Christmas single by a female artist of all time. Yet despite its popularity, the song has only reached No 2 in the UK, but that could all be about to change.
In the midweek UK singles chart, All I Want For Christmas Is You has shot up from No 12 to No 2.
Carey’s festive favourite is just 900 chart sales behind Ariana Grande’s Positions, so could very well hit UK No 1 some 26 years after it first released.
Such a feat would follow All I Want For Christmas Is You topping the USA’s Billboard Hot 100 for the first time last year.
That achievement saw Carey’s song break a number of records, including the longest trip to No 1.
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All I Want For Christmas Is You is the 11th best-selling physical single of all time.
However, the best-selling Christmas single, which is also the best-selling physical single ever, is Bing Crosby’s White Christmas with over 50 million sales since its 1942 debut.
Nevertheless, as of just a couple of years ago, Carey was reported to have earned as much as $60 million in royalties from her 1994 hit.
And according to the Official Charts Company, All I Want For Christmas Is You may very well have that first UK No 1 unveiled from 4pm Friday on BBC Radio 1’s The Official Chart with Scott Mills. Will her fans make that wish come true?
Last weekend, Carey featured on The Graham Norton Show, where she spoke of All I Want For Christmas Is You.
The 50-year-old said: “It was the first Christmas song I ever wrote and then it took on a life of its own.
“I loved it for me, but as the years went by other people liked it and I’ve grown to love it more and more.”
The star was video calling in from Los Angeles to chat about her Magical Christmas Special for Apple TV.
Carey teased: “It’s going to be festive. Everything I put my heart and soul into will be festive.
“It’s been such a tough year for everyone, but in no universe will Christmas be cancelled for me, so we are doing this special.
“People will really get into the Christmas spirit with it and it is something we all need this year.”
Release on Friday, the day she could well get a UK No 1, Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special also features Jennifer Hudson and Ariana Grande.
Of course, Grande is just 900 units ahead of Carey in the race to UK No 1 this week.
On her love of Christmas today, after not having great experiences of the festivities growing up, the 50-year-old said: “I always wanted them to be great as a kid, but they were somehow always foiled by other people when I was growing up.
“I didn’t grow up with money or things, but I always loved Christmas but certain people or siblings, who I don’t know any more, would come over and ruin it every time.
“So, as an adult they will never do that to me again.”
