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Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ Holds Atop Hot 100, The Ronettes’ ‘Sleigh Ride’ Hits Top 10
Carey’s carol reigns for a seventh total week, while The Ronettes rank in the top 10 for the first time since “Be My Baby” in 1963, ending a record 58-year, two-month break from the bracket.
Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” holds at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The carol, released in 1994, adds its seventh total week on top, after notching three weeks at No. 1 beginning in December 2019 and two more starting in December 2020, before it returned to the summit a week ago.
Notably, with this week’s Hot 100 dated Jan. 1, 2022, Carey’s “Christmas” is the first song to lead Hot 100 charts dated in four distinct years (2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022). (It was already the only song to reign in as many as three years.)
The song leads eight Yuletide favorites in the Hot 100’s top 10, including one in the tier for the first time: The Ronettes‘ “Sleigh Ride,” up from No. 13 to No. 10. The track was originally released in 1963, just after the group posted its lone top 10: its classic “Be My Baby,” which hit No. 2. The act’s return to the top 10 is record-breaking, as it ranks in the region after a break of 58 years and two months.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Jan. 1) will update on Billboard.com Wednesday (Dec. 29). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Here’s a deeper look as Carey’s “Christmas” repeats at the Hot 100’s (north) pole position.
Streams, airplay & sales: Carey’s “Christmas,” on Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings, drew 47.5 million U.S. streams (up 26%) and 32 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 25%, good for top Airplay Gainer honors on the Hot 100) and sold 8,100 downloads (up 9%) in the Dec. 17-23 tracking week, according to MRC Data.
The song claims a 14th total week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and rises 7-6 on Digital Song Sales and 23-13 on Radio Songs. It also leads the multi-metric Holiday 100 chart for a 50th week, of the chart’s 55 total weeks since the list launched in 2011; it has topped the tally for 35 consecutive weeks, dating to the start of the 2015-16 holiday season, and dominates as the top title on the recently-revealed Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart.
The song was first released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in 1994 and has increased its Hot 100 fortunes in recent years as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ seasonal playlists.
No. 1 in its 50th week on Hot 100: As it spends its 50th week on the Hot 100, Carey’s “Christmas” is the first song to lead in as late as its 50th frame on the survey. A week earlier, when it reigned in its 49th week, it passed Los Del Rio’s “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” which led through its 46th week on the chart in November 1996. (The latter also logged multiple runs on the Hot 100, first running up 20 weeks in September 1995-January 1996 before it resurged and returned in May 1996 and lasted on the list through February 1997.)
Longest span atop the Hot 100: Carey’s “Christmas” extends its mark for the longest span from a song’s first week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 to its latest: two years and 11 days (Dec. 21, 2019-Jan. 1, 2022).
Plus, the latest week atop the Hot 100 for “Christmas” extends Carey’s record for the longest span of an artist ranking at No. 1 on the chart: 31 years and five months, dating to her first week at No. 1 on the chart dated Aug. 4, 1990, with her debut single “Vision of Love.”
When “Christmas” first hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 dated Dec. 21, 2019, Carey passed Cher, whose solo No. 1s span 27 years and five months, from “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves,” from its first week at No. 1 in 1971, through “Believe,” through its last week on top in 1999. (If Cher’s career as half of duo Sonny & Cher were combined with her solo output, her No. 1 span would cover 33 years, seven months and two weeks, from Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe,” which reached the top in 1965, through “Believe.”)
Happy new year: Carey has now placed at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in a record-extending 18 distinct years (per Hot 100 chart dates): 1990-2000, 2005-06, 2008 and, thanks to “Christmas,” 2019-22.
Next up are three acts that have each spent time atop the Hot 100 in 10 individual years: Paul McCartney/Wings (1971, 1973-76, 1978, 1980, 1982-84; additionally, The Beatles, with him as a member, led in eight years: 1964-70); Michael Jackson (1972, 1979-80, 1983-84, 1987-88, 1991-92, 1995); and Madonna (1984-87, 1989-92, 1995, 2000).
Carey’s record 86th week atop Hot 100: With “Christmas,” Carey claims her record-extending 86th week at No. 1 on the Hot 100, dating to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, inception.
Most Weeks at No. 1 on Hot 100
86, Mariah Carey
60, Rihanna
59, The Beatles
52, Drake
50, Boyz II Men
“Christmas” became Carey’s 19th Hot 100 No. 1, the most among soloists and one away from The Beatles’ overall record 20. It also made Carey the only artist that has ranked at No. 1 on the chart in four distinct decades.
5 x 7: “Christmas” is Carey’s fifth Hot 100 No. 1 to rule for seven weeks or more, tying her with Drake for the most such leaders. Adele, Beyoncé, Boyz II Men and Rihanna follow with three each.
Most weeks at No. 1 for a holiday hit: Plus, with its seventh week atop the Hot 100, Carey’s “Christmas” extends its record for the most time at No. 1 among holiday songs. The only other seasonal single to reign, “The Chipmunk Song,” by David Seville & the Chipmunks, spent four weeks on top beginning in December 1958.
Carey’s “Christmas” paces an all-holiday top four on the Hot 100, with all titles at their peak positions. Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” originally released in 1958, keeps at No. 2 (47.5 million streams, up 33%, as it wins the Hot 100’s top Streaming Gainer award); the late Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” from 1957, rises 4-3; and the late Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” from 1964, pushes 5-4. The tracks rank at Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 3, respectively, on Streaming Songs. (They also line up at the same positions on the Hot 100 that they held both a year ago and two years ago this week.)
Adele’s “Easy on Me” dips 3-5 on the Hot 100, after seven nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1. The ballad spends a fifth week atop Radio Songs, with 86 million in reach (up 2%).
The late Andy Williams’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” rises 7-6 on the Hot 100. Originally released in 1963, it hit a No. 5 high last holiday season. With the song’s latest week in the top 10, Williams’ record for the longest span of appearing in the tier is extended to 62 years, two months and three weeks, dating to his first week in the top 10 with “Lonely Street,” on the chart dated Oct. 12, 1959.
Wham!’s “Last Christmas” jingles 9-7 for a new Hot 100 high (adding the chart’s top Sales Gainer nod for its 21% increase to 4,100 sold). A year ago this week, the song, released in 1984, hit the top 10 for the first time, becoming the seventh top 10 for the duo of George Michael (who died Dec. 25, 2016) and Andrew Ridgeley. The pair charted its first six top 10s, including three No. 1s, in 1984-86; Michael subsequently notched 14 solo top 10s, including seven No. 1s, through 1996.
José Feliciano’s 1970 holiday chestnut “Feliz Navidiad” returns to the Hot 100’s top 10, dashing 11-8. It hit a No. 6 high last holiday season, two weeks after becoming his second top 10.
The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s “Stay” slips 6-9 on the Hot 100, after seven weeks at No. 1.
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, The Ronettes’ “Sleigh Ride” gallops from its prior No. 13 best to No. 10, with 27.1 million streams (up 27%), 17.1 million in airplay audience (up 10%) and 1,000 sold (up 9%).
The song, released in late 1963, is The Ronettes’ second Hot 100 top 10, and first in 58 years and two months, since “Be My Baby” hit a No. 2 high for three weeks in October 1963. The act (whose original three members reportedly did not record together after the ’60s) rewrites the record for the longest gap between top 10s, previously held by Ives, who went 56 years, seven months and two weeks from “Funny Way of Laughin’ ” in 1962 to “Holly Jolly Christmas,” which hit the top 10 for the first time during the 2018-19 holiday season.
In between top 10s, and despite the original lineup’s dissolution, The Ronettes maintained a notable pop culture presence, particularly via “Be My Baby.” The song was interpolated, spotlighting lead singer Ronnie Spector’s “oh-oh-oh-oh … be my little baby” signature lines, in Eddie Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight,” which hit No. 4 on the Hot 100 in November 1986. The next year, “Be My Baby” received prominent placement in the blockbuster film Dirty Dancing, and on its soundtrack which topped the Billboard 200 for 18 weeks in 1987-88.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Jan. 1), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 29).
Source: billboard.com