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Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas is you’ Holds Atop Hot 100, Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ Hits Top Five
Plus, Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” takes over as the most-heard song on radio.
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hangs atop the Billboard Hot 100’s highest bough for an 11th total week. It leads for a third week this holiday season, as it has topped the chart over the holidays each year since December 2019.
Plus, Wham!’s fellow Yuletide classic “Last Christmas” reaches the Hot 100’s top five for the first time, rising from No. 6 to No. 5, and Taylor Swift’s former leader “Anti-Hero,” at No. 9 on the latest Hot 100, becomes the most-heard song on U.S. airwaves, ascending to the top of the Radio Songs chart, where Swift becomes the first artist to have reigned in the 2000s, ’10s and ’20s.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated Dec. 31) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 28, a day later than usual due to the Christmas holiday). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
“Christmas,” on Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings, was first released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in 1994 and, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists, it first reached the Hot 100’s top 10 in December 2017 and first hit the top five in the 2018 holiday season, before dominating over the holidays in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two), 2021 (three) and now 2022 (three to-date).
Streams, airplay & sales: “Christmas” drew 48.7 million streams (up 18%) and 39.5 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 19%) and sold 11,000 downloads (up 3%) in the U.S. in the Dec. 16-22 tracking week, according to Luminate. Adding to the song’s momentum, Carey’s two-hour holiday special Merry Christmas to All! premiered Dec. 20 on CBS.
The song adds a fourth total week at No. 1, and second in a row, on the Digital Song Sales chart, following frames on top in 2005 and 2019; rebounds 2-1 for an 18th week atop Streaming Songs; and jingles 14-11 for a new high on Radio Songs, where it reached a previous No. 12 best over the 1994 holidays and has returned to the top 15 in each of the last four holiday seasons.
Third No. 1 of at 11 weeks or more: Carey becomes the second artist, and first woman, with three songs that have topped the Hot 100 for 11 or more weeks each. She joins Boyz II Men for the honor – with Carey and the group having teamed for one song contributing to the feat:
Mariah Carey:
16 weeks, “One Sweet Day,” with Boyz II Men, 1995-96
14 weeks, “We Belong Together,” 2005
11 weeks (to-date), “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” 2019-22
Boyz II Men:
13 weeks, “End of the Road,” 1992
14 weeks, “I’ll Make Love to You,” 1994
16 weeks, “One Sweet Day,” with Carey, 1995-96
“Christmas” is the 28th title to command the Hot 100 for 11 or more weeks, a run that under just 2% of all 1,144 No. 1s have achieved. (Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” solely held the record for the chart’s longest reign for over 21 years, until Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber, matched it with 16 weeks on top in 2017. The songs now share the second-longest No. 1 stay, after Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, ruled for 19 weeks in 2019.)
Longest span atop the Hot 100: Carey’s “Christmas” extends the longest span from a song’s first week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 to its latest, to over three years and a week (Dec. 21, 2019-Dec. 31, 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: 32 years and nearly five months, dating to her first week at No. 1 on the list dated Aug. 4, 1990, with her debut single “Vision of Love.”
Carey’s record 90th week atop Hot 100: With “Christmas,” Carey adds her record-extending 90th 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:
90, Mariah Carey
60, Rihanna
59, The Beatles
54, Drake
50, Boyz II Men
47, Usher
43, Beyoncé
37, Michael Jackson
34, Adele
34, Elton John
34, Bruno Mars
“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 first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the chart in four distinct decades, dating to her first week at the summit with “Vision of Love.” The song is additionally the only title to have led in four separate runs on the survey.
Most weeks at No. 1 for a holiday hit: Carey’s “Christmas” expands its record for the most time atop the Hot 100 for a holiday song. The only other seasonal single to lead, “The Chipmunk Song,” by David Seville & the Chipmunks, spent four weeks at No. 1 beginning in December 1958.
No. 1 on Holiday 100: Carey’s “Christmas” concurrently crowns the multi-metric Holiday 100 chart for a 56th week, of the chart’s 61 total weeks since the list originated in 2011. It has topped the tally for 41 consecutive weeks, dating to the start of the 2015-16 holiday season, and rules as the top title on the Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart.
Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” originally released in 1958, keeps at its No. 2 Hot 100 high (for an eighth total week since it first reached the rank in December 2019), with 48.5 million streams (up 19%), 29.4 million in radio airplay audience (up 10%) and 5,000 sold (down 2%).
The late Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” from 1957, and the late Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” from 1964, rebound 4-3 and 5-4, respectively, on the Hot 100, each returning to their respective highs achieved in each of the last four holiday seasons.
Wham!’s “Last Christmas” dashes to a new best Hot 100 rank, rising 6-5, after the 1984 release first reached the top 10 during the 2020 holidays and, until this holiday season, hit a prior No. 7 high over last year’s holidays. It ascends with 43.7 million streams (up 51%), 24.2 million in radio reach (up 5%) and 3,000 sold (up 11%).
The duo of George Michael (who died in 2016, on Christmas Day) and Andrew Ridgeley adds its sixth top five Hot 100 hit, among seven top 10s, after charting its first six top 10s in 1984-86: the No. 1s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” “Careless Whisper” and “Everything She Wants”; the No. 3 hits “Freedom” and “I’m Your Man”; and the No. 10-peaking “The Edge of Heaven.”
Wham! appears in the Hot 100’s top five for the first time since the Feb. 8, 1986-dated chart (the last week in the top five for “Man”); Michael subsequently notched nine solo top five hits, including seven No. 1s, among 14 solo top 10s, through 1996; he last ranked in the top five as a soloist on the Feb. 15, 1992, list with former leader “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” with Elton John. Meanwhile, a song written by Michael places in the top five for the first time since former No. 1 “Praying for Time” ranked at No. 3 on the Oct. 20, 1990, chart.
Andy Williams’ 1963 chestnut “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” pushes 8-6 on the Hot 100; it hit a No. 5 high during the 2020 holidays. The song’s latest week in the top 10 extends the late singer’s record for the longest span of an act appearing in the tier to 63 years, two months and three weeks, dating to his first week in the top 10 with “Lonely Street,” in October 1959.
Notably, holiday hits decorate the Hot 100’s top six spots for a second time, following a frame over the 2020 holidays (also the only other week in which the entire top five consisted of carols).
SZA’s “Kill Bill” slips to No. 7 on the Hot 100 a week after it debuted at No. 3, as it tops Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a second week each. The track is from her album SOS, which logs a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad,” from 1970, jumps 11-8 on the Hot 100. It hit a No. 6 best over the 2020 holidays.
Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” descends 7-9 after spending its first six weeks on the Hot 100 at No. 1 starting in November. It concurrently crowns Radio Songs, rising from No. 2, with 79.4 million in audience (up 3%). Swift scores her seventh Radio Songs leader, tying Maroon 5, Katy Perry and Usher for the fourth-most No. 1s dating to the chart’s December 1990 start; Rihanna leads with 13, followed by Carey (11) and Bruno Mars (nine).
Here’s a recap of Swift’s seven Radio Songs No. 1s:
Title, Weeks at No. 1, Year(s)
“You Belong With Me,” two, 2009
“I Knew You Were Trouble.,” four, 2013
“Shake It Off,” four, 2014
“Blank Space,” six, 2014-15
“Bad Blood” (feat. Kendrick Lamar), five, 2015
“Wildest Dreams,” two, 2015
“Anti-Hero,” one (to-date), 2022
With Radio Songs No. 1s in the 2000s, ’10s and ’20s, Swift becomes the first artist with leaders on the chart in each of the three decades – and the only artist with No. 1s as a lead act in any three distinct decades. Christina Aguilera is the only other artist with No. 1s in each of three decades, with one each as a lead in the 1990s (“Genie in a Bottle,” 1999) and ’00s (“Lady Marmalade,” with Lil’ Kim, Mya and P!nk, 2001) and one as featured in the ’10s (on Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger,” 2011).
Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” dips 9-10, after it led the Oct. 29-dated chart.
Again, for all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram and all charts (dated Dec. 31), including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 28).
Source: billboard.com