It took a quarter of a century but Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has finally made it to the top of the U.S. singles chart.
The holiday song, released in 1994, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated Dec. 21 and published Tuesday. The chart is compiled using Nielsen Music data from streaming, radio airplay and sales.
“Wow. I don’t even know what to say,” Carey told Billboard. “We definitely wanted to kick it into high gear this year with the song to celebrate the 25th anniversary, but I definitely didn’t expect it to hit No. 1 two weeks before Christmas!
“This just feels so great because it’s been such a long time coming, and I never really expected it. This is just, like, mind-boggling.”
The singer was more succinct on social media. "We did it," she tweeted on Monday.
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Written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff (aka Vladimir Nikitich Afanasiev), “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is the first holiday track to hold the top spot since “The Chipmunk Song” in 1958. (Christmas songs did not qualify for the chart from 1963 to 1972 and from 1983 to 1985.)
“All I Want For Christmas Is You” is Carey’s 19th No. 1 hit – putting her second only to The Beatles for the most. She has had songs at the top of the chart in each of the last three decades, a feat matched only by Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Usher. If it remains at No. 1 on the Hot 100 dated Jan. 4, Carey will become the first artist in history to top the chart in four different decades.
Carey, who wrapped up her Christmas show at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, will sign copies of her Merry Christmas album at a New York City store on Tuesday and then flip the switch on Thursday for a light show set to “All I Want For Christmas” at the Empire State Building.
She also appears in the latest episode of Billy on the Street. Watch it below: