11 Fun Facts About Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ (Including Why Her Co-Writer Didn’t Think It Would Be a Hit!)

Mar. 15, 2025

Mariah Carey performing at Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time tour kick off show at Yaamava' Resort & Casino at San Manuel on Nov. 6, 2024, in Highland, Calif.Photo:Kevin Mazur/Getty

Mariah Carey performing at Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time tour kick off show at Yaamava' Resort & Casino at San Manuel on Nov. 6, 2024, in Highland, Calif

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Are the lyrics toMariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” stuck in your head? Same.

As soon as you hear the jingling of the bells and the iconic whistle tones of the pop star’s 1994 Christmas anthem, you know the most wonderful time of the year is officially here.

The melody was eveninducted into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registryin April 2023. And decades after its debut, theChristmas queen’s hit single continues to break records.

Mariah Carey holding her Diamond Award for ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’.Sony Music

Mariah Carey

Each holiday season, the song makes its annual sleigh ride up theBillboardHot 100 chart, but in 2019, “All I Want for Christmas Is You"reached No. 1 during its 25th anniversary year. Two years later, the holiday hitearned the No. 1 spotonBillboard’s Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs retrospective.

The pop icon isn’t letting her record-breaking single stand alone in the Christmas genre. She also released “Fall in Love at Christmas,” her 2021 collaboration withKhalidand Kirk Franklin.

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of herMerry Christmasalbum and the release of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,”Carey launched a 20-city Christmas Time tourin November 2024, which will end in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Dec. 17.

Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ single cover.Legacy Recordings

Mariah Carey Christmas

Now, let’s tune back into thecatchy Christmas classicfor some super fun facts about “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

The song broke multiple Guinness World Records

Guinness adjudicator Michael Empric presenting Mariah Carey with her ‘Guinness World Record’ award for ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ as her kids watch on stage in 2019.Denise Truscello/Getty Images

Mariah Carey Christmas

The song was actually written pretty quickly

Mariah Carey performing on ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’ in December 2019.Terence Patrick/CBS via Getty

Mariah Carey

The Christmas classic was co-written alongside Carey’s then-writing partner, Walter Afanasieff. Though it has long been reported that the song only took 15 minutes to write, Carey laterrevealed toParadein 2021 that the time frame was a little bit longer than that.

She explained: “I started writing that on a little DX7 or Casio keyboard that was in this little room in the house that I lived in at the time in Upstate New York lifetimes ago. Just writing down everything that I thought about. All the things that reminded me of Christmas that made me feel festive that I wanted other people to feel.”

Although the song was written quite quickly, the recording process took longer.

“We did take some time doing the record because if you listen to all those background vocals and all that stuff, you can’t do it in five minutes,” Carey told the outlet. “It’s literally impossible unless you had three choirs.”

Mariah Carey didn’t want to do the song at first

From left: Monroe Cannon, Mariah Carey and Moroccan Cannon posing for a family photo.The Children’s Place

Mariah Carey and Her Twins Star in New The Children’s Place Christmas Campaign

The Children’s Place

Song co-writer Walter Afanasieff didn’t think the song would become the hit it is today

Mariah Carey Christmas

The singer doubted the song’s success at the time of its release because releasing Christmas music wasn’t as popular for pop artists to do compared to today.WhenBillboardaskedAfanasieff in 2014 if he thought “All I Want for Christmas Is You” would be the album’s biggest hit, he said, “Nooo.”

Mariah Carey decked the studio in Christmas decor during the recording session

Mariah Carey in her 2019 music video for ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’.Mariah Carey/Youtube

Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas Is You

Since the song was recorded in August 1994, Carey thought it only appropriate to give the studio a Christmas-y feel. To get into a holiday mindset and allow the festive feeling to come through in the song, she took action.

“The studio looked like Christmas,” producerRandy Jacksonsaid in Amazon Music’s mini-documentary,Mariah Carey Is Christmas: The Story of “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” “The temperature was cold. There were, like, ornaments, there were Christmas trees, there were Christmas candles.”

Mariah Carey’s favorite lyric in the song is “I won’t even wish for snow”

Moroccan Cannon skiing with mom Mariah Carey in 2018.Mariah Carey/Instagram

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“[It’s my favorite line] because Ialwayswish for snow,” Carey said in Amazon Music’sMariah Carey Is Christmas. She added, “I always want it to be, like, a special, festive winter wonderland.”

Since Los Angeles isn’t necessarily the definition of a “winter wonderland,” Careytakes a special trip to Aspen, Colo., each year to get her snowy fix.

The song was banned from playing at a bar

The song may be a festive fan favorite, but not for everyone!

In October 2021, a bar called Stoneleigh P in Dallas, Tex., posted a sign banning the song, stating it would be skipped if played before Dec. 1 and only allowed to be played once a night after Dec. 1. The establishment — which most likely made Carey’s naughty list that year — went viral for the note on Twitter (now X) and received a swift clapback from the singer herself.

“Is this the war on Christmas I’ve heard about,” one user reacted in a now-deleted tweet,perTexas Monthly, to which Careyresponded with an imagefrom herGame of Warvideo game campaign — looking prepared to battle … in the name of Christmas, of course.

Mariah Carey’s twins are in the music video remake

Monroe Cannon in mom Mariah Carey’s 2019 music video for ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’.Mariah Carey/YouTube

Mariah Carey Christmas

In honor of the 25th anniversary of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in 2019, Carey released an updated music video for the holiday classic — with little guest stars. Hertwins, Moroccan and Monroe, appeared in the production, which she described in a live Q&A session for its world premiere as “kind of the opposite of the original video.”

The twins — who were just 8 years old in the music video —made another cameoin Carey’s”Fall in Love at Christmas” visualin 2021.

No live instruments were used while recording

Mariah Carey performing during the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.Kevin Winter/Getty

Mariah Carey performs onstage during the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Kevin Winter/Getty

Yes, you read that right! When you listen to the song, it sounds like there’s a live orchestra playing the iconic chords and melodies beneath Carey’s vocals, but according to Afanasieff, the song was never recorded with a band.

“We did other songs during the sessions with the band. But there was never a version [of “All I Want for Christmas Is You”] with a band,” hetoldVarietyin 2019. “I think we might’ve tried it, and it just didn’t sound as good. It needed to be brighter, more fun and more of what I thought a Christmas song should be on the radio, so I kept all of my synth/sequencer parts, computer parts.”

Mariah Carey performing her Christmas show at Toyota Center on Nov. 19, 2024, in Houston.Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty

Mariah Carey performing her Christmas show at Toyota Center on Nov. 19, 2024, in Houston

Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty

Duringan interview with Geniusin December 2018, Carey reminisced about how her own childhood Christmas experiences influenced some of the lyrics behind the festive tune.

“I did have to sit back and go, ‘What do I really want to write about Christmas?’ And I got into it,” theGrammywinner said. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna write from the place of that kid that didn’t grow up with any money, that always wanted to have the most festive Christmas. And somehow people I was related to would come in and ruin the holiday every year.’ I just want to do the most festive thing I can do so when I grow up I’m gonna make this the best holiday ever.”

There’s anAll I Want for Christmas Is Youmovie

An animated version of Mariah Carey in ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You,’ 2017.Universal Pictures

An animated version of Mariah Carey in ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You,’ 2017

Universal Pictures

source: people.com