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It’s Mariah Carey Season: A Look at The Queen of Christmas’ Classic Holiday Album

It’s Mariah Carey Season: A Look at The Queen of Christmas’ Classic Holiday Album

By:

Evan Roberson

Mariah Carey released her fourth studio album, titled Merry Christmas, on October 28th, 1994. Critical reviews for the album were mixed. But the holiday season was never the same after fans discovered their own copies in their stockings on Christmas morning.

The album, like most Christmas albums, is jam-packed with popular holiday covers. It also contains a few new original songs, the biggest of which was the now smash-hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” A Christmastime staple, the song has gone on to sell over 16 million copies, making it the 11th best-selling song ever.

Speaking of sales, as of December 2020, Merry Christmas is 8x platinum in the United States. It’s also sold over 15 million copies worldwide. The success of the album helped launch Carey into another stratosphere of stardom. Her 1995 album, Daydream, would go on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide.

Merry Christmas‘ success also led to Mariah Carey becoming the unofficial “Queen of Christmas” — a title we very much support.

Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’ Still Grosses a Massive Profit 

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is still putting up impressive numbers all these years later. Just that one song rakes in more cash each year than some major artist’s entire catalog.

Last year, Billboard broke down exactly how much money Carey pulls in because of her hit single every holiday season. Make sure you’re sitting down because these numbers are absolutely mind-boggling.

Carey grosses around $1.55 million in annual recording royalties via “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” That’s what she’s making each year off of the song’s master recording being played and sold. She also adds another $830,000 annually in publishing royalties because she helped pen the song.

Back in 2017, the single had already generated more than $60 million since it was released. Even better, Carey will be on the road this Christmas, touring between November 15th and December 17th. That’s going to generate millions of dollars as well.

It’s safe to say that the “Queen of Christmas” is just as busy as Santa and his elves during the holiday season.