Can 'Queen of Christmas' Mariah Carey take back record she lost to Taylor Swift?

Published 09 December 2024
Mariah Carey pictured in a Christmas scene

Mariah Carey’s festive smash “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has long reigned as one of the world’s most-listened-to songs.

Despite its seasonal appeal, the song kept a tight hold on the record for most streamed track on Spotify in 24 hours (female) for many years.

Mariah briefly lost the title to Adele’s “Easy On Me” in October 2021, but clawed it back by Christmas Eve 2022, with the song making it to countless festive playlists around the globe.

But after losing the title to record-breaking powerhouse and Guinness World Records ICON Taylor Swift, with her track “Fortnight” (feat. Post Malone) in April 2024, can Mariah’s wish for a festive chart-topper be granted once again?

When she last claimed the record, on Christmas Eve 2023, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” had been streamed 23,701,697 times in just one day.

Taylor’s lead single from The Tortured Poets Department took the record a few months later when it was streamed 25,204,472 times on 19 April 2024.

The song took an impressive lead, but as Christmas approaches, there’s a chance that Mariah could return to the top of the tree, and what better way would there be to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original release of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” in 1994?

It’s not like the track doesn’t have any records though – it certainly has its fair share.

As of 5 December, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has spent the most cumulative weeks on the UK singles chart by a female artist (one song) – a total of 135.

The song also claims the most Top 10 weeks on the UK singles chart for a Christmas song.

As of 5 December, it’s been in the Top 10 for a whopping 45 weeks.

Wham!’s “Last Christmas” isn’t far behind it, with 42 weeks, and “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues (feat. Kirsty MacColl) has 33 weeks.

And with 135 weeks, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" also has the most cumulative weeks on the UK singles chart for a Christmas song.

This record was previously held by "Fairytale of New York", now with 134 weeks.

Other festive tracks racking up a lot of time on the UK’s Official Singles Chart are “Last Christmas” by Wham! with 126 weeks, and Slade’s “Merry Xmas Everybody” with 120 weeks.

Mariah isn’t just a chart smash, she’s also a big hit in the land of streaming.

Her festive song has the most weeks at No.1 on Spotify's "Daily Top Songs Global" chart for a Christmas song with 72.

No other Christmas song has reached that No.1 spot since the chart was first published on 1 January 2017.

With a total of 75,826,005 streams for the week ending 28 December 2023, it’s also the most streamed Christmas track on Spotify in one week.

“Last Christmas” is the runner up with 71,138,282 streams, and the overall most streamed track in a week is “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus with 115,156,896.

And even if Mariah can’t take back that overall record from Taylor, “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, for now, remains the most streamed Christmas track on Spotify in 24 hours with those 23,701,697 streams from 24 December 2023.

Which songs will make it on to your Christmas playlist?

Header image: Apple TV/Everett/Shutterstock