The universe works in funny ways. One day, you’re (foolishly) swearing off the title of the Queen of Christmas; another, your 23-year-old Christmas song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is entering the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time. If Mariah won’t claim her throne, can she actually enjoy her chart achievement? And more importantly, what is she going to do with those tortoiseshell combs now that she has cut her hair???
It may seem unlikely given its status as a perennial favorite, but “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is just hitting the Top 10 now because of Billboard’s ever-shifting charting rules, which in previous incarnations didn’t allow songs without a physical single release or recurrent tracks to chart (the former rule being dropped allowed it to chart for the first time in 2000 but then it was kept off for years because of the latter rule). Since the integration of streaming data into the Hot 100, though, it’s been charting every year—last year it hit a career peak of No. 11.
And now it’s No. 9. And there’s still a week till Christmas. Who knows how far it will go? You know that all Mariah really wants for Christmas is her 19th No. 1. As it stands, though, “Christmas” is Mariah’s 28th Top 10 hit (she and Stevie Wonder are tied for having the 5th most Top 10s) and according to Billboard, “‘Christmas’ is believed to be the first song to have taken as many as 23 years from its recording to reach the Hot 100’s Top 10.” Also, weirdly enough: “Carey’s hit is, thus, the first Hot 100 top 10 with the word ‘Christmas’ in its title.”
All you wanted for Christmas is ephemeral chart facts. No need to thank me; being able to give is enough to warm my spirit.
