Ever since November 1, 1994, when Mariah Carey’s fourth studio album and first Christmas album Merry Christmas was released, the single “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has remained a classic all around the world. According to the New York Post , as of 2013 the song earned up to $50 million in royalties . But this holiday season, for the first time in two decades, the Christmas tune is no longer the most-played Christmas songs in retail stores.
Paste reports that Mariah Carey’s uptempo Christmas love song has lost its No. 1 spot to The Shins’ cover of Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.” Carey’s song comes in at No. 2 and Christina Aguilera’s “Christmas Time” is in third place. However, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” remains at the top spot in Billboard’s Holiday 100 , followed by Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” at No. 2 and Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)” at No. 3. “Classics and covers tend to reign supreme,” PlayNetwork Director of Music Services Julia Cummings said in a recently released statement. “The songs themselves transcend demographics, which is why we see the same titles more than once but performed by different artists.”
The company PlayNetwork works with 400 brands to put together their playlists for their individual stores. They have compiled a list that ranks the most-played songs in retail stores for shoppers, and below are the top ten songs.
1) The Shins “Wonderful Christmastime” 2) Mariah Carey “All I Want For Christmas Is You” 3) Christina Aguilera “Christmas Time” 4) Waitresses “Christmas Wrapping” 5) Jack Johnson “Someday At Christmas” 6) Kelly Clarkson “Underneath The Tree” 7) Michael Buble “A Holly Jolly Christmas” 8) Bing Crosby “White Christmas” 9) Train “What Christmas Means To Me” 10) Ella Fitzgerald “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
Earlier this week, Mariah Carey seemed to be in a cheerful mood when she arrived to the second night of her Christmas show in New York City at the Beacon Theatre. “Can’t wait to start my run at the The @beacontheatre? TONIGHT!!!,” she tweeted the day before her second show. Carey will continue to show just how much she loves the holidays this year, by directing and starring in the upcoming Hallmark film, A Christmas Melody , in which she plays the story’s villain. “I did it for the love of just doing it,” she says. “It was a great experience. I hope people want to sit down and watch it with their families during the Christmas season. I love Christmas. Christmas is a big time of year for me.”
A Christmas Melody centers on divorced mother and fashion designer Kristin (played by Lacey Chabert) who returns to her Ohio hometown with her young daughter Emily (played by Fina Strazza), a budding songwriter who performs a Christmas song. Mariah Carey plays Melissa, Kristin’s rival and the PTA president. A Christmas Melody will premier on December 19, and following the film will be a Christmas special in which Carey will sing “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” with an additional performance from R&B artist Babyface.
Mariah Carey has also written a Christmas book named after her famous Christmas hit song, a book which her 4-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan like. According to Carey, the book is about a little girl, she revealed in an interview with People .
“She wants a puppy. My kids saw it on the table and they loved it. They can’t read yet, but they love the pictures. When I wrote it, it was everything about what I love about Christmas. It kind of brought me back to where I was when I first wrote the song. I really enjoyed that. When I wrote All I Want For Christmas Is You it was my dream for it to become a classic Christmas song. I am so proud of the song’s impact as it continues to create memories for fans each year. I am thrilled to be able to bring the story of the song to new generations of families with the picture book.”
[Photo by D Dipasupil/Getty Images]
