True Story of How Mariah Carey Came Up With Her Iconic ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ Song is Like a Magical Movie Scene
- Mariah Carey reflect on her holiday season All I Want For Christmas is You song.
- Carey opens up about Grammys and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snubs.
- Maria Carey has reminded the fans that 'It's Time' for Holiday season.
One of the most influential singers of all time, Mariah Carey is referred to as Songbird Supreme by Guinness World Records. Popularly known as Queen of Christmas, the singer achieved international success with the release of her albums Music Box and Daydream. Carey starred in 2001’s Glitter, which unfortunately didn’t perform as expected, so she returned to music and the charts with The Emancipation of Mimi.
Mariah Carey’s diva personality and high-profile relationships have garnered widespread media coverage. But nothing comes close to the popularity she has received with her Christmas song, All I Want for Christmas Is You. It is the best-selling holiday single by a female artist of all time. In a recent interview, Carey goes on to share the story behind the song.
Mariah Carey shares the story behind All I Want for Christmas Is You
As the month changes from October to November, the Queen of Christmas declares that it’s time. Mariah Carey released All I Want for Christmas Is You in 1994 as a part of her fourth studio album, Merry Christmas. The song became one of the iconic holiday season songs, and every year in December, its popularity significantly rises.
In an interview with the NY Times, Carey shared the story behind the song and how she came up with it. She shared that she has always loved Christmas and had worked on arrangements for some of her favorite seasonal classics. She and her writing partner Walter Afanasieff filled their studio with decorations, trees, and light to write a seasonal song.
Carey continued that one night, after tapping on a small Casio keyboard, she came up with the melody of the song ‘Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding ding’ and started working on the lyrics. The singer, who wasn’t sure she was ready to make a Christmas album so early in her career, added,
I started thinking about: I don’t want a lot for Christmas.
Carey, in her 2020 memoir, wrote that she was determined to create her own little magical, merry world of Christmas. She noted that she focused on all the things her mother struggled to create, and all she needed was a shower of glitter and a full church choir to back her up. The singer mentioned that the little girl’s spirit was infused in All I Want for Christmas Is You.
The singer also went ahead to reflect on her status as Queen of Christmas, as she shared,
It’s really rewarding, and I’m just grateful and thankful for it and for all the people that come up and say, ‘I love your music’ or ‘I listen to your Christmas music in July’. That started to become a thing. I’ve always wanted to do this for my life, and so now we get to do it.
Mariah Carey began announcing ‘It’s Time’ with a festive video in 2019, reminding fans that Christmas is not that far away.
The song has more than 1.8 billion streams on Spotify and has spawned a second career for the artist. The singer noted that she was going for a timeless modern classic feel for the song.
Mariah Carey spills the tea on the Grammys snub
The Queen of Christmas recently sat down with Bowen Yang and Lam Matt Rogers for their Las Culturistas podcast, where she was asked about not receiving enough Grammy Awards. Carey has almost 19 songs that have reached the No. 1 spot, yet the Recording Academy has failed to acknowledge her contribution to a level they should have. Mimi said (via EW),
They scammed me. They toy with me.
Similarly, with the success Carey has had in the music industry, it’s hard to contemplate that she is still not included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Talking about the same to the Los Angeles Times, she said,
My thoughts are: I didn’t get in. Everybody was calling me going, ‘I think you’re getting in! And so I was excited about it. But then it didn’t happen. My lawyer got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before me.
She also went ahead to talk about the Grammys, stating that they gave her two Grammys when she first started, and the year she had six nominations, she didn’t win any. Carey added that there was nothing that she could do about it.
Recording Academy has not commented on the situation. But in the words of Mariah Carey herself, ‘It’s Time’. It’s November. Christmas is not that far away.
