USA TODAY International Edition

Mariah talks ‘ All I Want For Christmas’ at 25

- Patrick Ryan

On Friday, “All I Want For Christmas is You” celebrates its 25th anniversar­y, marking a quarter- century since Mariah Carey gifted us what’s inarguably one of the best Christmas songs ever written. ❚ But according to the pop legend, it’s as if no time has passed at all.

“It’s so funny, somebody was just asking me, ‘ What were you doing 25 Christmase­s ago?’ ” says Carey, 49. “I would probably say somebody was giving me a bottle and they were singing me a sweet lullaby Christmas tune. Because I was just 1 year old! ...

“It’s very much like I live in the land of the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus,” she adds wryly. “I don’t acknowledg­e time; I don’t know what it is. I rebuke it!”

At 25, ‘ All I Want For Christmas is You’ is bigger than ever

Much like Carey herself, “All I Want For Christmas is You” seems ageless. Taken off the five- time Grammy winner’s “Merry Christmas” album, which was re- released Friday as a two- disc deluxe edition, the ubiquitous holiday anthem is one of the best- selling singles of any genre, with 16 million copies sold worldwide since 1994.

The song has amassed more than 550 million views on YouTube for its wintry home movie- style video and nearly 510 million plays on Spotify. Last Christmas Eve, it broke Spotify’s then- record for the most- played song in 24 hours with 10.8 million streams.

On the singles charts, “All I Want” only continues to grow: Early this year, it reached a new peak of No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first holiday song in nearly 60 years to crack the Top 5, according to Billboard.

“The song is already beloved for how fun it is, but I think the internet has lifted it to cult status in a way that

no other Christmas song could ever touch, past or present,” says Abby Hamblin, an engagement editor at the San Diego Union- Tribune.

Should it finally hit No. 1 this holiday season, “I would be thrilled,” Carey says. “I wanted it to feel like a classic, but I didn’t know that it was going to actually become a classic. I say that humbly because Christmas music is something that’s really special to me, so to see the song’s popularity grow over the years has been something that’s been kind of amazing. I couldn’t have expected it.”

Inspired by her childhood and love of all things Christmas

Coming off the success of her 1993 third album “Music Box,” which was No. 1 for eight non- consecutiv­e weeks, Carey’s team came to her with the idea of recording a holiday album.

“Originally, I was like, ‘ This is a little bit too early in my career to do a Christmas album,’ ” she says. “I didn’t understand why it was being suggested to me.”

But she decided to give it a shot. Sharing a home with then- husband Tommy Mottola in upstate New York at the time, she recalls sitting alone at a keyboard one day and starting to play what would soon become “All I Want.”

“I really started with thinking, ‘ What are all the things I think about at Christmas?’ Lights, presents, stockings, fireplaces,” Carey says. “I’ve always loved Christmas so much my entire life, but I grew up not having a lot of money and not being able to experience it like the other kids did. I wanted Christmas to be perfect, but for a lot of different reasons, it didn’t always end up working out well, coming from such a dysfunctio­nal family. So I think when I wrote it, I just put every ounce of longing for that perfect moment in it.”

By the time she went into the studio with co- writer and producer Walter Afanasieff, she had laid out everything but the song’s bridge. “I wrote the melody and lyrics; he played and did additional writing, which is great, but it’s my baby,” she says.

She’s ringing in the holidays with 10 Christmas concerts and a family vacation

Carey will commemorat­e the anniversar­y with five holiday shows at Las Vegas’ Colosseum at Caesars Palace starting Nov. 22.

She will then play a series of East Coast concerts beginning Dec. 7 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, continuing in Washington, D. C.; Uncasville, Connecticu­t; Boston; and New York.

“The Christmas shows are super- festive,” Carey says. “I make it snow on stage – it’s an extravagan­za.”

Afterward, she’ll head to Aspen, Colorado, with son Moroccan and daughter Monroe, 8, her twin children with exhusband Nick Cannon. There, they typically enjoy skiing, sleigh rides, decorating ornaments and watching some of Carey’s favorite holiday movies, which include classics such as “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer.”

The undisputed Queen of Christmas goes to great lengths to make the holidays special for her kids, even arranging face- to- face time with Santa Claus to deliver their presents.

“Listen, Santa comes and visits us every year in a sleigh with real reindeer,” Carey says with a laugh. “If you don’t think I of all people know Santa, then I don’t know who does.”

 ?? DENNIS LEUPOLD ?? Mariah Carey is marking the anniversar­y of “Merry Christmas.”
DENNIS LEUPOLD Mariah Carey is marking the anniversar­y of “Merry Christmas.”
 ?? SAMIR HUSSEIN/ WIREIMAGE ?? Mariah Carey, with children Moroccan Cannon and Monroe Cannon, speaks on stage during her "All I Want For Christmas is You" tour.
SAMIR HUSSEIN/ WIREIMAGE Mariah Carey, with children Moroccan Cannon and Monroe Cannon, speaks on stage during her "All I Want For Christmas is You" tour.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States