Mariah Carey tells Billboard she 'never anticipated' the success of her hit holiday track All I Want For Christmas Is You: 'I didn’t expect it to hit No. 1'
Her Christmastime classic turned 25 this year.
But Mariah Carey has admitted she 'never anticipated' the success All I Want For Christmas Is You has enjoyed over the past two-and-a-half decades.
'I definitely didn’t expect it to hit No. 1 two weeks before Christmas,' said the 49-year-old songstress in an interview with Billboard this week.
New interview: Mariah Carey has admitted she 'never anticipated' the success All I Want For Christmas Is You has enjoyed over the past two-and-a-half decades
With the throwback track hitting top spot on the charts, it represents Mariah's first Billboard number one since 2008's Touch My Body.
And Mariah thanked her fans in the interview, saying 'I just want to thank everybody. I want the world to have the best holiday ever.'
However the 1994 Christmas hit regularly tops Billboard's Holiday 100 chart, peaking for 38 of the seasonal chart’s 43 weekly editions since it launched in 2011.
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Carey also spoke about her how proud she was that All I Want For Christmas Is You recently broke Spotify’s record for the most streamed track in a 24-hour period.
'I think that’s very important,' Carey told Billboard, 'because people want to say, "She’s a physical [albums] artist. She doesn’t understand or know [streaming]. It’s a different business."'
'Then why did the song break the record for most streamed song within one day?'
Stepping up: 'I definitely didn’t expect it to hit No. 1 two weeks before Christmas,' said the 49-year-old songstress in an interview with Billboard this week
The mother-of-two also spoke about how 'grateful' she was that the 2003 film Love Actually helped boost the popularity of the Christmas hit.
'The curious thing about that is that [the movie] happened before the song was as big as it is,' said Mariah.
'So the Love Actually moment, I’m actually very grateful for it because I think it did help the song reach an even greater audience.'
'But I also think the song has taken on a life of its own that I had never anticipated.'
She's back! With the throwback track hitting top spot on the charts, it represents Mariah's first Billboard number one since 2008's Touch My Body
Grateful: Mariah thanked her fans in the interview, saying 'I just want to thank everybody. I want the world to have the best holiday ever'
Meanwhile, Christmas 2019 is shaping up to be a particularly special one for the Fantasy hitmaker.
On Wednesday, Carey took to Instagram to gush about 'what an amazing week this has been.'
Alongside a montage of photos from the past few days, Mariah listed 'a sold out show... a super festive tour-wrap party... #AllIWantForChristmasIsYou hitting #️⃣1️⃣ on the @billboard Hot 100, ⚡️flipping the switch at the @empirestatebldg and taking over the @latelateshow!!!'
'Christmas truly did come early this year, but it's really just the beginning! New music video debuts tomorrow night! ahhh!!! #excited #MC25.'
Celebrating: Christmas 2019 is shaping up to be a particularly special one for Mariah and on Wednesday, she took to Instagram to gush about 'what an amazing week this has been'
The pop superstar has a Billboard Hot 100 number one with All I Want For Christmas 25 years after she first released the track.
It's Mariah's first number one single since 2008's Touch My Body.
She's also just wrapped a sold out series of Christmas concerts off the back of her successful residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and flipped the switch to light up the Empire State Building in New York City on Tuesday night.
And on Tuesday, the Queen of Christmas, as she's been dubbed, took over The Late Late Show with James Corden.
In the spotlight: Mariah has a Billboard Hot 100 number one with All I Want For Christmas 25 years after she first released the track and took over CBS' The Late Late Show Tuesday night
Festive: She performed the song Oh Santa from her 2010 Merry Christmas II You collection to the delight of The Late Late Show studio audience
Oh Santa: The hitmaker was accompanied by child dancers and backing singers in white. On Sunday, she wrapped up her All I Want For Christmas Is You Tour at Madison Square Garden
She performed the song Oh Santa from her 2010 Merry Christmas II You collection to the delight of The Late Late Show studio audience.
She was accompanied by four child dancers and three backing singers in white as well as a pianist.
The high energy festive appearance came two days after Mariah, 49, wrapped up her 2019 All I Want For Christmas Is You Tour with a final performance at New York's Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
Queen of Christmas: Also on Tuesday, Mariah had flipped the switch to light up New York's Empire State Building
Thankful: In her Instagram post on Wednesday, she listed all the things that had make the past week 'amazing'
On Thursday, Amazon Music posted a short video in which Mariah talks about why the festive season is so important to her and how she created her famous holiday song.
'I have such an emotional connection to Christmas,' she explained. 'And it wasn't about the gifts.'
'It was just about the hopefulness of the holiday season and just feeling, like, in the spirit, and the need for me to express myself and make a song that made me feel happy at the holidays,' she said.
'It's grown in popularity over the years, and that's the thing that's amazing to me about this song,' she added.
Mariah will likely be heading to Aspen, Colorado, soon where she traditionally spends Christmas each year with her eight-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan, whom she shares with ex-husband Nick Cannon.
She will resume her Vegas residency in February.
Holiday: Mariah will likely be heading to Aspen, Colorado, soon where she traditionally spends Christmas with twins Monroe and Moroccan, whom she shares with ex-husband Nick Cannon
