Mariah Carey’s wish comes true as All I Want for Christmas Is You finally hits number one
Mariah Carey. (James Devaney/WireImage)
What can only be described as a Christmas miracle occurred Friday afternoon (11 December) after Mariah Carey achieved her decades-long dream as “All I Want for Christmas Is You” finally hit number one in the UK.
The festive tune hit the top of the Official UK Singles Chart for the first time in the 26 years since its release, said Scott Mills on BBC Radio 1’s The Official Chart.
“Happy Christmas UK! We finally made it!” she told the charts company.
“We are keeping the Christmas spirit alive together despite how dismal the year’s been. Love you always! ♥️ Joy to the world???!!!!”
Wish come true: @MariahCarey's All I Want For Christmas Is You claims Number 1 on the Official UK Singles Chart after a 26-year wait 👑 https://t.co/w8V47WjQTi
— Official Charts (@officialcharts) December 11, 2020
Mariah Carey, who actually invented the annual tradition of Christmas so she could release the song, previously implored her Twitter followers to “make it happen” in response to a super fan’s campaign to get the song to crack the number one spot.
Mariah Carey’s Christmas classic hitting number one was ‘long time in the making’, says Official Charts chief
It was buoyed to the top spot after notching up 10.8 million streams over the last seven days – the most streams in a week by any song in 2020 so far, according to Official Charts Company data.
The track first pierced into the top 100 in early November before sparring with Wham!’s “Last Christmas”, but ultimately knocking the George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley song to second place.
In achieving the commercial juggernaut that is a Christmas number one, Carey, never one to do the bare minimum, also made another record.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” spent 70 weeks in the Top 40 before ascending to number one – no other track ever released has done that in UK chart history.
“It’s been a long time in the making,” explained Official Charts Company’s chief executive Martin Talbot in a press release, “but it is fantastically apt for 2020 to be the year in which the British public finally take Mariah’s timeless festive classic all the way to the top of the Official Chart.
“What a fabulous, feel-good way to round off a challenging year for so many of us.”
