Mariah Carey already held the record for the most weeks spent at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but she has put it even further out of anyone else’s grasp by claiming a 93rd week on top, thanks to “All I Want for Christmas” continuing its annual reign again this week.
The song is No. 1 on the Hot 100 for the second straight week, after it ceded its usual recent spot atop the chart to Brenda Lee‘s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” for two weeks in the first part of December.
Of Carey’s 93 weeks on top, 14 of those have been with her Christmas tune, counting this latest addition. The current Hot 100 includes data for the chart week that ended Dec. 21 — meaning Carey has a strong shot at being on top again on the next chart, too, given that it will include results for four more days leading up to and including Christmas.
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” the 1958 Lee tune that has recently been the only serious competiton to Carey’s 1994 track, sits comfortably at No. 2 on the Hot 100, just like last week. Lee’s classic did maintain bragging rights to being No. 1 on a different Billboard chart this week, though, Streaming Songs — indicating that fans of holiday music have a slight preference for the Lee song as what they want to hear on-demand, even as radio programmers gave in to Carey’s inevitable week-before-Xmas dominance.
Nine out of the top 10 tunes were holiday fare — the only non-seasonal exception being Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me” at No. 6.
Beyond Carey and Lee in the top two spots, other holiday holdovers included Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” at No. 3, followed by Wham!’s “Last Christmas” at No. 4, Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas” at No. 5, Andy Williams’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” at No. 7, Dean Martin’s “Let It Snow” (x3) at No. 8, José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” at No. 9 and the Ronettes’ “Sleigh Ride” at No. 10.
Billboard points out that the Ronettes’ 60-year-plus span between first and most recent top 10 hits has set a record for a group, surpassing even the Beatles’ 59-year span.
Billboard further reminds the world that Carey’s “Christmas” never reached No. 1 until five Christmas seasons ago, 15 years after its first release; it has reached the summit every year since. Its peak streak during a single season came last year, when it reigned at No. 1 for four weeks.
