This holiday season may look a little different, but one cornerstone of the festive time remains: Mariah Carey.
The undisputed Queen of Christmas returns to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the second year in a row, with her holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas is You.” The No. 1 hit was originally released in 1994, and topped the Hot 100 chart for the first time last year.
The song’s ascent back to No. 1 follows the release of Mariah’s new Christmas special, which debuted on Apple TV+ on Dec. 4. Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special features appearances from Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Billy Eichner, Snoop Dogg, and Jermaine Dupri, as Tiffany Haddish narrates the story of Carey being recruited by Santa Claus to help solve a "holiday cheer crisis."
The special was accompanied by its own soundtrack, including new and remixed holiday tracks from Carey like “Oh Santa!” featuring Grande and Hudson. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Oh Santa!” briefly topped Apple Music’s charts, before “All I Want for Christmas Is You” took the No. 1 spot.
More than accolades, Carey hoped her special would bring Christmas joy to everyone after this difficult year.
"I know that for me, there's a certain spirit that happens during that time of year. I was even thinking about it the other day, sitting around wondering, why is it different for me when I look at Christmas decorations or decorate? But it is. There’s just a different feeling that I get. It's like an actual, tangible feeling that comes over me that I just want everybody to feel this happy," she told THR. "I know everybody can’t, but I wish that everybody could have the mindset of let’s really make it through. Let’s be unstoppable and power through this."
