Artist Of The Month: Mariah Carey Says “Merry Christmas II You”
Mariah Carey "Merry Christmas II You" Island Def Jam Music Group
Mariah Carey’s New Holiday Release Merry Christmas II You
Island Def Jam Music Group 2010
(Written In October 2010)
In addition to traditional yuletide fare – “The First Noel,” “Little Drummer Boy,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “O Come All Ye Faithful” and more – MERRY CHRISTMAS II YOU also contains four original songs composed by Mariah, including the new single, “Oh Santa,” and many more surprises for the fans. Producers on the new album include American Idol’s Randy Jackson, multi-platinum hit-making producer Jermaine Dupri, James Poyser (acclaimed producer for Aretha Franklin, The Roots, Lauryn Hill and more), and five-time Oscar nominee and Grammy/Tony/Emmy award winning composer Marc Shaiman.
Since it was first released, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” written by Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff, has become one of the essential musical hallmarks of the holiday season, and continues to set sales records each year. The song hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Recurrents chart every year from 2005 to 2008. After ringtones began to be charted in 2006, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” hit #1 for the next three consecutive holiday seasons. It became the first seasonal Mastertone to be certified RIAA gold (2006) and RIAA platinum (2007), and is ranked as the top-selling seasonal ringtone of all-time.”All I Want For Christmas is You” was the featured single from MERRY CHRISTMAS, which has sold over 12 million to date.
Three years later, Mariah surpassed Elvis when “Touch My Body” (from E=MC²) became her 18th #1 Hot 100 hit. “Touch My Body” spent two weeks at the top, Mariah’s 78th and 79th cumulative career weeks at #1, which tied Elvis’ long-standing all-time high of 79 weeks at #1, as calculated by Billboard. Mariah is now positioned as the only active recording artist in the 50 years of the Hot 100 (which began in 1958) with the potential to surpass the Beatles’ all-time high of 20 #1 hits. The success of E=MC² brought total sales of Mariah’s albums, singles and videos to more than 200 million worldwide, distancing her even further from the pack as the top-selling female recording artist in history.
