For many, once the clock hits 12 a.m. on November 1, it’s officially Christmastime. And although we know not everyone agrees on when the right time is to start playing Christmas music (hey, we’re not looking to start any fights right now!), you’d be hard-pressed to miss Mariah Carey‘s 1994 hit song “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” the self-proclaimed song of the holiday season, once Thanksgiving comes into view.
Even if you aren’t a year-round “lamb” — the name for Mariah Carey’s fanbase — a good majority of us can’t resist getting into the spirit once you hear those first few notes. With its returning popularity year after year, it might have you wondering — how much does the R&B singer make when “All I Want For Christmas”, which she co-wrote and co-produced with Walter Afanasieff, sneaks its way into the topped streamed songs list? Here’s everything we know.
The 54-year-old, who has an estimated net worth of $340 million, is rumored to earn a whopping $2.5-3 million a year from annual royalties alone for the song each year. It’s not confirmed the exact amount, but according to Forbes, calculations from The Economist put the figure closer to $2.5-$2.6 while The New York Post estimates the figure sits around $3 million. However, Forbes reports that that’s in addition to the “$60 million in royalties the singer had received when the song was first released nearly three decades ago in 1994.” She also has accumulated more money, although the figure is unknown, from the song due to sponsorship opportunities, her holiday-themed merchandise, specials, concerts, book and animated film all tied to the hit.
According to Forbes, the song has become one of the “most covered modern Christmas pop songs,” with Mariah even re-recording a version with Justin Bieber for his Christmas album “Under the Mistletoe” back in 2011.
Although it’s too early to pull any streaming numbers for this year, according to the VerizonSpecials 2022 report, the duet with Justin was the most popular song searched across the United States, and the original was the top streamed Christmas song, with a total of 1,161,889,962 streams with “White Christmas” coming in well behind with only 321,281,974 streams. That said, Bing Crosby‘s “White Christmas” actually beats out the well-known Mariah ballad by being the “highest selling festive tune” with an estimated 50 million copies, followed by his version of “Silent Night” at 30 million copies with “All I Want For Christmas Is You” finally making an appearance at number 3 with 16 million in sales — still making it the 12th highest selling single ever. It is thanks to streaming services that Mariah takes the cake in the “most played” category.
According to People, last year the “Queen of Christmas” received a $20 million lawsuit over the song, when she was sued for copyright infringement by Andy Stone and Troy Powers, who co-wrote Vince Vance & the Valiants’ country song “All I Want For Christmas Is You” back in 1989. The suit was quickly dropped a few months later but this year, the two have refiled the suit, alleging that Mariah copied his original song, which received big radio play a year before Mariah released hers. There has been no comment from Mariah or her team, and no update on whether the suit is moving forward.
This holiday season, Mariah kicked off her second Merry Christmas One and All! Tour in California, which gives her fans the experience of hearing more of her holiday music live in person. She’s going across the country for 13 performances that are “exclusive Christmas concerts,” according to the press release, hitting cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto and Philadelphia. It will wrap in New York City at Madison Square Garden on December 17.
She also just performed the fan favorite at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards earlier this week on November 19 where she was honored with the Billboard Chart Achievement Award. It was the first time she has ever performed the holiday single at an awards show.
