Mariah Carey Announces ‘Merry Christmas’ Anniversary Album with New Songs
The iconic diva and Christmas reina Mariah Carey just announced that in honor of the 25th anniversary of Merry Christmas she’s releasing a two-CD deluxe anniversary edition
Photo: Instagram/mariahcarey
The iconic diva and Christmas reina Mariah Carey just announced that in honor of the 25th anniversary of Merry Christmas she’s releasing a two-CD deluxe anniversary edition.
The bonus disc features a 1994 live set from New York’s Cathedral of Saint John the Divine along with remixes and a new rendition of “Sugar Plum Fairy.” Despite the enduring success and popularity of the album’s most famous single “All I Want for Christmas is You,” it’s not a number one hit though it’s her biggest selling single ever. Last year the single reached it’s highest standing on the Billboard chart at No. 6 and became the highest-charting Billboard Hot 100 holiday hit in 60 years.
“The genius of Mariah doing this type of rock-and-roll feel is that she created a lyric that is probably to this day the only love song — Christmas love song — that I even know about, let alone in that tempo,” Walter Afanasieff said, who co-wrote the song with her. “I think that’s really the reason, besides it being Mariah Carey doing it.”
The track unofficially ushers in the holiday season and every year it tops the list of most-streamed holidays songs and is officially the most-downloaded holiday single of all time. According to Tech Times, it’s the 11th-highest-selling single of all time. The song has been a financial gift for the Queen of Christmas, earning her more than $60 million in royalties with no sign of stopping. The track became the singer’s 28th top-10 single in the U.S., tying her for the seventh-most such hits with the legendary Stevie Wonder.
“I’m a very festive person and I love the holidays. I’ve sung Christmas songs since I was a little girl. I used to go Christmas caroling,” Carey said, People reports. “I wrote it just out of love for Christmas and like really loving Christmas music,” she added in 2015.
In 2003 the song was prominently featured in the now-iconic Christmas film, Love Actually, which only revived its popularity and reinforced her status as The Christmas Songstress. In 2017 she debuted Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, an animated film based on the 2015 children’s book the same name that focuses on a young Mariah in search of a holiday puppy. She produced and narrates the film which costars Henry Winkler and Lacey Chabert.
“The crazy thing about it is, every year it tends to increase in popularity,” Carey said in a 2017 interview with Billboard. “I’m very thankful that people seem to still have an attachment to it. It makes me feel good when people tell me that it’s part of their lives.”
The deluxe album is available for preorder now and is set to be released Nov. 1 and fans can visit her website for exclusive merchandise.
“This song just continues to surprise me,” Mariah said.
