As Christmas music starts to creep its way on to radios across the country, Moncrieff examines the phenomenon that is ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.

The Mariah Carey single was released in November 1994 and has since taken over Christmas.

On Moncrieff, music journalist Jeffrey Ingold explained that the track actually wasn’t that successful when it was released 30 years ago.

“When ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ first came out it wasn't a hit, particularly to the standards that Mariah was used to,” he said.

“She had a handful of number one songs, basically, everything she did went top 10 but ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ barely cracked the top 20.

“Part of that was because, you know, doing Christmas songs early in your career wasn't really seen as the ‘done’ thing - it was sort of for older legacy acts.

“It took a little while for the song to sort of set in and rise in popularity.”

Mariah Carey performs at Beacon Theatre in New York City. Image: Alamy

Mr Ingold said he thinks this was down to “things that have happened in culture” but also “the way music habits have changed”.

He explained that in the ‘90s or early 2000s, the track wasn’t considered “a classic” like it is now.

“I think ‘Love Actually’ brought it back into people's homes in a way that reminded them how much they love the song,” he said.

“Also, people started watching ‘Love Actually’ year after year [and it] became a bigger and bigger sort of cult hit in the way that ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ sort of grew in that way.

“But then you also had things like being able to download music and so it wasn't just we were dependent on radio to tell us what to listen to.”

Mr Ingold thinks that streaming and playlists have had a huge effect on the track.

“In the mid 2010s you had streaming and playlists, and then you were able to curate the music that you wanted,” he said.

“’All I Want For Christmas Is You’ started placing higher and higher on these playlists and then you also had Mariah really start leaning into the moniker of being the sort of ‘Queen of Christmas’.

“She did a duet with Justin Bieber, she did one with Michael Buble, she's had two Christmas specials - no one has worked harder on making ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ a big song than Mariah has.”

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Mr Ingold said Mariah Carey’s marketing of the song has really helped the track gain popularity.

“For years there's been this sort of internet meme going around where there would be Mariah and a block of ice - people would start posting it in September or October, saying ‘she's defrosting’,” he said.

“Her team in 2019 started seeing that and then posted the first video of her declaring on November 1st saying, ‘It's time’.

“So, she really took on the role of being the person to say, ‘Okay, here's the holiday season’, and the song itself lends itself to that, because it has that really long introduction.

“You know, when you're around people and the song starts, everyone just sort of stops and everyone just starts smiling and starts singing along. 

“It puts you in suspense, then it's so exciting when the sort of drums hit and you're like, ‘It's Christmas time’."

The track has hit number one a few times in the UK and Europe but Mr Ingold noted that “basically every year since 2019” the song has gone to number one in the US around Christmas.

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Main image: Closeup of Mariah Carey merry christmas album. Image: Alamy