The holiday classic leads for a 22nd frame.

12/29/2025

Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” shines atop the Billboard Hot 100’s highest bough for a record-extending 22nd week, leading a record parade of holiday hits from the top of the chart on down. Seasonal songs claim the top 24 positions on the survey, surging past the prior mark of carols taking Nos. 1-16 a year ago this week (on the chart dated Jan. 4, 2025).

Helping the haul of holiday songs, the latest chart’s data tracking period encompassed the week leading up to and including Christmas Day (Dec. 19-25).

Three weeks earlier, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” returned to No. 1 on the Hot 100 to rule in a record-extending seventh holiday season. It was released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in November 1994 and, as streaming grew and holiday music became more prominent on streaming services’ playlists, it first hit the top 10 in December 2017 and the top five in the 2018 holiday season. It led at last, prior to its four weeks this season, over the holidays in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two), 2021 (three), 2022 (four), 2023 (two) and 2024 (four). (Older holiday songs are eligible to appear on the chart each season.)

Below is a rundown of the upper reaches of this week’s very merry Hot 100.

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations. All charts (dated Jan. 3, 2026) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow, Dec. 30. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. Plus, for all chart rules and explanations, click here.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard_, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published._

• ‘Christmas’ Streams, Airplay & Sales

  “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” on Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings, drew 70.6 million streams (up 62% week-over-week) and 38.3 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 37%) and sold 5,000 downloads (up 45%) in the U.S. Dec. 19-25, according to Luminate.

  The single holds for a record-extending 26th week atop the Streaming Songs chart; pushes 15-6 for a new high on Radio Songs, outperforming its prior No. 7 best; and rises 5-3 on Digital Song Sales, following six weeks on top.

• Carey No. 1 in a 22nd Year

  With the latest Hot 100 dated Jan. 3, 2026, Carey has now placed at No. 1 in a record-extending 22 distinct years (per chart dates), encompassing her 19 leaders: 1990-2000, 2005-06, 2008 and, thanks to “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” 2019-26.

  That’s more than double the totals of, next up, five acts that have each spent time atop the Hot 100 in 10 individual years:

  • Paul McCartney/Wings (1971, 1973-76, 1978, 1980, 1982-84; additionally, The Beatles, with him as a member, led in seven years: 1964-70)
  • Beyoncé (2003, 2006-09, 2017-18, 2020, 2022, 2024; plus, Destiny’s Child, with her as a member, ruled in three years: 1999-2001)
  • Michael Jackson (1972, 1979-80, 1983-84, 1987-88, 1991-92, 1995; also, The Jackson 5, with him in the group, led in 1970)
  • Taylor Swift (2012, 2014-15, 2017, 2020-25)
  • Madonna (1984-87, 1989-92, 1995, 2000)

• Hits With the Most Weeks at No. 1

  

  Image Credit: Denise Truscello/Getty Images

  Here’s a recap of the seven longest-leading No. 1s dating to the Hot 100’s Aug. 4, 1958, start. Carey is the only artist with two entries on the elite list. (All seven songs have led since the chart adopted electronically monitored Luminate data in November 1991, with longer commands, and stays on the chart, subsequently more common.)

  • 22 weeks, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey, 2019-26
  • 19, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey, 2024
  • 19, “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, 2019
  • 16, “Last Night,” Morgan Wallen, 2023

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