Mariah Carey dethrones Taylor Swift on the 'Billboard' Hot 100

Robert Kamau/GC Images

Christmas has returned to the Billboard Hot 100, with Mariah Carey ending Taylor Swift's six-week reign at #1.

Mariah's 1994 holiday smash "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has dashed to the top of this week's chart for the fourth straight time in recent years, making her the only artist to do so. The song previously topped the Hot 100 for multiple weeks in 2019, 2020 and 2021. 

The song also extends Mariah's record of being the artist with the longest span between her chart-topping runs. The singer first ruled the Hot 100 on August 4, 1990, with "Vision of Love," which means her songs have been consistently going to #1 for 32 years, four months and three weeks. In all, she is officially the first and only artist to lead the chart across four distinct decades.

This also means "Christmas" beats out all the other holiday songs for how long it has led the Hot 100. The song has now notched its ninth week at #1, which extends its lead from second-place finisher David Seville & the Chipmunks' "The Chipmunk Song," which ruled the chart for four weeks back in 1958.

For this latest chart-topping feat, fans streamed Mariah's hit 36.2 million times and purchased 6,000 additional copies over the past week. This also secures Mariah's 88th week overall leading the Hot 100, making her the artist with the most career weeks in the top spot.

Rihanna claims second place with 60 weeks atop the Hot 100.

Lastly, the return of "Christmas" to #1 notches Mariah's 19th Hot 100 leader overall, which puts her in striking range of tying — and possibly overtaking — the Beatles, who are the current record holders with 20 chart toppers.

Monday, December 12, 2022 at 2:30PM by Megan Stone Permalink