Christmas Songs 2016: Fun Facts About Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is arguably the most popular modern Christmas song. Since Nov. 2, the tune has steadily been one of the top streamed songs on the internet.

“All I Want For Christmas Is You” was downloaded 3.2 million times this season, Tech Times reported Dec. 3. Carey and co-writer Walter Afanasieff earned more than $50 million since its release. More, it’s the 11th-highest selling single of all time.

While singers typically produce holiday albums, it wasn’t the norm back in 1994 when Carey debuted her “Merry Christmas” record.

“Twenty years ago, Christmas music and Christmas albums by artists weren’t the big deal that they are today,” Afanasieff told Billboard in 2014.

He and Carey started to work on his Christmas album in 1993. “The first song we wrote was ‘Miss You Most (At Christmas Time).’ It was a ballad-y, sort of sad song,” he said. “And then we wrote a classical, sort of religious song called ‘Jesus Born on This Day.’”

Part of what helped make Carey’s song a sensation was her love for Christmas and knowledge of music history. “I listen to a lot of old R&B and I listen to a lot of gospel music for inspiration,” she said in 1994 interview that People Magazine unearthed Friday. “I also listen to the radio, and I know every song on the radio because I’m a fanatic about that.”

Carey even sings to song to her children, Morocco and Monroe. She shared a video to Instagram Thursday of Morocoo jamming to her famous hit. “Merry Christmas everybody! I'm making my favorite sauce and I hope you're enjoying the Yuletide cheer!” she captioned the clip. The post was viewed nearly 3 million times.

Even though she an ex-husband Nick Cannon split, they still celebrate the holidays together. “I think that’ll be something that we’ll always embrace as a family and as our families expand,” Cannon told People Magazine last month.

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