Mariah Carey has the most-played song of the holiday season.
Her 1994 recording “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” written with Walter Afanasieff, tops ASCAP‘s latest rankings of Yuletide tunes.
The producer and co-writer says, “From the very beginning, Mariah and I wanted to create music that would make listeners feel the same sense of nostalgia we all feel around the holiday season. And what started as a simple rock and roll melody on the piano, I’m so pleased to say, has topped this list once again and become a holiday classic.”
The rest of the Top 10 are all from the mid-’80s or earlier:
- “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Meredith Willson (1951)
- “A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Johnny Marks (1964)
- “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Johnny Marks (1958)
- “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Edward Pola and George Wyle (1958)
- “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” by Johnny Marks (1949)
- “Last Christmas” by George Michael (1984)
- “Jingle Bell Rock” by Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe (1958)
- “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne (1945)
- “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish (1948)
Some evergreens finished lower on the list:
- “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” ranks number-11.
- “Here Comes Santa Claus” stands 12th
- “White Christmas” is 13th
- “Feliz Navidad” by Jose Feliciano ranks number-17
- “Blue Christmas” — most closely associated with Elvis Presley — is now 21st.
- “Wonderful Christmastime” — the Paul McCartney song covered this year by The Monkees — is number-25.
Source: CS / CS
