Mariah Carey has made $60 million-plus in royalties off ‘All I Want for Christmas’

The post has already been viewed more than 26 million times. Fans are signaling that they agree with Carey and can’t wait for some holiday cheer, Mariah-style. But they also recognize there’s money to be made from dominating the Christmas business.

Carey has aimed to position herself as the “Queen of Christmas” and has even tried to trademark that label. This year, she has a holiday tour planned that launches Nov. 15 in Highland, Calif., and continues through Dec. 17, when she has a show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

But it wasn’t necessarily destined to be this way. “All I Want for Christmas” debuted in 1994, when it appeared on Carey’s first holiday album, but it has only become a seasonal juggernaut in recent years.

In the U.S., the song didn’t crack Billboard’s Hot 100 chart until 2000. And it didn’t become a No. 1 hit until 2019 — some 25 years after its initial release.

It has also surged on streaming media in recent years, with one report estimating it has earned Carey at least $60 million in streaming royalties.

The eventual success of the song has come as a bit of a surprise — or at least that’s what Walter Afanasieff, who co-wrote the ditty with Carey, once told Billboard. “To think of it as a single that’s going to No. 1, that’s going to drive an album … we didn’t have an inkling of that,” he said.

Carey has also seemingly been surprised by all the fuss. “I’m just a person who likes Christmas, OK? Who happened to write some songs,” she said in a 2017 interview with the Hollywood Reporter.