Chart Beat
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ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” tops the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts for a ninth week apiece. The song debuted as the stars’ second leader on each list.
Plus, six seasonal songs light up each chart’s top 10.
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The Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts, which began in September 2020, rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.
Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.
“APT.” rules the Global 200 with 142 million streams and 18,000 sold (down 4% week-over-week in each metric) worldwide Dec. 13-19. The hit now claims nine of the top 10 global streaming weeks among songs released in 2024:
224.5 million, “APT.,” ROSÉ & Bruno Mars, Nov. 2
207.5 million, “APT.,” Nov. 9
176.8 million, “Fortnight,” Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone, May 4
162.2 million, “APT.,” Nov. 16
160.6 million, “APT.,” Dec. 7
149.9 million, “APT.,” Dec. 14
147.7 million, “APT.,” Dec. 21
146.4 million, “APT.,” Nov. 23
142 million, “APT.,” Dec. 28
132.7 million, “APT.,” Nov. 30
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” keeps at No. 2 on the Global 200. Released in 1994, the song has spent a record 18 weeks at No. 1 dating to the chart’s start (five each over the 2023 and 2022 holidays and four in both the 2021 and 2020 holiday seasons).
Five other carols rank in the Global 200’s top 10: Wham’s “Last Christmas” (No. 3), Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (No. 5), Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” (No. 6) all hold in place, followed by Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (10-9) and Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” (11-10). The songs have hit respective Nos. 2, 2, 4, 5 and 6 highs.
Plus, Lady Gaga and Mars’ “Die With a Smile” is steady at No. 4 on the Global 200, following eight weeks at No. 1, the most for any song this year, beginning in September. It drew 125.6 million streams (up 4%) worldwide in the latest tracking frame and has tallied over 100 million streams globally in each of the last 16 weeks, the longest such streak since the chart began.
“APT.” concurrently tops Global Excl. U.S. with 124.9 million streams (down 4%) and 12,000 sold (up 1%) outside the U.S. Dec. 13-19.
“Die With a Smile” repeats at No. 2 on Global Excl. U.S.. following eight weeks at No. 1 starting in September; Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is steady at No. 3, having spent a record-tying 13 weeks at No. 1; Wham’s “Last Christmas” holds at No. 4, after reaching No. 2; and Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” is stationary at No. 5, following three weeks at No. 1 in August.
Meanwhile, four more holiday hits decorate the Global Excl. U.S. top 10: Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (8-7), Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” (9-8) Sia’s “Snowman” (10-9) and Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (11-10). The songs have reached highs of Nos. 3, 5, 4 and 5, respectively.
The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Dec. 28, 2024) will update on Billboard.com Tuesday, Dec. 24. For both charts, the top 100 titles are available to all readers on Billboard.com, while the complete 200-title rankings are visible on Billboard Pro, Billboard’s subscription-based service. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
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.
Two modern original holiday hits each dash merrily into the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time: Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me,” released in 2014 (14-9), and Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree,” from 2013 (15-10). Both songs previously peaked at No. 11 last holiday season.
“Santa Tell Me” totaled 27.7 million official streams (up 17% week-over-week), 8.9 million in radio airplay audience (up 3%) and 1,000 sold (up 12%) in the U.S. Dec. 13-19, according to data tracker Luminate. “Underneath the Tree” rang up totals of 28.4 million streams (up 19%), 9.2 million in radio reach (up 16%) and 2,000 sold (down 1%).
(Despite higher raw streaming totals for “Underneath the Tree,” “Santa Tell Me” ranks higher on the Hot 100 and the Streaming Songs chart due to the application of weighting to all titles’ paid/subscription and ad-supported on-demand streams and programmed/radio streams.)
Grande notches her 22nd career Hot 100 top 10, and her third this year, following two No. 1s: “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” in March, and “Yes, And?” in January. She first hit the top 10 with her debut entry, “The Way,” featuring Mac Miller (No. 9, June 2013).
Clarkson posts her 12th Hot 100 top 10 and first since “Piece by Piece” hit No. 8 in March 2016. The inaugural American Idol winner soared in with her debut coronation anthem “A Moment Like This,” which led for two weeks in October 2002.
Reflecting that contemporary traditions have a home during the holidays, “Santa Tell Me” becomes the most recently released seasonal song to reach the Hot 100’s top 10, while “Underneath the Tree” is the second-newest. Prior to this week, Kenny G boasted the most recently released holiday top 10: His take on “Auld Lang Syne,” released at the end of 1999, hit No. 7 in the Y2K holiday season. (A mix including news clips of noteworthy 20th century events added to the original instrumental’s reach.)
Mariah Carey’s 1994 carol “All I Want for Christmas Is You” – at the Hot 100’s highest bough for a 17th total week at No. 1 – is the only other holiday song from the ‘90s to have hit the top 10. New Kids on the Block’s “This One’s for the Children,” from 1989, is now the fifth most recently released holiday-themed top 10, having risen to No. 7 that Yuletide season.
The other seasonal songs that have reached the Hot 100’s top 10 were released between 1946 (Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song [Merry Christmas to You]”) and 1984 (Wham!’s “Last Christmas”). The bulk of holiday hits that have hit the top 10 have done so this decade, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists.
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 Dec. 28, 2024) will update on Billboard.com Tuesday (Dec. 24). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter and Instagram.
Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a 17th total week. The song solely gives Carey her longest career command on the chart, surpassing the 16-week No. 1 run of her “One Sweet Day,” with Boyz II Men, in 1995-96.
The carol, which leads the Hot 100 for a third consecutive week this holiday season, also solely claims the third-longest domination in the chart’s 66-year history, after only the 19-week rules of Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” this year and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, in 2019. Three other songs, including “One Sweet Day,” have led for 16 weeks each.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” additionally leads the Streaming Songs chart for a record-breaking 21st total week, besting “Old Town Road” for the longest No. 1 stay dating to the survey’s 2013 start.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” was originally released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in November 1994 and, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists, it hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in December 2017, and the top five for the first time in the 2018 holiday season. It led at last, prior to the past three weeks, over the holidays in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two), 2021 (three), 2022 (four) and 2023 (two).
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” became Carey’s 19th Hot 100 No. 1, the most among soloists and one away from The Beatles’ overall record 20. It also made Carey the first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the chart in four distinct decades (1990s, 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s).
Meanwhile, two fellow original holiday hits, released in the 2010s, hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time: Ariana Grande “Santa Tell Me,” from 2014 (14-9), and Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree,” from 2013 (15-10). Both songs previously peaked at No. 11 last holiday season. Notably, “Santa Tell Me” becomes the most-recently-released holiday song to have reached the Hot 100’s top 10, while “Underneath the Tree” is the second-newest.
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 Dec. 28, 2024) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 24). For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
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
It’s the season of giving, and the ARIA Charts are delivering plenty of musical cheer. Taylor Swift and Rosé are unwrapping some major milestones just in time for the holidays.
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Swift continues her record-breaking year at the top of the ARIA Albums Chart, while Rosé holds strong at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, with Christmas classics also shaking up the scene. Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department is unstoppable, spending its eighth consecutive week at No. 1 on the Albums Chart. It marks 18 weeks in 2024 that Taylor has ruled the ARIA charts across multiple albums, including 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Midnights, and Lover.
That’s right—she’s managed to outdo even herself, beating her 17-week streak from 2023.
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Adding to the excitement, Stray Kids storm in at No. 4 with their mixtape Hop. With Aussies Felix and Bang Chan leading the charge, the K-pop superstars prove they’re a force to be reckoned with, following the success of last year’s 5-Star.
Meanwhile, Michael Bublé’s Christmas makes its festive return, climbing back into the top 10 at No. 9, because let’s face it—Christmas isn’t complete without Bublé crooning in the background.
On the Singles Chart, Rosé and Bruno Mars’ smash hit “APT.” is showing no signs of slowing down, claiming its seventh non-consecutive week at No. 1. With just one more week, it could tie Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste” as 2024’s longest-running No. 1 single. And speaking of holiday magic, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” rockets from No. 8 to No. 3. The Queen of Christmas does it again, with her timeless anthem on track for another festive chart takeover.
Holiday cheer continues to sprinkle across the charts. Wham!’s “Last Christmas” jingles its way up to No. 7, while Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” cracks the top 10 at No. 10.
Not to be left out, Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” rises to No. 14, and Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” climbs to No. 18, proving that the season of giving is also the season of charting. Lola Young shakes things up with her breakout hit “Messy,” which leaps from No. 18 to No. 6, marking the U.K. singer’s first top 10 in Australia.
As Stray Kids’ new album HOP debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Dec. 28), they become the first act to debut at No. 1 with their first six charting albums. The Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March of 1956. Stray Kids previously debuted atop the chart […]
Stray Kids score their sixth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart as HOP debuts atop the list dated Dec. 28. It’s the sixth leader for the group, making the pop ensemble the first act to debut at No. 1 with its first six chart entries in the nearly 69-year history of the chart. The Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956.
Stray Kids previously opened atop the chart with ODDINARY and MAXIDENT (both in 2022), ROCK-STAR and 5-STAR (both in 2023) and ATE (earlier in 2024).
Further, with a sixth No. 1, Stray Kids tie BTS, Linkin Park and Dave Matthews Band for the most No. 1s among groups on the Billboard 200 in this century (since 2000).
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HOP arrives with 187,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 19, according to Luminate, largely driven by traditional album sales.
Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200, Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas jingles back to the top 10 for a seventh consecutive holiday season, as the 1994 release climbs 14-10. The set, which contains the Billboard Hot 100-topping “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” peaked at No. 3 in 1994.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Dec. 28, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday, Dec. 24. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of HOP’s 187,000 first-week equivalent album units, album sales comprise 176,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart), SEA units comprise 10,000 (equaling 14.83 million on-demand official streams of the sets songs) and TEA units comprise 1,000.
HOP’s album sales were bolstered by its availability across seven different CD variants, all containing collectible items such as photocards, posters, stickers and trading cards (including some randomized items), with variants exclusive to Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart and the act’s official webstore. Of the album’s 176,000 album sales, CD sales comprise 171,000, while digital download albums comprise 5,000.
Previously, Stray Kids were tied with late rapper DMX as the only acts to see their first five chart entries debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. DMX did it in 1998-2003 with It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998), Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood (1999), …And Then There Was X (2000), The Great Depression (2001) and Grand Champ (2003).
As HOP is mostly in the Korean language, it is the 27th mostly non-English-language album to hit No. 1, and the fourth of 2024. Three other mostly-Korean-language sets topped the chart earlier this year, all by also debuting at No. 1: On the Nov. 30-dated list, ATEEZ landed its second leader with Golden Hour: Part.2; on the Aug. 3 chart, Stray Kids’ ATE arrived; and on the March 9 chart, TWICE notched its first leader in With YOU-th. Of the 27 mostly non-English-language albums to reach No. 1, 18 are mostly Korean, five mostly (or all) Spanish, one mostly Italian, one entirely French and two mostly a blend of Spanish, Italian and French. Of the 27 mostly non-English-language albums to reach No. 1, 23 have topped the chart since 2018 (the year that K-pop superstars BTS scored their first of six No. 1s, the chart’s first Korean-language leaders).
The rest of the Billboard 200’s top five comprises former No. 1s: Kendrick Lamar’s GNX is a non-mover at No. 2 (100,000 equivalent album units earned; down 20%), Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department falls 1-3 (85,000; down 65%), Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet steps 5-4 (69,000; down 9%) and Michael Bublé’s Christmas climbs 7-5 (68,000; up 10%).
The most recently released holiday album in the top 10 is Bing Crosby’s Ultimate Christmas compilation, which ascends two spots to a new peak at No. 6 (65,000 equivalent album units; up 15%). The Wicked film soundtrack falls 6-7 (nearly 65,000; down 13%), Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft rises 9-8 (62,000; up 11%) and Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess climbs 11-9 (56,000; up 12%).
Closing out the top 10 is Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas, rising 14-10 with 56,000 equivalent album units earned (up 22% with a 10,000 unit gain — the largest unit increase on the chart). The set returns to the top 10 for a seventh consecutive holiday season. It peaked at No. 3 during its initial chart run in 1994, shortly following its release that year.
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.
Koe Wetzel and Jessie Murph’s “High Road” travels a spot to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Dec. 28). In the Dec. 13-19 tracking week, the duet increased by 20% to 33.6 million audience impressions, according to Luminate.
“High Road” is the first Country Airplay entry for the 32-year-old Wetzel from Pittsburgh, Texas, as well as for Huntsville, Ala., native Murph.
Wetzel notches the first No. 1 for a freshman Country Airplay entry since Marshmello led with his Kane Brown collab “Miles on It” in November. (Brown banked his 12th leader with the song.) DJ/producer Marshmello previously tallied four No. 1s on Dance/Mix Show Airplay, among leaders on other charts.
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As for the 20-year-old Murph, she becomes the first woman to top Country Airplay as a lead artist with a rookie entry since April 2020, when Gabby Barrett’s “I Hope” dominated for two frames.
Murph is only the second female artist to rule Country Airplay in 2024, with both having led this month, after Ella Langley’s “You Look Like You Loved Me,” with Riley Green, spent a week on top two weeks earlier.
“This year’s been absolutely insane,” Wetzel tells Billboard. “For Murph and I to get our first No. 1 at country radio on top of everything else feels unreal. I poured my heart into this, and seeing it connect the way it has … man, I don’t even have the words. Huge love to Jessie for making ‘High Road’ what it is.”
Murph and Wetzel co-wrote “High Road” with Amy Allen, Carrie K, Josh Serrato, Gabe Simon and Laura Veltz. It’s from Wetzel’s album 9 Lives, which became his fourth top 10 on Top Country Albums when it opened at its No. 5 best in August. It’s also on Murph’s That Ain’t No Man That’s the Devil, which arrived at its No. 24 high on the all-genre Billboard 200 in September.
2 ‘Guy’s for the Top 10
Post Malone’s “Guy for That,” featuring Luke Combs, hits the Country Airplay top 10 (11-10; 16.3 million, up 11%).
Post Malone adds his third top 10 on the chart, following two straight leaders: “Pour Me a Drink,” featuring Blake Shelton (three weeks, October) and “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen (four, beginning in June).
Combs rings up his 22nd Country Airplay top 10. His “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” became his 19th chart-topper in September.
“Guy for That” is the third single from Post Malone’s introductory LP in the genre, F-1 Trillion, which entered at No. 1 on the Aug. 31-dated Top Country Albums tally and the Billboard 200 with 250,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States.
After being featured in the fourth season of CBS series Ghosts, 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up?” is No. 1 on Billboard’s Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind, for November 2024.
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Rankings for the Top TV Songs chart are based on song and show data provided by Tunefind and ranked using a formula blending that data with sales and streaming information tracked by Luminate during the corresponding period of November 2024.
“What’s Up?” reigns after a synch in the fourth episode of season four of Ghosts, premiering Nov. 7. It’s Ghosts’ only appearance on the 10-position November 2024 tally, and it comes via 8.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 2,000 downloads in November, according to Luminate.
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The 4 Non Blondes classic peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1993, the Linda Perry-fronted band’s only U.S. hit on that chart.
A quintet of songs from Netflix’s Arcane dots Top TV Songs, paced by Stromae and Pomme’s “Ma Meillure Ennemie,” which ranks at No. 2 thanks to 14.4 million streams and 1,000 downloads, all coming in the final week of the year after its episode’s Nov. 23 premiere.
Arcane debuted its second and final season three years after the runaway-hit original; it was premiered in three three-episode blocks, beginning on Nov. 9 and ending with the final three episodes on Nov. 23.
“Ma Meillure Ennemie” became the first song from both artists to reach the Hot 100, debuting at No. 95 on the Dec. 7 tally and reaching a peak of No. 69 the following week.
Woodkid’s “To Ashes and Blood” (No. 7; 8.4 million streams, 1,000 downloads), Twenty One Pilots’ “The Line” (No. 9; 7.1 million streams, 1,000 downloads) and Marcus King’s “Sucker” (No. 10; 6.2 million streams, 1,000 downloads) join Stromae and Pomme on the November 2024 Top TV Songs chart.
See the full top 10, also featuring music from The Irrational, Special Ops: Lioness, The Sex Lives of College Girls, Fire Country and St. Denis Medical, below.
Rank, Song, Artist, Show (Network)1. “What’s Up?,” 4 Non Blondes, Ghosts (CBS)2. “Ma Meilleure Ennemie,” Stromae & Pomme, Arcane (Netflix)3. “I’m Good (Blue),” David Guetta & Bebe Rexha, The Irrational (NBC)4. “Summer Breeze,” Seals & Crofts, Special Ops: Lioness (Paramount+)5. “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl,” Chappell Roan, The Sex Lives of College Girls (MAX)6. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Fire Country (CBS)7. “To Ashes and Blood,” Woodkid, Arcane (Netflix)8. “Intergalactic,” Beastie Boys, St. Denis Medical (NBC)9. “The Line,” Twenty One Pilots, Arcane (Netflix)10. “Sucker,” Marcus King, Arcane (Netflix)
The latest iteration of Billboard’s Top Movie Songs chart, powered by Tunefind (a Songtradr company), for November 2024 gets into the holiday spirit thanks to the Christmas flick Red One, with Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” reigning at No. 1.
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Rankings for the Top Movie Songs chart are based on song and film data provided by Tunefind and ranked using a formula blending that data with sales and streaming information tracked by Luminate during the corresponding period of November 2024. The ranking includes newly released films from the preceding three months.
“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is part of a holiday-themed soundtrack from Red One, which stars Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans and Lucy Liu, plus J.K. Simmons as Santa Claus. Concurrent with usual gains sustained by holiday music each November, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” rules the chart via 80.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 4,000 downloads in November 2024, according to Luminate.
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Red One, released Nov. 15, boasts three songs on the 10-position chart in all. Dean Martin’s rendition of “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” ranks at No. 3 (48.1 million streams, 2,000 downloads), and Mariah Carey’s version of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” appears at No. 6 (11.3 million streams, 1,000 downloads).
Another movie released in November snags three spots on the chart, too: music from the theatrical adaptation of Wicked, which came out on Nov. 22. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s rendition of “Defying Gravity” leads the trio at No. 2, tallying 23.1 million streams and 11,000 downloads in November (despite being available for just two weeks of the tracking month). Grande’s “Popular” (No. 4; 20.8 million streams, 5,000 downloads) and the cast version of “No One Mourns the Wicked” (No. 5; 12.6 million streams, 1,000 downloads) also appear.
Music from Venom: The Last Dance, which topped the October 2024 chart via Maroon 5’s “Memories,” round out the top 10 as the Oct. 25 film continued its theatrical release.
See the full top 10 below.
Rank, Song, Artist, Film1. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Brenda Lee, Red One2. “Defying Gravity,” Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande, Wicked3. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!,” Dean Martin, Red One4. “Popular,” Ariana Grande, Wicked5. “No One Mourns the Wicked,” Ariana Grande feat. Andy Nyman, Courtney Mae-Briggs, Jeff Goldblum, Sharon D. Clarke & Jenna Boyd, Wicked6. “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” Mariah Carey, Red One7. “Dancing Queen,” ABBA, Venom: The Last Dance8. “Don’t Stop Me Now,” Queen, Venom: The Last Dance9. “Memories,” Maroon 5, Venom: The Last Dance10. “Space Oddity,” David Bowie, Venom: The Last Dance
It’s as predictable as the crazed sprint to the mall for that last clutch of gifts on Dec. 23. The annual Billboard chart showdown between the two undisputed queens of Christmas music: Mariah Carey and Brenda Lee.
There a dozens of holiday classics, new and old, to choose from at this time of year, from Wham!’s “Last Christmas” to Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” and Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas.” But when it comes to the top spot, there are really only two songs that keep jostling for the No. 1 slot on the Hot 100 at this most festive time of year: Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
Since you’ll be hearing a lot of those songs in the next week, let’s look at how we got to this annual tradition.
Lee released her song in 1958 when she was just 14 years old, with the track debuting on the Hot 100 singles chart on Dec. 12, 1960, originally peaking at No. 14 two weeks later, only to re-enter the Hot 100 after several decades during the 2013-2014 holiday season. “Rockin’” didn’t make it into the top 10 until 2018-2019 frame, then spent nine weeks at No. 2 on the singles tally in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 .
What kept the 80-year-old singer out of the top spot? Carey, of course.
“All I Want” — which appeared on Carey’s debut Christmas album, 1994’s Merry Christmas — first hit the Billboard charts in 1994, but didn’t crack the top 10 on the Hot 100 until December 2017. It finally reached the No. 1 spot in 2019 and has absolutely dominated every holiday season since.
Well, except for 2023, when Lee’s “Rockin’” finally shot to No. 1 on the Hot 100, spending three weeks at the apex of the chart, while Carey’s song led for two weeks that year, marking just the third holiday song ever to reach the top of the chart; the other one is “The Chipmunk Song” by the Chipmunks with David Seville, which spent four weeks at No. 1 in December 1958.
So in an era when dozens of new Christmas albums and songs flood the zone in search of classic standing, what explains the strength of Carey and Lee’s anthems? The rise of streaming and curated holiday playlists, as well as strong radio airplay and sales has helped both tracks become annual staples. It also helps that both singers have leaned into the virality of their hits, with Carey filming her popular “it’s time” teaser clips every year and Lee filming a music video for hers last year as well as joining TikTok to promote it.
No matter which one is your favorite, enjoy the season and keep rockin’ around the Christmas tree!
Watch Billboard Explains: Mariah Carey and Brenda Lee’s Battle for the Christmas Throne in the video above.
After the video, catch up on more Billboard Explains videos and learn about Peso Pluma and the Mexican music boom, the role record labels play, origins of hip-hop, how Beyoncé arrived at Renaissance, the evolution of girl groups, BBMAs, NFTs, SXSW, the magic of boy bands, American Music Awards, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, the Hot 100 chart, how R&B/hip-hop became the biggest genre in the U.S., how festivals book their lineups, Billie Eilish’s formula for success, the history of rap battles, nonbinary awareness in music, the Billboard Music Awards, the Free Britney movement, rise of K-pop in the U.S., why Taylor Swift is re-recording her first six albums, the boom of hit all-female collaborations, how Grammy nominees and winners are chosen, why songwriters are selling their publishing catalogs, how the Super Bowl halftime show is booked and more.