How much money does 'All I Want for Christmas...' earn Mariah Carey every year?

Another year comes to an end, the lights on the tree appear, and, like every year, there's the tireless repetition of Mariah Carey's hit, 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'.

Even though Wham! finally made it as Christmas number 1 in the UK in 2023 with their classic 'Last Christmas', Mariah Carey's song has been the protagonist for years during the Christmas season.

Millions of people put it at the top of their lists time after time. But how much money does the performer earn from her millions of views every year? We'll tell you!

Mariah Carey's classic was released on October 29, 1994. Soon, in 2024, it will celebrate 30 years of continuous success.

'All I Want for Christmas Is You' has become a Christmas anthem that year after year generates Mariah Carey large royalties from which she can live peacefully for the rest of the year. But how much are the earnings for the millions of reproductions?

According to information published by 'The Economist', the performer receives an estimated 2.5 million dollars every year from royalties generated by the same song.

Forbes supports this estimate. In fact, the renowned publication claims that the artist earns up to a total of 3 million dollars a year for the single. We should say that the artist has an entire Christmas repertoire, but no other single generates this much profit.

'All I Want for Christmas Is You' is part of the performer's fourth studio album titled 'Merry Christmas'. The song was written by Mariah Carey herself, together with Walter Afanasieff.

According to an article published by the New York Post, in those years, Mariah Carey was not in the mood to record a Christmas album. It was a custom that old artists resorted to and she was just 24 at the time. However, her ex-husband, Tommy Mottola, convinced her to do it.

To further surprise, the publication claims that it took Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff only 15 minutes to write the successful song.

Carey's love for her then-husband was so great that she wrote the song about him. In addition, few know that in the official video of the song, Tommy Mottola is the person who appears dressed as Santa.

As the years went by, Mariah Carey's love interests changed but the success of 'All I Want for Christmas' grew. For example, in 2009, the song won the record for the most-used ringtone in the world during Christmas, exceeding two million sales.

Artists such as Justin Bieber, Dave Rodgers, Shania Twain, My Chemical Romance, Miley Cyrus, Michael Bublé, and Ariana Grande have covered the classic song. Yet, none have managed to repeat Carey's degree of success.

Even though the song sounds mostly during the Christmas season, it generates royalties for the artist throughout the year. 'The Economist' estimates that, up to 2017, Carey managed to amass more than $60 million in royalties.

To these 60 million, we should still add the royalties the performer received from 2017 to the present. And from the way things have been going so far, we can already imagine the sum.

Since 2017, Mariah Carey's song has positioned itself in the best positions on the Billboard Hot 100 list.

In 2017 she entered the top 10 of the Hot 100, and in 2018 she repeated the feat, placing herself among the top five.

What's more: from 2019 to 2022, the single managed to conquer the first place on the coveted list. Mariah Carey is going down in music history as one of the most listened-to artists worldwide.

Celebrity Net Worth, which dedicates itself to estimating the fortunes of great celebrities, claims that Mariah Carey's assets amount to $350 million in 2024. This figure places the singer at number 11 on the list of best-selling musical artists of all time.

Once Christmas comes near, Mariah Carey begins to star in commercials, movies, television shows, events, and all kinds of commercial agreements that increase her fortune.

In 2010, a British farmer claimed that his goats produced more milk after listening to Mariah Carey's famous Christmas hit on loop.

On the verge of turning 30, it is clear to us that 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' will continue to be a cash cow for Mariah Carey!