Merry Christmas is a holiday album by American singer Mariah Carey. Released in the United States on November 1, 1994 by Columbia Records, it is a holiday album featuring both cover versions and original material.
It was released at what was the peak of the initial stretch of Carey's career, between Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995). It subsequently went on to become the best-selling Christmas albums of all time, selling 17 million copies worldwide.[2] It was certified 5x platinum by the RIAA for shipments of 5 million copies in the U.S.[3] This album was re-released in 2005 in DualDisc format with bonus tracks and music videos.
Reception
Merry Christmas debuted at number 30 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with 45,000 copies sold in its first week; it peaked at number 3 in its fifth week with 208,000 copies, but its sixth week (when it was at number 6) was its most successful week of sales, with 500,000 copies sold. It remained in the top twenty for eight weeks and on the Billboard 200 for just thirteen weeks, but re-entered the chart three times; it peaked at number 149 the first time, at 115 the second and at 61 the third (it has spent a total of twenty-seven weeks on the Billboard 200). According to Billboard magazine, dated October 31, 2007, it is the 3rd best-selling Christmas album of the Nielsen SoundScan era, behind Kenny G's Miracles: The Holiday Album and Celine Dion's These Are Special Times'.[4]
Several singles were released from the album, but most were on a strictly promotional basis in the U.S. to help boost sales of the album. The first, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", was a radio airplay hit in the U.S. and sold well in countries where it was given a commercial release. The second, "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)" (whose music video was directed by Diane Martel) was less popular on U.S. radio, as was "Joy to the World" (which had been considered for a full single release), though the latter peaked at number 17 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play.[5] In December 1995, it reached also a top forty in Australia, peaking at number 33.[6] Fourth single "Jesus Born on This Day" was only promoted to Christian radio outlets in the U.S., and a video was not commissioned for it, though it was given a limited release in Sweden and some other markets. "O Holy Night" was released in 1996 as a promotional single for the album, and again in 2000 with a video accompanying it. Paul Wilson Gardon, a very close friend to Carey, was said to have influenced her to create a Christmas album.
Carey's former label Columbia re-released Merry Christmas on October 25, 2005. The anniversary edition is a DualDisc consisting of the original album with exclusive videos and two additional tracks, including "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (anniversary mix, remixed by Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox), which also appeared on a CD single with the DVD of the 1970s film Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town. The re-released Merry Christmas re-entered the U.S. Billboard Comprehensive Albums at number 136 and peaked at number 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Albums.
Adaptation
Carey is developing a movie musical based on her Christmas album. It's about a town outside a city - perhaps not unlike Carey's hometown of Huntington, New York - where a ruthless developer wants to turn it into one big mall. "Mariah doesn't want to let that happen," says her producing partner Benny Medina. "Her character uses song and love to keep the Christmas spirit alive."
Carey said the script, which High School Musical writer Peter Barsocchini is working on, is still in the early stages. But she told, "Since I recorded the Christmas album, I've always wanted to make a movie to go with it, something that people could watch and hear and enjoy every year. I'm into it. I'm all about the holiday season."[7]
Track listing
- "Silent Night" (Fr. Josef Mohr, Franz X. Gruber) – 3:41
- "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff) – 4:01
- "O Holy Night" (Adolphe Adam) – 4:27
- "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector) – 2:35
- "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)" (Carey, Afanasieff) – 4:32
- "Joy to the World" (George Frideric Handel, Lowell Mason, Isaac Watts, Hoyt Axton)
- "Jesus Born on This Day" (Carey, Afanasieff)
- "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (John Frederick Coots, Haven Gillespie) – 3:24
- "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Gloria in Excelsis Deo" (Charles Wesley, Felix Mendelssohn) – 3:01
- "Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child" (Traditional) – 4:26
- "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" (Traditional) – 1:18 (non-U.S. bonus track)
DualDisc version
CD
- "Silent Night"
- "All I Want for Christmas Is You"
- "O Holy Night"
- "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
- "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)"
- "Joy to the World"
- "Jesus Born on This Day"
- "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town"
- "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Gloria in Excelsis Deo"
- "Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child"
- "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"
- "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (anniversary mix)
DVD
- "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (anniversary mix)
- "All I Want for Christmas Is You"
- "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)"
- "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (So So Def remix featuring Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri)
- "Joy to the World" (celebration mix)
- "O Holy Night 2000"
- "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (black and white version)
- "Joy to the World" (live at St. John the Divine)
Chart performance
| Chart |
Peak
position |
Certification |
Sales/shipments |
| Australian Albums Chart[8] |
2 |
4x Platinum |
280,000[9] |
| Austrian Albums Chart[10] |
4 |
Gold |
25,000[11] |
| Canadian Albums Chart[12] |
21 |
Platinum |
100,000[13] |
| Dutch Albums Chart[14] |
4 |
Platinum |
100,000[15] |
| European Albums Chart[16] |
9 |
Platinum |
1,000,000[17] |
| Finnish Albums Chart[18] |
31 |
|
|
| French Albums Chart[19] |
21 |
|
|
| German Albums Chart[20] |
|
Gold |
250,000[21] |
| Hungarian Albums Chart[22] |
15 |
|
|
| Italian Albums Chart[23] |
2 |
2x Platinum |
200,000[24] |
| Japanese Albums Chart[25] |
1 |
2x million |
2,000,000[26] |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[27] |
10 |
2x Platinum |
30,000[28] |
| Norwegian Albums Chart[29] |
11 |
Platinum |
50,000[30] |
| Spanish Albums Chart[31] |
26 |
Gold |
50,000[32] |
| Swedish Albums Chart[33] |
4 |
|
|
| Swiss Albums Chart[34] |
4 |
Gold |
25,000[35] |
| UK Albums Chart[36] |
32 |
Gold |
100,000[37] |
| U.S. Billboard 200[38] |
3 |
5x Platinum[39] |
5,021,085[40] |
References
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Mariah Carey |
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| Video compilations |
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| Concert tours |
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| Selected filmography |
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| Related articles |
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