Everything You Need to Know About 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' By Mariah Carey
— -- Throughout her decades-long career, Mariah Carey has been nominated for more than 400 awards, including 34 Grammys.
However, ask anybody to name their favorite hit by the celebrated singer, and nine out of ten people will give the same answer: "All I Want for Christmas Is You," from her holiday album, "Merry Christmas."
"Christmas has always been my favorite time of year and every year at Christmas, I wish I could hear my own songs on the radio and I just started writing some of the Christmas originals," she told Entertainment Tonight in 1994. "When you record a Christmas album, it's around for the rest of your life. It's something that people can play for years and years to come, so I just like the idea of that."
Her album, and its hit single, became instant classics, and this year, turn 20 years old. Here are a few other things you may not have known about the hit single.
1. It's Carey's biggest international hit: "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has reportedly sold more than 14 million copies worldwide, making it one of the biggest singles, ever. It's gone platinum in Denmark, Italy, and the U.K., and double platinum in Japan, Australia and the U.S.
2. It's not the best-selling Christmas song, however: Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" remains the top-selling single of all time, with 50 million copies sold.
3. It's currently a chart-topper: Right now, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is currently sitting at the top of the Billboard Holiday 100.
4. To some stars, it's a classic: Ready to feel old? "All I Want for Christmas Is You" predates Olympian Gabby Douglas, Oscar nominees Abigail Breslin and Hailee Steinfeld, actress Chloë Grace Moretz and reality TV stars Kendall and Kylie Jenner.
5. The lyrics are... Most people know most of the words to the song, though there is one part that many people mutter because it's tough to understand. For the record, here are the lyrics: "And everyone is singing/I hear those sleigh bells ringing/Santa, won't you bring me the one I really need?/Won't you please bring my baby to me?"
6. It's been covered a lot: Perhaps most famously, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was featured on the "Love Actually" soundtrack, with actress Olivia Olson singing the holiday anthem. However, it's also been performed by John Mayer, Shania Twain, Lady Antebellum, and Cee Lo Green, Michael Bublé, and the "Glee" cast have covered it for holiday albums.
7. The song has more than one video: Carey directed two videos for the song. One is made to look like a series of home videos and features a visit from Santa Claus, played by her then-husband, Tommy Mottola, while in the other, Carey dresses as a 1960s singer.
