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Why Mariah Carey & Brenda Lee Compete For No.1 During Christmas | Billboard Explains
Billboard
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1 year ago
Billboard explains why Mariah Carey and Brenda Lee compete for No.1 on the Hot 100 with their Christmas classics "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" during the holiday season.
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00:00
It's the battle between the Christmas Queens,
00:02
Mariah versus Brenda.
00:04
Every holiday season, Mariah Carey and Brenda Lee
00:07
battle it out for the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
00:10
But how did these two Christmas classics
00:12
become the top song?
00:13
And what's the story behind this holiday competition?
00:16
This is Billboard Explains Mariah Carey and Brenda Lee's
00:19
battle for the Christmas throne.
00:21
There are many holiday classics
00:23
that are in rotation every December.
00:25
Wham's Last Christmas, Bobby Helms' Jingle Bell Rock,
00:28
and Burl Ives' A Holly Jolly Christmas,
00:31
just to name a few.
00:32
But two songs are always fighting for the number one spot
00:35
on the Hot 100.
00:37
Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You.
00:39
âȘ All I want for Christmas is you âȘ
00:43
And Brenda Lee's Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree.
00:46
âȘ We're rockin' around the Christmas tree house âȘ
00:50
So how did we get here?
00:51
Let's go back to the beginning.
00:53
Nearly 14-year-old Brenda Lee released
00:54
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree in 1958,
00:57
and it debuted on the Hot 100 dated December 12, 1960.
01:01
The song originally peaked at number 14 two weeks later,
01:04
but it reentered the Hot 100 decades later
01:07
during the 2013-2014 holiday season.
01:10
It first hit the top 10 during the 2018-2019 holiday,
01:13
and spent nine weeks at number two
01:15
during the 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 holidays.
01:19
Right behind Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You.
01:23
Speaking of Mariah, All I Want for Christmas is You
01:25
first appeared on the Billboard charts in 1994,
01:28
and it hit the Hot 100's top 10
01:30
for the first time in December 2017.
01:33
It reached number one on the Hot 100
01:35
for the first time in 2019,
01:37
and has continued to dominate
01:38
every holiday season since then.
01:40
But that all changed in 2023
01:42
when Brenda's Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
01:44
finally reached the number one spot
01:46
and spent three weeks at the top,
01:48
while Mariah's Carol led for two weeks last holiday season.
01:51
But what is it about these two songs
01:53
that keeps the battle going every Christmas?
01:55
With the rise of streaming and curated holiday playlists,
01:58
these two tracks are always staples on those lists,
02:00
which helps bring them back to the chart every year.
02:03
Plus, radio, airplay, and sales are always strong
02:05
for both songs, among many other seasonal standards
02:08
over the holiday.
02:10
But the stars play into the fun too.
02:12
Mariah has her viral It's Time videos.
02:14
It's time!
02:18
While Brenda filmed a music video
02:19
for her classic hit last year,
02:21
and even joined the world of TikTok to promote the song.
02:24
Regardless of why these two songs
02:26
are the songs of the holiday season,
02:28
we can't get enough of these two Christmas queens.
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