Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" created yet another major holiday moment Tuesday night (December 17) when the pop star joined forces with a New York City icon to literally light up the city.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of her Merry Christmas album and its smash single - which currently reigns in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart - Carey, in a sparkling platinum dress that perfectly matched her surroundings, stopped by the Empire State Building to flip the switch to the top of the legendary skyscraper for on a brand new music-to-light show with "All I Want for Christmas Is You" at the heart of it.
Designed by Marc Brickman, the lights of the NYC landmark will correspond with the notes of her holiday hit - which will play simultaneously on iHeartMedia New York's Z100, Power 105.1, 103.5 KTU and 106.7 Lite FM starting at 8 p.m. from Thursday through Christmas Day.
"Each year, the Empire State Building partners with iHeartRadio to celebrate the holiday season with a spectacular LED music-to light show," said Jean-Yves Ghazi, the President of the Empire State Building observatory, said by way of Carey's introduction. "This year, we're delighted to be syncing our tower of lights and counting down to Christmas with this holiday classic that's also celebrating reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 on its 25th anniversary."
Billboard's Editorial Director Hannah Karp and senior director of charts (Billboard Hot 100, Pop, Adult), Gary Trust were also on hand to celebrate the occasion and present Carey with an award for her most recent Billboard chart accomplishment.
"Topping the Billboard charts is nothing new for Mariah: until this week, she had had 18 songs reach No. 1 on our Hot 100 chart, which is more than any other female solo artist," said Karp. "But it's extremely rare for a Christmas song to top the Hot 100, and it's equally tough to crack the Christmas market with an original tune that can outsell or outstream traditional carols."
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 25 years after its initial release; it had previously broken into the top 10 in 2017 and rose as high as No. 3 in 2018, and Carey is elated to add this particular song to her collection of No. 1s.
"We definitely wanted to kick it into high gear this year with the song to celebrate the 25th anniversary, but I definitely didn't expect it to hit No. 1 two weeks before Christmas!" she told Billboard shortly after hearing the news on Monday. "I just want to thank everybody. I want the world to have the best holiday ever."
(Billboard)
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