Holiday songs hang atop the Billboard Hot 100's two highest boughs for the first time in the chart's history, as Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" leads the list for a second week and Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" rises from No. 3 to No. 2, reaching a new peak.
Carey's carol also breaks its own record for the biggest streaming week ever for a holiday song: 54.4 million U.S. streams in the week ending December 19, according to Nielsen Music.
Meanwhile, a record-tying four seasonal songs rank in the Hot 100's top 10, as Burl Ives' "A Holly Jolly Christmas" climbs 10-6 for a new high and Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" rolls 15-9.
Beyond that sleighful of holiday hits, Post Malone earns his first No. 1 on the Radio Songs chart with his former Hot 100 leader "Circles", now at No. 3 on the latter list, and Lil Uzi Vert's "Futsal Shuffle 2020" launches at No. 5 on the Hot 100.
The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming, radio airplay and sales data. All charts (dated December 28) will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (December 24).
Carey's "Christmas", on Columbia/Legacy Records, tops the Streaming Songs chart for a third consecutive week, and fourth total frame (after a week at No. 1 last holiday season), up 19% to 54.4 million U.S. streams in the week ending December 19, according to Nielsen Music. The total is the best weekly sum ever for a holiday hit, surpassing the 51.9 million that the song drew last season (January 5, 2019).
"Christmas" drops to No. 7 on Digital Song Sales after its second week at No. 1 (following a week on top in 2005), down 44% to 15,000 sold in the week ending December 19. (For two days in the prior tracking week, ending December 12, Carey sold CD singles of "Christmas" on her website, available for pre-order with consumers receiving a download upon purchase.)
On Radio Songs, "Christmas" surges 27-14, gaining by 26% to 42.9 million in all-format airplay audience in the week ending December 22, as it wins the Hot 100's top Airplay Gainer award.
Originally released in 1994 on Carey's album Merry Christmas, the modern classic reached the Hot 100's top 10 at last in December 2017 and rose to its prior No. 3 high last holiday season, before topping the tally for the first time last week and becoming only the second holiday No. 1 ever on the Hot 100, joining The Chipmunks' "The Chipmunk Song" (with David Seville), which ruled for four weeks in 1958-59.
Among other feats achieved last week with the Hot 100 coronation of "Christmas", Carey collected her 19th No. 1, extending her record for the most among soloists and moving to within one of The Beatles' record 20. This week, she adds her record-extending 81st career week at No. 1 and extends the longest span of Hot 100 No. 1s for any artist: 29 years, four months and three weeks, dating to her first frame at No. 1 on the chart dated August 4, 1990, with "Vision of Love".
Additionally last week, Carey became the fourth artist with Hot 100 No. 1s in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, joining Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Usher. No act has ever logged time at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in four distinct decades, consecutively or otherwise; thus, if "Christmas" is No. 1 on the chart next week (dated January 4, 2020), Carey would become the first artist to achieve the honor. (A new video for "Christmas", released Friday, December 20, will help the song's fortunes on next week's charts.)
Carey's "Christmas" concurrently tops the streaming-, sales- and airplay-based Holiday 100 chart for a 39th total week, of the 44 overall frames in the chart's history, dating to its 2011 inception.
Meanwhile, Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" pushes 3-2 on the Hot 100, marking a new high; it entered the top 10 for the first time last holiday season, over 58 years after it debuted on the chart.
The chestnut is the third-highest-charting holiday hit in the Hot 100's 61-year archives, as holiday songs rank in the top two spots simultaneously for the first time:
Highest-charting holiday songs in the Hot 100's history
No. 1, two weeks to-date, December 21, 2019, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", Mariah Carey
No. 1, four weeks, beginning December 22, 1958, "The Chipmunk Song", by The Chipmunks with David Seville
No. 2, December 28, 2019, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", Brenda Lee
No. 6, December 28, 2019, "A Holly Jolly Christmas", Burl Ives
No. 7, January 8, 2000, "Auld Lang Syne", Kenny G
No. 7, January 6, 1990, "This One's for the Children", New Kids on the Block
No. 8, January 5, 2019, "Jingle Bell Rock", Bobby Helms
No. 9, February 21, 1981, "Same Old Lang Syne", Dan Fogelberg
No. 10, December 29, 2018, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", Andy Williams
Notably, for several years (1963-72; 1983-85, barring occasional exceptions), holiday songs were ineligible to chart on the Hot 100, instead appearing on separate holiday rankings. This decade, seasonal songs have proven strong in streaming, further helping spark some of the highest peaks for Yuletide tunes in the chart's entire history.
"Rockin'" likewise rises 3-2 on Streaming Songs (45.3 million, up 22%), aided by a new animated music video. It ascends 34-33 on Radio Songs (27 million, up 3%) and 38-30 on Digital Song Sales (6,000, up 5%).
Originally released in 1958, "Rockin' " first appeared on the Hot 100 dated December 12, 1960. Last week, when it dashed 8-3, it completed the longest climb ever to the top five from a song's bow: 59 years and nine days.
Meanwhile, two other holiday hits scale the Hot 100's top 10: Burl Ives' "A Holly Jolly Christmas" reaches a new high, lifting 10-6, and Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" gallops 15-9. The quartet of Christmas songs in the current Hot 100's top 10 ties for the merriest such week ever, as the same four songs shared space in the region on the January 5, 2019-dated chart.
Just beyond the Hot 100's top 10, Wham!'s 1984 classic "Last Christmas" hits the top 20 for the first time, jingling 26-17 and surpassing its prior No. 25 peak, set last holiday season. The duo (which comprised George Michael, who died on Christmas Day in 2016, and Andrew Ridgeley) scores its seventh top 20 hit and its highest rank since "The Edge of Heaven" reached No. 10 in August 1986. (Michael last ranked in the top 20 solo with his No. 8 hit "Fastlove" in 1996.)
(Billboard)
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