Mariah Carey’s ‘Queen of Christmas’ Crown Is Worth Far More Than the Royalties
All I Want for Christmas Is You, her perennially popular song, is part of a Yuletide empire.
Illustration: George Wylesol for Bloomberg Businessweek
It seems to be an accepted fact that Mariah Carey is the Queen of Christmas. There are her Apple TV+ Christmas specials and the Mariah Carey Holiday Collection of collectibles. McDonald’s has the Mariah Menu in the 12 days leading up to Dec. 25. And, of course, there’s her ubiquitous holiday hit, All I Want for Christmas Is You.
There was no coup in which she and a battalion of elves stormed the mythical kingdom of Christmas to seize the crown. Instead it’s the product of a multiyear media and public-relations campaign that capitalized on the streaming music wave to seed the idea that Carey is, miraculously, our Yuletide monarch.