Weekly Chart Notes: Mariah Carey, Beach Boys, Lou Reed
CAREY ON: With the help of an artist who was less than a year old when the song was originally released, Mariah Carey returns to the Billboard Hot 100 with an update of "All I Want for Christmas Is You."
Justin Bieber (born March 1, 1994) and Carey's duet of the song, parenthetically titled the "Superfestive!" version, arrives at No. 86 on the chart, as Bieber's seasonal set "Under the Mistletoe" becomes the first album by a male artist to launch at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
The original "Christmas" reached No. 12 on Radio Songs and No. 6 on Adult Contemporary in the 1994 holiday season. (Chart rules at the time prevented the non-commercially-available single from appearing on the Hot 100 that year).
Last week in New York, Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber shot the forthcoming video for their new version of "All I Want for Christmas Is You," which Carey first made a solo smash in 1994.
With the bow, Carey notches her 44th Hot 100 hit. Her prior visit was likewise Yuletide-themed: "Oh Santa!" spent a week at No. 100 last holiday season. (Before that, "Up Out My Face," which marked the second Hot 100 appearance for guest Nicki Minaj, also tallied a lone week at the chart's anchor position).
Here is an updated count of the women with the most charted titles, and their career chart spans, in the Hot 100's 53-year history:
73, Aretha Franklin, 1961-9856, Dionne Warwick, 1962-9855, Madonna, 1983-200953, Connie Francis, 1958-6948, Brenda Lee, 1959-7344, Mariah Carey, 1990-201141, Barbra Streisand, 1964-9740, Diana Ross, 1970-8639, Whitney Houston, 1984-200939, Taylor Swift, 2006-11 (Notably, the digital era has helped Swift score multiple Hot 100 entries with album cuts the weeks that her last two studio sets, "Fearless" (2008) and "Speak Now" (2010), have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. As she's due to arrive on next week's Hot 100 with multiple tracks from the forthcoming "Speak Now" re-issue, this list will likely appear in revised form in next week's "Weekly Notes" column).
"Christmas" has clearly become a modern holiday classic. In addition to Bieber and Carey's new duet, Michael Buble's take on the song, from his new album "Christmas," which ranks at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 after opening at No. 3 last week, is bubbling under the Adult Contemporary chart.
Last holiday season, Lady Antebellum sent its cover of "Christmas" to No. 38 on Country Songs; Newsboys' interpretation rose to No. 24 on Christian Songs; and, Big Time Rush's remake topped Kid Digital Songs. Carey's own 2010 re-recording of the carol peaked at No. 4 on Holiday Digital Songs last year.
Carey could soon impact Billboard charts with another holiday hit, a remix of "When Christmas Comes" (originally released last year on her holiday set "Merry Christmas II You") with John Legend.
"Coming soon, a legendary musical collabo. #WhenChristmasComes," Carey Tweeted Monday. "Me & the legendary John, soon to be topping your Christmas list! P.S. It's a SGSHW!"
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