Merry Christmas (Mariah Carey album)

Merry Christmas
A woman wearing a red suit with a snow background.
Studio album by
Mariah Carey
ReleasedOctober 28, 1994 (1994-10-28)[1][2]
RecordedDecember 1993 – August 1994
StudioThe Hit Factory (New York City)
GenreChristmas
Length39:19
LabelColumbia
Producer
Mariah Carey chronology
Music Box
(1993) 		Merry Christmas
(1994) 		Daydream
(1995)
Singles from Merry Christmas
  1. "All I Want for Christmas Is You"
    Released: October 29, 1994
  2. "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)"
    Released: November 1, 1994
  3. "Joy to the World"
    Released: November 27, 1995

Merry Christmas is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, and her first Christmas album. Released by Columbia Records on October 28, 1994, at the peak of the initial stretch of Carey's career, between Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995), the album features cover versions of popular Christmas songs in addition to original material. Carey worked with Walter Afanasieff, with whom she wrote all of the original tracks, as well as producing Carey's interpretations of the covered material. Three singles were released from the album, of which "All I Want for Christmas Is You" went on to become one of the best-selling singles of all time and the best-selling Christmas ringtone in the United States.

Critical response to the album's contemporary Christmas theme was mixed. Some music critics complimented the "gospel and soul-inflected" vocals and even called it "Carey's best record" to date. Re-released on multiple occasions in various formats since its debut, the album has sold 5.7 million copies in the United States as of December 2019 and has been certified nine-times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[3] Internationally, it reached number one in Japan, Latvia, and Lithuania. It achieved the top-ten in 18 additional countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. As of 2024, Merry Christmas has sold 18 million copies worldwide, and stands as one of the best selling holiday albums in world history.[4]

  1. ^ "Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" Hits No. 1 25 Years After Its Initial Release | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  2. ^ "Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey on Apple Music". Apple Music. October 28, 1994. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference RIAA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Delkic, Melina. "'It's Time!' Mariah Carey Reflects on 30 Years as Queen of Christmas". The New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2024. The album, "Merry Christmas," has sold 18 million copies and would become synonymous with the season {{cite news}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)