| Merry Christmas II You | ||||
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| Released | November 2, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | April–September 2010 | |||
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| Genre | Christmas | |||
| Length | 46:53 | |||
| Label | Island Def Jam | |||
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| Mariah Carey chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Merry Christmas II You | ||||
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Merry Christmas II You is the thirteenth studio album and second Christmas album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released by Island Records on November 2, 2010. Recording began in April 2010 and continued while Carey became pregnant. She was the executive producer of Merry Christmas II You and worked with various record producers, including Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Randy Jackson, James Poyser, Marc Shaiman, James "Big Jim" Wright and Johnny "Sev" Severin of RedOne. The album features Carey's mother Patricia Carey as a guest vocalist on "O Come All Ye Faithful" / "Hallelujah Chorus". The album serves as a sequel to her fourth studio album Merry Christmas (1994). It is composed of original songs and covers, ballads and uptempo tracks, incorporating R&B, soul, and house music in its composition.
The album received mixed reviews from music critics, who complimented its relaxed yet lively and contemporary feel, while others felt it was predictable and too overproduced in places. It debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, and reached number one on both the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Holiday Albums charts. It was later certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments exceeding 500,000 copies. Elsewhere, however, the album was a moderate success, reaching the top-ten in South Korea and Taiwan; the top-twenty in Canada and Hong Kong; the top-thirty in Australia, Hungary and Japan; and the top-forty in Sweden. It missed out on the top 100 in the United Kingdom by one position, peaking at number 101 on the albums chart.
The album produced three singles, including the US Adult Contemporary record-breaking song "Oh Santa!". It reached number-one in its second week, the quickest ascent in the history of the chart and the only song to do so. Other singles included "Auld Lang Syne (The New Year's Anthem)", a single release version of "When Christmas Comes" in 2011 with John Legend and the promotional "Christmas Time Is in the Air Again" in 2012. To support the album, Carey made promotional appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Lopez Tonight, and hosted her own television special called Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You.