Merry Christmas (Mariah Carey album)
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Merry Christmas is the fifth album by American singer Mariah Carey. Released in the United States on November 1, 1994 by Columbia Records, it is a holiday album featuring both cover versions and original material.
It was released at what was the peak of the initial stretch of Carey's career, between Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995), her two best-selling albums to date. It subsequently went on to become one of the best-selling Christmas albums of all time. As of 2005 it had been certified five times platinum by the RIAA for shipments of 5 million copies in the U.S.[1].
Chart performance
Merry Christmas debuted at number thirty on the U.S. Billboard 200 with 45,000 copies sold in its first week; it peaked at number three in its fifth week with 208,000 copies, but its sixth week (when it was at number six) was its most successful week of sales, with 500,000 copies sold. It remained in the top twenty for eight weeks and on the Billboard 200 for just thirteen weeks,[2] but it had re-entered the chart three times; it peaked at number 149 the first time, at 115 the second and at 61 the third (it has spent a total of twenty-seven weeks on the Billboard 200). According to Billboard magazine dated October 31, 2007, it is the 3rd best-selling Christmas album of the Soundscan era, behind Kenny G's Miracles: The Holiday Album and Celine Dion's These Are Special Times.
Singles
Several singles were released from the album, but most were on a strictly promotional basis in the U.S. to help boost sales of the album. The first, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", was a radio airplay hit in the U.S. and sold well in countries where it was given a commercial release. The second, "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)" (whose video was directed by Diane Martel) was less popular on U.S. radio, as was "Joy to the World" (which had been considered for a full single release), though the latter was a top forty hit in Australia and on the U.S. dance/club play charts. Fourth single "Jesus Born on This Day" was only promoted to Christian radio outlets in the U.S., and a video was not commissioned for it, though it was given a limited release in Sweden and some other markets. "O Holy Night" was released in 1996 as a promotional single for the album, and again in 2000 with a video accompanying it. Paul Wilson Gardon, a very close friend to MC, was said to have influenced her to create a Christmas album.
Re-release
Carey's former label Sony re-released Merry Christmas on October 25 2005.
The anniversary edition is a DualDisc CD consisting of the original album with exclusive videos and two additional tracks, including "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (anniversary mix, remixed by Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan Michael Cox), which was included as a CD single with the DVD of the 1970s film Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town. Merry Christmas re-entered the Billboard Top Comprehensive Albums chart at number 136 and peaked at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Albums chart. On multiple occasions following its original release, the album has reached number one on Billboard's Top Comprehensive Albums and Top Holiday Albums charts. As of December 2005, its run on the former has lasted eighty weeks, and on the latter 130 weeks.
Adaptation
Carey is developing a movie musical based on her colossal-selling Christmas album.
It's about a town outside a city - perhaps not unlike Mariah's hometown of Huntington, L.I. - where a ruthless developer wants to turn it into one big mall.
"Mariah doesn't want to let that happen," says her producing partner Benny Medina. "Her character uses song and love to keep the Christmas spirit alive."
Mariah says the script, which "High School Musical" writer Peter Barsocchini is working on, is still in the early stages. But she tells us, "Since I recorded the Christmas album, I've always wanted to make a movie to go with it, something that people could watch and hear and enjoy every year. I'm into it. I'm all about the holiday season".[3]
Charts, sales and certification
Track listing
Standard version
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DualDisc version
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