Mariah Carey makes an alarming amount of money each year, all from a song she first recorded in 1994.
We are a few days into December now, so it's safe to get those Christmas decorations up and start feeling festive.
In the words of the lady herself, it's tiiiiiime!
One thing that comes with Christmas is an array of songs that help bring in the warm feeling of the season.
Everyone has their own favorite, but one festive song you are probably aware of is 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'.
Mariah Carey first recorded the song in 1994 and it was arguably one of the best things she's ever done.
That song, without fail, is one of the biggest each year, and Mariah absolutely rakes it in every time.
In an interview with Billboard, Carey, now 55, shared her thoughts on the song’s enduring appeal: “When I wrote [it], I had absolutely no idea the impact the song would eventually have worldwide,” Mariah said.
“How could I? It was so early on in my career and most young artists, at that time, weren’t really making Christmas music at the onset of their careers.”
She revealed that the inspiration for the song came from deeply personal emotions:“When writing [it], I was tapping into a bittersweet mixture of longing and festiveness. I had grown up wishing I could have a functional family Christmas like the ones I saw on TV or in the movies, but truth is… that never happened!
“So, I wrote the song for the little girl in me filled with holiday spirit. The record really has brought me full circle, and I’m so full of gratitude that so many people enjoy it with me every year.”
But how much does she earn?
With its continued popularity, The Economist estimates the song earned $60 million in royalties between its release and 2017 - equating to approximately $2.6 million annually.
That's pretty much $7,300 a day, or $304 an hour.
In 2021, 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' hit another historic milestone by becoming the first holiday single to earn the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) Diamond Award, signifying 10 million sales and streams in the U.S.
