<P> Two music videos were commissioned for the song: the song's primary music video features grainy home - movie - style footage of Carey, her dogs and family during the holiday season, as well as Carey dressed in a Santa suit frolicking on a snowy mountainside . Carey's then - husband Tommy Mottola makes a cameo appearance as Santa Claus, bringing Carey a gift and leaving on a red sleigh . The second video was filmed in black and white format, and features Carey dressed in 1960s style in homage to The Ronettes, alongside back up singers and female dancers . Carey has performed "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in a slew of live television appearances and tours throughout her career . In 2010, Carey re-recorded the song for her second holiday album, Merry Christmas II You, titled "All I Want for Christmas Is You (Extra Festive)". Carey also re-recorded the song as a duet with Canadian singer Justin Bieber for his 2011 album Under the Mistletoe, titled "All I Want for Christmas for You (SuperFestive!)". The song has also been covered by many artists over the years . </P> <P> In the years since its original release, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" has been critically lauded and has become established as a Christmas standard; it was once called "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon" in The New Yorker, and continues to surge in popularity each holiday season . The song was commercially successful, topping the charts in Hungary and the Netherlands while reaching number two in Australia, Japan, Norway, and the United Kingdom, and the top 10 in several other countries . The Daily Telegraph hailed "All I Want for Christmas Is You" as the most popular and most played Christmas song of the decade in the United Kingdom . Rolling Stone ranked it fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list, calling it a "holiday standard ." In December 2015, the song peaked at 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it its highest peak since its original release . </P> <P> With global sales of over 16 million copies, the song remains Carey's biggest international success and the 11th best selling singles of all time . As of 2013, the song was reported to have earned $50 million in royalties . </P> <P> Following the success of the singer's 1993 career best - selling album Music Box, Carey and her management at Columbia Records began devising ideas and strategies for subsequent projects . Carey's then - husband, Tommy Mottola, head of Columbia's parent label Sony Music Entertainment, began mapping out possible follow ups for the singer during the pinnacle years of her career . During initial discussions regarding the thought of doing a Christmas - themed album with Carey and her writing partner of over four years, Walter Afanasieff, fear arose that it was not commercially expedient or wise to release holiday music at the peak of one's career, as it was more often equated with a release towards the end of a musician's waning career . Afanasieff recalled his sentiments during initial discussions for a holiday record: "Back then, you didn't have a lot of artists with Christmas albums . It wasn't a known science at all back then, and there was nobody who did new, big Christmas songs . So we were going to release it as kind of an everyday,' Hey, you know, we're putting out a Christmas album . No big deal ."' Ultimately, with Mottola's persistence and Carey's initiative to be a "risk - taker" as Afanasieff put it, the song and its parent album, Merry Christmas, began taking form in early - mid 1994 . Recording for the album began in June, while the Carey - Afanasieff songwriting duo penned "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in late August . Often referencing herself a festive person and demonstrating a usual penchant for her love of all things Christmas, Carey began decorating the home she shared with Mottola in upstate New York (which also came equipped with a personal recording studio) with Christmas ornaments and other holiday - inspired trinkets . In doing so, Carey felt she could capture the essence and spirit of what she was singing and make her vocal performance and delivery more emotive and authentic . The songwriting pair carved out the chords, structure and melody for the song in just a quarter of an hour: "It's definitely not' Swan Lake,' ' admits Afanasieff .' But that's why it's so popular--because it's so simple and palatable!". At first, Afanasieff admitted that he was puzzled and "blanched" as to where Carey wanted to take the melody and vocal scales, though she was "adamant" in her direction for the song . In an interview with Billboard, Afanasieff described the type of relationship he and Carey shared in the studio and as songwriters for the song and in general: </P>

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