American Idol Mariah Carey proves she’s the undisputed queen of Christmas Brits can now thank us for a bit of Mariah’s Christmas No 1s, as singer confirms 39 Number One hits Mariah Carey performs at the 2013 American Music Awards. Photograph: Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic
The leading lady of world’s worst 90s Christmas carols has now revealed her 39 Number One Christmas songs.
Mariah Carey told Ryan Seacrest on Thursday morning that she now has all 39 of her No 1 hits at Christmas, and that the trick to the perfect seasonal tune is “listening to a lot of my music.”
The 49-year-old singer said that she started thinking about her songs when she was just 12-years-old.
“I was listening to a lot of R&B music when I was 12 and I heard Sister Sledge,” she said. “My mom saved it so I could hear it when I went to bed. And I bought them the vinyl and played it. And then I started getting into Motown and I always loved The Temptations and you know, my grandmother loved Lionel Richie and I always loved that Christmas vibe.”
She explained that it was not until the singer’s eight-year-old daughter Monroe (with ex-husband Nick Cannon) that she realised she needed to start thinking about her Christmas tracks.
“A week before Easter I was just sitting around playing holiday videos on the set and I said, ‘You know what, Monroe, they know what this is, they know all the songs.’ She’s like, ‘What’s that?’” she added. “I said, ‘That’s called an ‘I Did It My Way’ anthem.’ It’s your turn.”
When asked if Monroe could sing a chorus on her own Christmas song, Carey confirmed that the two will be singing together. She also revealed that the song will be the next single from her Sweet Sweet Fantasy album.
In between singing, Carey joked that she had nothing else to do on Christmas this year, saying “My daughter is too old now. It’s been like two weeks and I haven’t been able to get on the elliptical.”