Taylor Swift Holds Steady Ahead of Holiday Streaming Boost as Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’ Struts to No. 2 on Songs Chart
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Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” keeps her stronghold atop the songs chart (for a sixth week) and albums chart (for a fifth week), while holiday favorites round out both top 10s fueled by streaming playlist placement.
“Midnights” dominated the Billboard 200 this week, earning the equivalent of 151,000 sales in the United States, according to the tracking service Luminate. Its leading single “Anti-Hero” logs 21 million streams and 69 million radio audience impressions in the Nov. 25-Dec. 1 tracking week. Should “Anti-Hero” keep its top spot next week, it would tie with her 2014 single “Blank Space” for her longest reign on the chart.
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On this week’s festive songs chart, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” sits at No. 2 from its previous No. 5 position and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (1958) is No. 3. Bobby Helms’ 1957 classic “Jingle Bell Rock” is at No. 5, and Burl Ives’s “A Holly Jolly Christmas” (1964) is No. 6.
Several of the holiday songs on the Hot 100 appear thanks to their prominent roles across holiday-themed playlists on streaming services. In 2020, Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” marked her as the first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the chart across four decades (starting in 2015-16).
Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” is secure between the Christmas flurry at No. 4, while Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex” is bumped down to No. 7 after spending three weeks at No. 2.
Rounding out the songs chart is Grammy-nominee Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” followed by a pair of Christmas carols: Andy Williams’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (1963) at No. 9, and Wham!’s “Last Christmas” (1984) at No. 10.
The middle and bottom of the Hot 100 are also populated by other holiday jams like Frank Sinatra’s “Jingle Bells” (No. 33), Gene Autry’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (No. 34) and “Here Comes Santa Claus” (No. 39), Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft’s “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” (No. 42), and Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas” (No. 43), just to name a few.
As for the albums chart, much of the top slots remain unchanged with the exception of three holiday-themed albums. Michael Bublé’s “Christmas” leads the Yuletide lineup at No. 4 (47,000 units), while Cole’s “The Christmas Song” (with hits like “O Holy Night” and “Deck The Halls”) rises to No. 8 (36,000 units) and lastly, Guaraldi Trio’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas” lifts 17-10 (33,000 units).
Former No. 1s fill out the top 10: Drake and 21 Savage’s “Her Loss” holds at No. 2 (93,000 units), Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” at No. 3 (52,000 units), Lil Baby’s “It’s Only Me” slips 4-5 (43,000 units) and Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” dips 5-6 (40,000 units). The Weeknd’s compilation album, “The Highlights,” sits at No. 7 (40,000 units) and Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” is at No. 9 (35,000 units).
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