Maps of Music

Merry Christmas (1994)

Where the lyrics of Merry Christmas take you, and where it was really made.

Mariah Carey's first Christmas album was announced only one month before its release, and it went on to sell 18 million copies worldwide.

Key places

Most traditional tracks made at The Hit Factory (1994)

Recording site The Hit Factory — Most of the traditional tracks on the album were produced at The Hit Factory in New York, working with Walter Afanasieff. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Merry Christmas: fourth studio album and first Christmas album by Mariah Carey
• Released by Columbia Records on October 28, 1994
• Released in the United States on November 1, 1994
• Falls between Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995) in Carey's career
• Mixes cover versions of popular Christmas songs with original material
• Three original songs, all written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff
• Blends soul, gospel, and R&B
• Has sold 18 million copies worldwide

Background

• Carey has said she believes in God and that music and spirituality are connected
• The album gave her a way to express her spirituality through music
• After Music Box, speculation about a new project was circulating
• Billboard announced the Christmas album only one month before its release
• Critics were initially shocked, having known Carey only as a pop star
• The idea proved wise, earning recognition on Christian radio and contemporary R&B stations
• The album also extended her fame in Japan, where much of its success came

Recording

• Carey worked with Walter Afanasieff, with whom she had collaborated on Emotions (1991) and Music Box (1993)
• Most of the traditional tracks were produced at The Hit Factory in New York
• Carey's goal was to make a Christmas feel by mixing soulful tracks with fun, joyous holiday songs
• Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child was recorded in a church with live backup singers and children playing tambourines
• Loris Holland played keyboards on that track and co-produced some of the gospel-flavored songs, including Silent Night

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born March 27, 1969 in Huntington, New York, on Long Island.
• Youngest of three children of Patricia Hickey, a former opera singer, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer.
• Began singing at age three; graduated from Harborfields High School in 1987.
• Worked as a demo singer and backup singer, including for Brenda K. Starr.

Career

• Signed to Columbia Records after Tommy Mottola heard her demo tape in December 1988.
• Debut album Mariah Carey (1990) topped the US Billboard 200 and won Best New Artist at the Grammys.
• Became the first artist whose first five singles reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Music Box (1993), Merry Christmas (1994), and Daydream (1995) achieved major global sales.
• Later albums moved toward hip-hop and R&B, including Butterfly (1997) and Rainbow (1999).
• Comeback album The Emancipation of Mimi (2005) was her fifth number-one album in the US.
• Known as the 'Songbird Supreme' and 'Queen of Christmas'; one of the best-selling artists in history with over 220 million records sold.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critical response to the album's Christmas theme was mixed
• Some music critics complimented the gospel and soul-infused vocals and called it Carey's best album to date
• Chris Willman in the Los Angeles Times wrote that Carey showed less personality than talent in either girl-group pop or quasi-gospel melisma
• Jon Pareles of The New York Times was more critical, saying Carey oversings and turns expressions of devotion into narcissistic displays
• Chris Dickinson of the Chicago Tribune called her an over-the-top irritant throughout the album
• The Chicago Tribune later named it the seventh worst Christmas album ever
• J. D. Considine in The Baltimore Sun was enthusiastic, saying the album is the work of someone who genuinely loves this music
• Steve Morse of The Boston Globe argued it was perhaps Carey's best record

Reappraisal

• Barry Schwartz of Stylus Magazine believed it may have been the definitive Mariah Carey album
• Roch Parisien of AllMusic named All I Want for Christmas Is You the record's highlight
• Parisien lamented Carey's high opera pretensions on O Holy Night and her dance rendition of Joy to the World

Records

• Debuted at number 30 on the US Billboard 200 with 45,000 copies sold in its first week
• Peaked at number three in its fifth week with 208,000 copies sold
• Second best-selling holiday album of 1994 in the US with 1,859,000 copies
• Became Carey's first number-one album in Japan, where it sold 2.8 million copies
• Peaked at number one in Latvia and Lithuania; number two in Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands
• Peaked at number 32 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Platinum
• Peaked at number two in Australia and was certified seven-times Platinum
• Certified Diamond by the RIAA on December 15, 2025 for shipment of ten million copies in the US
• Sold 5.7 million copies in the US as of December 2019

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was re-released as a special edition DualDisc in 2005, with two bonus tracks
• A two-disc 25th anniversary deluxe edition came out in 2019
• Carey launched her first Christmas concert residency to celebrate the album's 20th anniversary, beginning on December 15, 2014 at the Beacon Theatre in New York City
• Merry Christmas became the first Christmas album to reach number one on the UK R&B Albums chart
• Billboard named the album the third Greatest Holiday Album of All Time in 2021

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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