Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You is added to National Recording Registry

Mariah Carey is getting a very early Christmas present, learning that her 1994 holiday classic All I Want For Christmas Is You is being added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

The beloved song is among 25 songs added to the registry, including other hits like Madonna’s Like a Virgin, Queen Latifah’s All Hail the Queen album and Daddy Yankee’s 2004 smash hit Gasolina.

‘The National Recording Registry preserves our history through recorded sound and reflects our nation’s diverse culture,’ said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.

‘The national library is proud to help ensure these recordings are preserved for generations to come, and we welcome the public’s input on what songs, speeches, podcasts or recorded sounds we should preserve next. We received more than 1,100 public nominations this year for recordings to add to the registry,’ Hayden added.

Carey, 54, – who was recently spotted at the Beau is Afraid premiere – also shared the news to her millions of followers on social media, including a video where she discussed the song’s origins.

Early Christmas: Mariah Carey is getting a very early Christmas present, learning that her 1994 holiday classic All I Want For Christmas Is You is being added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry

Videos: Carey, 54, – who was recently spotted at the Beau is Afraid premiere – also shared the news to her millions of followers on social media, including a video where she discussed the song’s origins

‘I’m honored beyond belief! I definitely did not even imagine this would happen when writing and recording this song! Thank you so much Ms. Hayden and the @librarycongress,’ Carey said in her tweet.

Her tweet also included a video of her on a video conference with Library of Congress Chief Communications Officer Roswell Encina.

‘Thank you so much, this is incredible. I never would have thought this was going to happen when I first wrote All I Want For Christmas Is You,’ Carey began.

‘Everybody always asked, “Did you know this was gonna be a thing?” and the answer is no. This is major and this is so gratifying to me as an artist, as a songwriter, of course,’ she added.

‘I had no idea. I just wrote from my heart. Thank you so much for including me in this incredible company,’ she concluded.

The Library of Congress also shared another video as part of her conversation with Encina, where she explained the origins of her holiday classic.

‘I had some people that would kind of ruin every holiday, that were related to me, maybe, I don’t know,’ Carey said.

‘So, every year, I waited for Christmas. I loved it as a little kid, and, you know, certain people that would just be around and kind of ruin it, you know?’ Carey elaborated.

Tweet: ‘I’m honored beyond belief! I definitely did not even imagine this would happen when writing and recording this song! Thank you so much Ms. Hayden and the @librarycongress,’ Carey said in her tweet

Another tweet: The Library of Congress also shared another video as part of her conversation with Encina, where she explained the origins of her holiday classic

Ruin: ‘I had some people that would kind of ruin every holiday, that were related to me, maybe, I don’t know,’ Carey said

‘So, every year, I was like, “I just want to have the best time ever.” So at a certain point, the record company came to me and said, you know, “What do you think about doing a Christmas album?”‘ Carey added.

She thought it was, ‘a bit early’ since she was just 22 years old, adding, ‘Why are we doing Christmas already?’

‘It just became something that I did. It was the first Christmas song I ever wrote, and I kind of wanted it to embody all the things I didn’t have when I was a kid,’ Carey said.

‘I wanted it to be like, you know, make people happy and make myself happy. It was more like, this is my healing, but it’s also fun,’ Carey elaborated.

‘It’s not taking itself too seriously. It’s really just for like the love of the holidays and for that spirit that always saved me during more difficult times,’ Carey concluded. 

For the first time ever, the National Recording Registry will include a recording from a video game.

Koji Kondo’s iconic theme from the NES classic video game Super Mario Bros. will be included in the registry this year.

Other classics included in the registry this year include the 1962 song Sherry by The Four Seasons, 1965’s What the World Needs Now is Love by Jackie DeShannon, 1971’s Imagine by John Lennon and Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin and 1983’s Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams.

Every year: ‘So, every year, I was like, “I just want to have the best time ever.” So at a certain point, the record company came to me and said, you know, “What do you think about doing a Christmas album?”‘ Carey added

Early: She thought it was, ‘a bit early’ since she was just 22 years old, adding, ‘Why are we doing Christmas already?’