All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey could get first UK No 1

Make her wish come true: Mariah Carey has never sat top of the UK charts on December 25

(Mat Hayward/Getty Images)

At this point, we’re all very aware that all Mariah Carey wants for Christmas is, of course, you. But there’s one thing Santa Claus has never delivered: a UK number one over the festive period.

Despite selling more than 16 million copies worldwide, and going quadruple platinum in the UK as of December 2019, Carey’s yuletide mega-hit All I Want for Christmas Is You has never actually sat top of the charts on December 25.

It rose to number two on the year of its release, 1994, just missing out to another snowy classic, Stay Another Day by East 17. In the last three years, Mariah has again risen to number two, but has never quite hit the summit.

That could be about to change. According to data from the Official Charts Company, Carey’s Christmas song is just 900 sales behind the current number one, Positions by Ariana Grande.

With a surge in streaming numbers — Christmas songs have been already seen a 44 per cent increase in streams compared to this time last year — this may well be the year that Carey’s wish comes true, and she finally hits top spot. She may well have had a small boost from Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who recently named it as one of his favourite festive hits.

Sales will be counted up until 11.59pm on December 24, with the official winner announced on Christmas Day.

If she were to win the festive chart battle, Carey would join an interesting group of artists to have achieved a similar feat — ranging from Queen and the Human League, to Bob the Builder and Mr Blobby.

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