Mariah Carey, WHAM! or Brenda Lee: Who’s Off to the Early Lead in the Christmas Streaming Race?
This week's Trending Up looks at the first post-Halloween returns from the holiday heavy hitters, plus a revived favorite from a newly elected official and more.
As the calendar flips from October to November, the holiday season begins, bringing with it one tradition: Mariah Carey declaring the start of the festive period. This year, Carey embraced the spirit by posting a video of herself as a rock star, transformed into a joyful, merry individual. Her classic Christmas hit, "All I Want for Christmas Is You," has been on the rise in streaming numbers since Nov.
1, collecting nearly 9.99 million official U.S. streams in the first week of November, according to Luminate. This figure represents a slight decline of approximately 4% compared to the same time last year, but still secures its position atop the holiday chart, trailing behind Wham! ’s "Last Christmas," which accumulated nearly 9.98 million streams during the same period.
Another Christmas staple, Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," holds the third spot with 7.38 million streams. However, Wham! may be gaining momentum in the race. Over Nov. 8-9, early data from Luminate shows "Last Christmas" accrued a combined 3.1 million streams, a 7% increase from the 2.9 million streams "All I Want" garnered over the same time frame.
Notably, "Last Christmas" is the only song among the top three that is significantly up year-over-year, with its Nov. 1-7 tally up 17% from the same period last year. The song's timing advantages this year include the release of the George Michael: The Faith Tour concert documentary and the 10th anniversary of Michael's death on Christmas Day.
As the competition escalates on the Billboard Hot 100, both songs are set to re-enter the chart this week (dated Nov. 14), with "Last Christmas" leading "All I Want for Christmas Is You" from No. 37 to No. 39. Fans will be eagerly watching Mariah Carey and Wham! to determine who will claim the top spot on the Billboard Christmas tree.
Will "Last Christmas" finally secure its first-ever week at No. 1, or will Carey maintain her dominance over the holiday season, as she has done in most Christmases since 2019? Billboard will provide updates on the 2026 calendar.
Written by urgent.news from Billboard's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
