Mariah Carey Set the Standard for What a Christmas Album Could Be The New York Times spoke with Berklees Maureen McMullan about Mariah Careys lasting impact on holiday music, 30 years after the release of Merry Christmas.
By
Tara Bellucci
November 1, 2024
A still from Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special on Apple TV+
Courtesy of Apple TV+
Its November 1, and the sparkling celesta opening notes of All I Want for Christmas Is You are bound to be in your ears for the next 55 days. Thats all thanks to the legendary Mariah Carey, whose holiday album Merry Christmas is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The New York Times chatted with the Queen of Christmas herself, as well as senior concert producer Maureen McMullan, on the albums lasting legacy.
Her album set the standard and really kind of redefined what a Christmas album could be, McMullan said to the Times. She is bringing in a lot more contemporary influences-still very much respecting the contemporary gospel traditions, but then having original songs on there, which was quite novel.
McMullan is producing the upcoming Singers Showcase: One Sweet Day-The Music of Mariah Carey, which features over 80 Berklee students celebrating Mimis decades of pop stardom.
Carey tells the Times that at first, she didnt want to do a Christmas album. I felt it was too early in my career, she said. But as a lover of Christmas, she eventually came around. After doing her versions of her favorite classic carols, those opening notes of All I Want for Christmas Is You came to her one night as she tapped them out on a keyboard. The lyrics soon followed. Since its 1994 release, the song has been a chart-topping single, spending 65 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100.
Mariah fans can catch the elusive chanteuse on a 21-date holiday tour starting November 6, but she also told the Times that new non-holiday music is in the works, which could drop as early 2025. I've been waiting to do this for a long time, she said. There are some songs that I've been working on for a long time, and then there are some new songs and new people that I'm working with.
Of course, were still waiting on that secret grunge album to see the light of day.
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Jim Lucchese
Image by Kelly Davidson
Jim Lucchese Named Berklee's Fifth President A 20-year music industry veteran and a committed artist advocate with deep Berklee roots, Lucchese sets the tone for a new era at the institution.
Latest
(L-R): Berklee student guitarist Andre DR3 Harris; Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and Berklee alum Ashton Riker; Professor and Chair of Music Business/Management Tonya Butler; rapper and award-winning songwriter and producer Al Kapone; Berklee student drummer Andrew DRIZZ Harris; and singer, songwriter, and musician Singa B at the 18th annual Business of Hip-Hop Music Symposium.
Image courtesy of Berklees Music Business/Management Department
Memphis Rapper Al Kapone Brings Blues Education to Berklee He was the featured guest at the 18th annual Business of Hip-Hop Music Symposium.
Americana artist and Berklee student Kyle Ray conceptualized the Blue Ridge Benefit Concert: In Support of Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts on November 20.
Kelly Davidson
Berklee to Hold Blue Ridge Benefit Concert for Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts The event, featuring headliners Langhorne Slim and Kashus Culpepper, takes place on Wednesday, November 20, at Brighton Music Hall.
Alissia Benveniste BM '14
Image courtesy of the artist
Berklees 2025 Alumni Grammy Nominees: See the Full List Nominees include Alissia Benveniste, Miguel Zen n, Bill Frisell, Madi Diaz, Lalah Hathaway, and many others.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
North America Stories
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
11/06/2026
Telemundo will launch its FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage on Thursday, June 11 with...
11/06/2026
FuboTV Inc. has announced a distribution agreement with NBCUniversal. Fubo customers can now stream Telemundo and Universo, with NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced its in-app features for FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage in Spain...
11/06/2026
Roblox has released the 2026 Roblox Digital Expression Report: Wave 4 - Sports D...
11/06/2026
FIFA has unveiled DNA, the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Anthem, performed by A...
11/06/2026
ESPN will provide English- and Spanish-language news and information coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026 across its U.S. media platforms from June 11 through July 1...
11/06/2026
The latest product of the outstanding RIT Sports Network program, this recent grad from Long Island is carving out a promising path in broadcast engineering
In...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced a multi-year agreement to make DSPORTS channels available to ...
Mariah Carey Set the Standard for What a Christmas Album Could Be The New York Times spoke with Berklees Maureen McMullan about Mariah Careys lasting impact on holiday music, 30 years after the release of Merry Christmas.
