
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.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
02/04/2026
L3Harris has successfully powered the historic launch of the Artemis II mission, providing propulsion and avionics....
02/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/04/2026
Already deployed extensively by NBC Sports, FOR-A Corporation will demonstrate GoVertical! AiDi, the real-time 9:16 autocropping feature of viztrick AiDi, durin...
02/04/2026
Interra Systems, a provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions for the digital media industry, announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its B...
02/04/2026
Harmonic's Media Processing Solutions Maximize Bandwidth Efficiency for Terrestrial Broadcast Delivery
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that TDF, a...
02/04/2026
NBC Sports Deploys viztrick AiDi to Stream Live Events in 9:16 Mobile-First Formats with Auto Tracking, Development Signals Strategic Shift for FOR-A
Long reco...
02/04/2026
Evergent will showcase new innovations in subscriber lifecycle management and monetization at NAB Show 2026 (Las Vegas, April 18 22), including:
New advances i...
02/04/2026
Riedel Communications is proud to be part of Binghamton University, State University of New York, Athletics' milestone year, celebrating the university'...
02/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media and Techex have today announced new, fully managed, cloud-native Master Control services designed to meet the growing operational demand...
02/04/2026
Avid today announced it will showcase new innovations designed to help media companies win in the new media economy at NAB Show 2026 (April 18 22, Las Vegas Co...
02/04/2026
PlayBox Neo helps AIS PLAY kick-off premier football content direct to fans
PlayBox Neo has provided MIMO Tech with a brand-new major installation to extend it...
02/04/2026
Globo has transitioned its primary content distribution to Secure Reliable Transport over a fully IP-based managed backbone using Synamedia's Quortex PowerV...
02/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/04/2026
Student Spotlight: Al-Fadl Salem The Danish singer recently performed for the queen of Denmark.
April 1, 2026
By
Editorial Staff
Image by Junia Morrow
Wh...
02/04/2026
Taku Hirano's Career Is Defined by Identity Whether he's performing, composing, teaching, or developing instruments, the do-it-all percussionist sees ...
02/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils Official Trailer for The Trials of Winnie Mandela
Entertainment
02 April 2026
GlobalSouth Africa
Link copied to clipboard
...
02/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Announces Start of Production and New Cast for Second ...
02/04/2026
Back to All News
The Trailer for Ronaldinho: The One and Only Features Never-Be...
02/04/2026
Red Seat Ventures Launches Speakeasy, a New Hosting, Distribution and Monetizati...
02/04/2026
GoVertical! AiDi Powers Real-Time 9:16 Autocropping for Immediate Streaming to M...
02/04/2026
By Lance Maurer, CEO
Image generated by AI
Engineering is supposed to be fun....
02/04/2026
2FM Breakfast to extend on weekday mornings from 6am to 10am
Doireann Garrihy m...
02/04/2026
RT News & Current Affairs is pleased to announce the appointment of RT Radio 1 reporter, Barry Lenihan, as Political Correspondent.
Barry has reported across...
02/04/2026
No joke - GFN Thursday is skipping the tricks and heading straight into the games. April kicks off with ten new titles, bringing fresh adventures to GeForce NOW...
01/04/2026
As sports media organization continue to seek out new ways to streamline their p...
01/04/2026
The SVG GFX Forum hit New York City earlier this month for a day packed with sessions focused on the creative strategy and technology behind today's cutting...
01/04/2026
This year, Spotify celebrates the five-year anniversary of EQUAL, our global pro...
01/04/2026
Analogue-style tape splicing in the digital domain
In this era of digital recording and multiple layers of Undo, it seems that the fading art of tape splici...
01/04/2026
Latest release introduces new Orbita Engine
Zero G's latest release marks the start of a new series of libraries, as well as introducing an all-new engi...
01/04/2026
Until now, one format has largely been left behind
Warm Audio's extensive product range includes modern-day recreations of all manner of sought-after s...
01/04/2026
A piano with glass vessels for strings!
The Crow Hill Company's recently released Gong Piano offered a refreshing new take on piano libraries, harnessin...
01/04/2026
Remote Streaming Studio Condenser
Aim Audio have just revealed their latest creation, the ESSENCE RS Remote Streaming Studio Condenser, which becomes the wo...
01/04/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/04/2026
Bilbao, April 1st, 2026 - AgileTV, a leading provider of end-to-end TV technolog...
01/04/2026
Green Hippo is excited to announce the launch of its new Hippotizer Media Server training courses at Pixel Academy, a purpose built AV learning hub combining ha...
01/04/2026
TAG Video Systems, a global leader in IP-native broadcast monitoring, multiviewing, and quality control, today announced a collaboration with Oracle Cloud Infra...
01/04/2026
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS), a leading provider of wireless audio solutions and RF management, was on site at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, wher...
01/04/2026
AgileTV, a leading provider of end-to-end TV technology solutions, has deployed next , the new IPTV platform of the Austrian telco LIWEST, marking the first st...
01/04/2026
LTN, a leader in fully managed IP video transport, and Ateme, a global leader in video compression and delivery solutions, today announced a collaboration integ...
01/04/2026
Adobe Unveils Powerful New Innovations for Creative Pros in Adobe Illustrator
Deepa Subramaniam April 1, 2026
0 Comments
I'm excited to share that...
01/04/2026
Boland Communications Introduces QD4K315HDR10 QD-OLED Series Monitors for Live P...
01/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...