Kirstin Maldonado & Her Pentatonix Group Mates to Guest Star in “The Simpsons” Holiday Special

Kirstin Maldonado is getting animated…

The 32-year-old half-Mexican, part-Spanish American singer and her Pentatonix group mates will appear as animated versions of themselves in the upcoming The Simpsons holiday special.

Kirstin Maldonado, PentatonixIn addition Maldonado and her group makes, the episode titled “O C’mon All Ye Faithful,” will also feature another experienced Christmas caroler: Patti LaBelle.

The a cappella group and “On My Own” singer will deliver musical performances in the double episode premiering December 17 on Disney+, exactly 35 years after the original Simpsons holiday special aired in 1989.

The streaming platform also shared a trailer for the project, showing Homer wreaking havoc on Springfield after famed mentalist Derren Brown hypnotizes him into thinking he’s Santa Claus.

“Celebrate the holidays with a double-episode holiday special,” the teaser reads in between shots of the Simpsons patriarch riding on a parade float with a white beard, getting tased by police on the street and crashing his homemade sleigh into Moe’s Tavern.

The trailer doesn’t show Pentatonix — which is comprised of Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Maldonado, Matt Sallee and Kevin Olusola — or LaBelle, nor has Disney+ revealed details about their performances.

Pentatonix is known for their Christmas music, with the vocal group’s A Pentatonix Christmas spending two weeks atop the Billboard 200 in 2016.

Pentatonix has also dropped two new holiday singles in 2024: “Meet Me Next Christmas,” which arrived in November, and “Christmastime Is Finally Here” with A Great Big World, released Dec. 6.

 

Mariah Carey Returns to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 with “All I Want for Christmas Is You”

It’s December… And (no surprise) Mariah Carey‘ is back atop the Billboard charts.

The 55-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” dashes through all competition on the Billboard Hot 100 once again, surging nine spots to No. 1 for a 15th total week at the summit on the chart.

Mariah CareyThe carol reigns in a record-extending sixth holiday season.

It was originally released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in November 1994 and, as streaming has grown and holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists, it hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in December 2017, and the top five for the first time in the 2018 holiday season.

It led at last, prior to this week, over the holidays in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two), 2021 (three), 2022 (four) and 2023 (two).

“When I wrote [it], I had absolutely no idea the impact the song would eventually have worldwide,” Carey marveled in 2021. “I’m so full of gratitude that so many people enjoy it with me every year.”

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” became Carey’s 19th Hot 100 No. 1, the most among soloists and one away from The Beatles’ overall record 20. It also made Carey the first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the chart in four distinct decades (1990s, 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s). 

Carey’s insta-classic drew 38.2 million streams (up 42%) and 24.4 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 56%) and sold 3,000 downloads (up 81%) in the U.S. Nov. 29-Dec. 5, according to Luminate.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” ties for the sixth-longest command among the 1,176 total No. 1s dating to the Hot 100’s Aug. 4, 1958. start. (All seven songs have led since the list adopted electronically-monitored Luminate data in November 1991, at which point longer commands than before subsequently became more common.)

Below is a recap of the seven longest-leading Hot 100 No. 1s – with Carey the only artist with two entries on the elite list:

19 weeks, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey, 2024
19, “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, 2019
16, “Last Night,” Morgan Wallen, 2023
16, “Despacito,” Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber, 2017
16, “One Sweet Day,” Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men, 1995-96
15, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” Mariah Carey, 2019-24
15, “As It Was,” Harry Styles, 2022

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations.

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Tops the First Billboard Holiday 100 Chart of the 2025 Holiday Season

It wouldn’t be the holiday season without Mariah Carey’s return to the summit on the holiday charts.

The Holiday 100 has made its annual jolly jaunt back to Billboard’s charts menu, with the 55-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning songstress’ “All I Want for Christmas Is You” ruling the tally.

The track is No. 1 for the 61st week of the chart’s 69 total weeks since it was launched in 2011.

The survey ranks the top seasonal songs of all eras via the same formula used for the Billboard Hot 100, blending streaming, airplay and sales data.

The only other Holiday 100 No. 1s to date: Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe,” for a week in the 2011-12 holiday season; Pentatonix’s “Little Drummer Boy” (one, 2013-14) and “Mary, Did You Know?” (two, 2014-15); Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (one, 2014-15); and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” – which reigned for three weeks on both the Holiday 100 and Hot 100 last holiday season, granting the legendary singer a gift 65 years in the making, following the song’s 1958 release.

Carey’s carol reigns with 26.8 million streams (up 52% week-over-week), 15.7 million airplay audience impressions (up 68%) and 2,000 sold (up 25%) in the United States Nov. 22-28, according to Luminate.

The song also boasts top honors on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart.

“When I wrote [it], I had absolutely no idea the impact the song would eventually have worldwide,” Carey marveled of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in 2021; it was originally released 30 years ago. “I’m so full of gratitude that so many people enjoy it with me every year.”

Rounding out the Holiday 100’s top five are Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (No. 2); Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” which marks its 40th anniversary this year (No. 3); Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” from 1957 (No. 4); and Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” which turns 60 this year (No. 5).

Additionally, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” surges six spots to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Miel San Marcos to Release Special Holiday-Themed ‘Spotify Singles’ Track “Emmanuel”

Miel San Marcos is getting into the holiday spirit.

The Guatemalan Christian music group, comprised of three brothers Josh, Luis and Samy Morales, is among the artists releasing holiday songs this Christmas season on Spotify.

Miel San MarcosMiel San Marcos perform the single “Emmanuel” as part of the music streamer’s five Spotify Singles, which will be released at the stroke of midnight local time on Tuesday, October 15. 

This year’s annual singles collection — which arrives a little earlier than usual this time — will feature four other artists and their covers of holiday tunes, including Kesha, Max Richter and Dasha.

The featured musicians and their yuletide songs are:

“Emmanuel” by Miel San Marcos
“Holiday Road” by Kesha
“Driving Home for Christmas” by Dasha
“River” by Max Richter
“Run Rudolph Run” by Mark Ambor

“As you’ll hopefully hear, each single really showcases the personality and style of each artist — often reinventing holiday classics in an entirely new way,” Talia Kraines, Spotify’s senior editor of pop, tells Billboard. 

“With ‘Holiday Road,’ Kesha has taken this really fun ’80s song – which wasn’t originally a holiday song – and brought it to the modern day. We just knew she would sound amazing singing it, and she does. Her vocals make me think of The Go-Gos or The Bangles here. It feels like a monumental year for Kesha, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it – she’s reclaiming her joy and owning her own voice,” she adds of the Grammy nominated artist. “It also seemed fitting to have Kesha make a holiday song with us because her music actually hits a high each year on Spotify during the holiday season.

Tracks like ‘Tik Tok’ and ‘Timber’ have come to be known as New Year’s and celebration anthems.”

Mariah Carey Launching 20-City “Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time” Tour This Fall

Mariah Carey is celebrating Christmas in November.

The 55-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and self-proclaimed Queen of Christmas will celebrate the 30th anniversary of her Merry Christmas album — and the classic single that came wrapped up inside it, All I Want for Christmas Is You — with a 20-city Christmas tour this fall, under the banner of Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time.

Mariah Carey

The Live Nation-produced tour will kick off in early November with three shows in southern California and wrap up with a trio of concerts in the New York/New Jersey area in mid-December.

In the Los Angeles region and environs, she’ll be doing a tour premiere November 6 at Highland’s Yaamava Theater, an intimate teaser for a much bigger show she’ll be doing November 8 at the Hollywood Bowl, to be followed by a November 13 gig at the Acrisure Arena in the Palm Springs area.

Bringing the tour to a close, closer to home for Carey, will be concerts on December 13 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, December 15 at the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY, and finally, December 17 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

In-between, she’ll be visiting Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Nashville, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Boston and other cities.

Tickets for Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time will be made available via the usual staggered presale dates, beginning with a Verizon presale that starts on August 6, and other early offerings that lead up to a general on-sale August 9 at 10:00 am local time at LiveNation.com. Information on VIP packages can be found at Vipnation.com.

Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time follows the success of a shorter, 13-city holiday tour Carey did in 2023, Merry Christmas One and All!, and will follow a similar template of mixing Christmas fare with the singer’s non-seasonal hits.

On last year’s tour, the bulk of the setlist consisted of holiday songs but had a run of other material that included “Hero,” “We Belong Together” and a massive hits medley in the last stretch of the show.

Although it’s now been three decades since the release of her first and biggest Christmas album, Carey did not begin commemorating that material with special live concerts until 2014, when she did a themed residency at the Beacon Theater in New York. That turned into a series of short tours in subsequent years, including a four-date mini-tour in 2019 that was filmed for a CBS special, Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All!

The focus on Christmas tours has coincided with the gradual, belated rise of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” as a perennial No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 each December.

The song did not make it to the top position on that chart until 2019, 20 years after its release, but it has peaked at No. 1 every year thereafter.

For anyone who wants to see Carey but not deal quite so much with Christmas, there have been and will be plenty of opportunities this year, as the singer has been doing an intermittent Celebration of Mimi residency in Las Vegas, at Dolby Live at Park MGM.

That run of shows began April 12 and has five further gigs booked in the first half of August before taking a pause and returning in January and February 2025.

Mariah Carey’s 2024 Christmas tour dates:
Wed Nov 06 | Highland, CA | Yaamava Theater
Fri Nov 08 | Los Angeles, CA | Hollywood Bowl
Wed Nov 13 | Greater Palm Springs, CA | Acrisure Arena
Fri Nov 15 | Phoenix, AZ | Footprint Center
Sun Nov 17 | Austin, TX | Moody Center
Tue Nov 19 | Houston, TX | Toyota Center
Thu Nov 21 | Dallas, TX | American Airlines Center
Sat Nov 23 | Atlanta, GA | State Farm Arena
Mon Nov 25 | Nashville, TN | Bridgestone Arena
Wed Nov 27 | Rosemont, IL | Allstate Arena
Fri Nov 29 | St. Louis, MO | Enterprise Center
Sun Dec 01 | Washington, DC | Capital One Arena
Tue Dec 03 | Philadelphia, PA | Wells Fargo Center
Thu Dec 05 | Boston, MA | TD Garden
Sat Dec 07 | Baltimore, MD | CFG Bank Arena
Mon Dec 09 | Raleigh, NC | PNC Arena
Wed Dec 11 | Pittsburgh, PA | PPG Paints Arena
Fri Dec 13 | Newark, NJ | Prudential Center
Sun Dec 15 | Belmont Park, NY | UBS Arena
Tue Dec 17 | Brooklyn, NY | Barclays Center

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Holds Atop TikTok Billboard Top 50 Chart

Mariah Carey is the TikTok queen of the holiday season…

The 54-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer’s inescapable holiday hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” holds atop the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart dated January 6.

Mariah CareyThe TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement.

The latest chart reflects activity December 25-31. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.

The beginning of the latest TikTok Billboard Top 50’s tracking week was on Christmas Day, so it’s only natural that Christmas-related tunes dot the chart, led by Carey and Wham!’s “Last Christmas” at Nos. 1 and 2.

It’s the second week at No. 1 for “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” while “Last Christmas” reaches a new peak after previously rising to No. 4 the preceding week (Dec. 30, 2023).

Concurrently, Carey’s holiday standard appears at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (down from No. 1 after being passed by Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”

See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here.

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” Earns Record-Extending 18th Week at No. 1 on Billboard Global 200

Mariah Carey’s holiday-themed chart domination has continued into the New Year.

The 54-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” adds a record-extending 18th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 chart (dated Jan. 6, 2024).

Mariah CareyThe Yuletide classic, released in 1994, also tops the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart for a record-tying 13th week.

The track leads the Global 200 for a fifth consecutive week, with 159 million streams (up 38%) – the song’s biggest global streaming week since the chart began – and 13,000 sold (up 9%) worldwide in the December 22-28 tracking week (thus, encompassing four days leading up to and including Christmas Day).

The song spends a record-extending 18th week at No. 1 on the Global 200, following four frames in both the 2020 and 2021 holiday seasons and five frames over last year’s holidays.

Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” concurrently tops the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart for a fifth week in a row, with 109.5 million streams (up 52%) and 6,000 sold (up 23%) outside the U.S. December 22-28.

The song tallies a record-tying 13th total week at No. 1, following one in the 2020 holiday season, three weeks the next year and four last season. It matches the 13-week reigns of Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” in 2023 and Harry Styles’ “As It Was” in 2022.

The Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts rank songs based on streaming and sales activity culled from more than 200 territories around the world, as compiled by Luminate. The Global 200 is inclusive of worldwide data and the Global Excl. U.S. chart comprises data from territories excluding the United States.

Chart ranks are based on a weighted formula incorporating official-only streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of audio and video music services, as well as download sales, the latter of which reflect purchases from full-service digital music retailers from around the world, with sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites excluded from the charts’ calculations.

“The Color Purple,” Starring Colman Domingo, Tops Box Office on Christmas Day

It’s a Purple reign for Colman Domingo this Christmas

The Color Purple, a vibrant adaptation of the book-turned-beloved-film-turned-hit-Broadway-musical and starring the 54-year-old Belizean-Guatemalan American actor and social justice activist, dominated at the box office on Christmas Day.

Colman Domingo,The film has outperformed expectations with $18 million from 3,152 North American theaters. It’s the largest Christmas Day opening for a film since 2009, and the second-biggest Christmas Day opening of all time.

Those ticket sales were enough to lead the way on Monday ahead of two other newcomers, Neon’s racing drama Ferrari and director George Clooney’s inspirational sports story The Boys in the Boat.

Boosted by positive reviews and a glowing “A” CinemaScore, The Color Purple marks the first musical in some time that’s resonated at the box office. The film, backed by Warner Bros. and directed by Blitz Bazawule, collected more in a single day than recent stage-to-screen stories — including West Side Story ($10.5 million), In the Heights ($11 million), Dear Evan Hansen ($7.5 million) and Cats ($6.6 million) — earned in their opening weekends.

The Color Purple benefitted by premiering on Christmas Day, one of the most popular days of the year for moviegoing. But this is a promising start for the $100 million-budgeted musical, which should benefit from word of mouth in the coming days.

“The Color Purple” looks to remain the de facto choice for families over the remainder of what has otherwise been a lackluster holiday season. American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino brings to life the trials, tribulations and triumphs of Celie, a Black woman living in Georgia in the early 1900s. Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Domingo as  Albert “Mister” Johnson, and Halle Bailey round out the cast.

Mariah Carey Makes Billboard Hot 100 History with “All I Want for Christmas Is You”

Mariah Carey has made history yet again on the Billboard Hot 100

The 54-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning songstress has become the first artist to score three No. 1 singles of at least 14 weeks each on the Billboard Hot 100 as her holiday hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” tops the chart for a second consecutive week.

Mariah CareyIt now logs a 14th total week at No. 1 dating back to its first coronation in December 2019.

Notably, the modern Yuletide standard is Carey’s third Hot 100 leader of at least 14 weeks – as she becomes the first artist in the chart’s history with three such No. 1s.

She previously reigned for 16 weeks with “One Sweet Day,” with Boyz II Men, in 1995-96 and for 14 weeks with “We Belong Together” in 2005.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” has ruled the Hot 100 over five holiday seasons. It was originally released on Carey’s album Merry Christmas in November 1994 and, as streaming has growna nd holiday music has become more prominent on streaming services’ playlists, it hit the top 10 for the first time in December 2017 and has now led during the holidays in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two), 2021 (three), 2022 (four) and 2023 (two to date).

The track, released via Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings, drew 48.4 million streams (up 15%) and 31.7 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 21%) and sold 7,000 downloads (down 7%) in the U.S. December 15-21, according to Luminate.

The single holds at No. 2 on the Streaming Songs chart, following 18 weeks at No. 1; dips 3-4 on Digital Song Sales, following four frames at No. 1; and rises 22-17 on Radio Songs, where it hit a No. 11 high last season.

Carey is the first artist with three songs that have dominated the Hot 100 for 14 or more weeks each. She one-ups Boyz II Men, who have notched three leaders of 13 or more frames apiece, with Carey and the group having teamed for the 16-week No. 1 smash “One Sweet Day.”

Here’s a recap of Carey’s three such Hot 100 No. 1s:

16 weeks, “One Sweet Day,” with Boyz II Men, 1995-96
14 weeks (to-date), “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” 2019-23
14 weeks, “We Belong Together,” 2005

Carey also adds her record-extending 93rd week at No. 1 on the Hot 100, dating to the chart’s August 4, 1958, inception.

Most Weeks at No. 1 on Hot 100:

93, Mariah Carey
60, Rihanna
59, The Beatles
56, Drake
50, Boyz II Men
47, Usher
43, Beyoncé
37, Michael Jackson
34, Adele
34, Elton John
34, Bruno Mars
34, Taylor Swift

“All I Want for Christmas is You” became Carey’s 19th Hot 100 No. 1, the most among soloists and one away from The Beatles’ overall record 20. It also made Carey the first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the chart in four distinct decades, dating to her first week on top in August 1990 with her debut hit, “Vision of Love.”

The Hot 100 blends all-genre U.S. streaming (official audio and official video), radio airplay and sales data, the lattermost metric reflecting purchases of physical singles and digital tracks from full-service digital music retailers; digital singles sales from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sites are excluded from chart calculations.

Ally Brooke Teams Up with Dinah Jane to Release “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” Cover

Ally Brooke is hoping you get you into the holiday spirit…

The 30-year-old Mexican American singer has joined voices with her former Fifth Harmony group mate Dinah Jane to release their rendition of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.”

Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane

Ally Brooke’s single with Dinah Jane follows on the heels of her recently-released four-track holiday EP Under The Tree, which includes the title track, an original song.

Ally and Dinah made the collaboration announcement by way of their socials earlier in the week.

“I’m beyond thrilled to be back together with my former Fifth Harmony mate Dinah,” Ally enthuses in a statement. “There are no words to explain how it feels to be reunited with our collaboration. We hope to bring lots of happiness to our fans and the world with our reunion.”

Christmas is, of course, a time for family. And this holiday cut represents the first time any of the former 5H bandmates have collaborated since the pop group went on hiatus in 2018.

Formed on The X Factor in 2012 with the lineup of Brooke, Jane, Normani, Lauren Jauregui, and Camila Cabello, the group went on to land four top 10 titles on the Billboard 200 chart, and earned a top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Work From Home” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, peaking at No. 4 in 2016.

“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” comes years after Fifth Harmony disbanded, at the time reduced to a four-piece when Cabello left.

Jane presents the new song as a special gift to long-suffering Harmonizers.

“There’s a special type of joyous spirit that Christmas brings us all,” she comments. “This holiday season, I’m grateful for this healing union that has brought my good ole sister Ally Brooke and I together through music”.

“May this song encourage you to embrace love, forgiveness, and bring comfort to all,” concludes Dinah. “I pray that this song may connect souls to our dear Savior as His love is the reason for all seasons.”

“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” is now bundled into Brooke’s Under the Tree collection.