Mariah Carey earned an incredible net worth throughout her music career. Here’s how much she made from All I Want for Christmas is You.
Mariah Carey’s career has been wildly successful over the past two decades, reaching the top of virtually every ranking in the music industry. This, of course, earned Mariah Carey a substantial net worth, as well as millions in royalties every year.
Imagine having an idea for a cheerful little song, writing it in under 15 minutes, and making $600,000 yearly in royalties from copyright. Well, that’s exactly what happened to Mariah Carey, a testament to the level of success she reached over the years.
Throughout her career, Mariah won 5 Grammy Awards, 15 Billboard Music Awards, 10 American Music Awards, and 19 World Music Awards. She is the second best-selling female artist of all time behind Madonna and remains in the top 15 most successful singers in the world.
Her debut album, Mariah Carey, was a phenomenal success, reaching number 1 on the US Billboard 200 within a week of release, and remaining in that same list for two weeks straight.
The album was promoted by Columbia Records and its CEO Tommy Mottola, who would later become Mariah’s husband.
Together with Tommy, Mariah recorded her second album too: Emotions. This record was considered better than the previous one by critics, although it did not receive the same amount of financial success.
Mariah Carey’s success and net worth
Mariah Carey had shown enormous potential with her first two albums, and she would finally prove her worth with her third: Music Box, which remained on the US Billboard 200 for a stunning 128 weeks.
The following album, however, would be the one to carry Mariah to the stars. Merry Christmas was not only an amazing success, it still remains one of the most beloved records of all time. With worldwide sales of 15 million copies, it’s the best-selling Christmas album of all time.
The single All I Want for Christmas is You is a staple in every household during the winter holidays and earned Mariah $600,000 in royalties every year since its release. The best part is that, according to Mariah herself, it took less than 15 minutes to write the whole song.
After divorcing from Mottola and signing a contract for Virgin Records, Mariah risked many times physical and mental exhaustion from work. She had to be hospitalized several times following a breakdown.
Fortunately, Mariah’s time at Virgin was short-lived, and she found renewed success with her following albums.
Overall, Maria Carey is one of the richest artists in the world, with a total net worth of $340 million. To this day, she continues to be an influential and relevant songwriter, inspiring new generations of music artists.
