Merry Christmas (Mariah Carey album) : Ask Biography

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'Merry Christmas' is a holiday album and fourth studio album by American singer Mariah Carey. Released by Columbia Records on November 1, 1994, the album features both cover versions of popular Christmas tunes, including some original material. On the album, Carey worked with Walter Afanasieff, with whom she wrote all of the original tracks, as well as producing Carey's interpretations of many holiday classics. With the release of Merry Christmas, Carey proved herself to be an entertainer, not just a pop-singer, as many began to speculate. The album contained a contemporary holiday theme, and featured "authentic, gospel flavored background vocals."

The album features instrumentation from keyboards, bass guitars, drums, percussion and heavy backing vocals. The main reason for the album's use of these instruments was to capture a "real and authentic church vibe," giving most of the songs a real Christmas and holiday sound. After its release, the album received generally positive reviews and became a worldwide success. Critics praised Carey's uplifting and flavored vocals, as well as her skilled songwriting alongside Afanasieff. Many singles were released from the album, being sent to different radio stations for promotional purposes.

Merry Christmas was released at the peak of the initial stretch of Carey's career, between Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995). The album produced the worldwide classic single, "All I Want for Christmas Is You," which became the best-selling holiday ringtone in the U.S. The album has sold 5,100,000 copies in the United States as of December 6, 2010 according to Nielsen SoundScan, and has been certified five-times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of five million copies in the United States. In Japan, Merry Christmas has sold over 2,500,000 copies and is the second best-selling album of all time by a non-Asian artist, behind only Carey's other release Number 1's. Merry Christmas has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling Christmas album of all time.