Mariah Carey thought she was too young to record a Christmas album.
The 55-year-old singer is celebrating 30 years since she released her ‘Merry Christmas’ LP and its most famous track, ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’, but she admitted she was very hesitant about the project when it was first suggested.
She recently told Best magazine: “I remember that I really wasn’t sure about doing a Christmas album, even though the record company thought it would be a good idea.
“I thought you did a Christmas album when you got older, not when you’re in your 20s, as I was at that time.
“So yeah, I was a little apprehensive, but then the more I thought about it and we thought about the songs, the more I got into it.
“By the time we had recorded it, I had Christmas decorations up in the studio and just had the best time.
“But even ‘All I Want For Christmas’ was not a big hit right away.
“It took a while but it slowly took off and got bigger and bigger. It’s incredible.”
When it came to writing ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’, Mariah wanted to channel the “positive” tracks of the 1950s and 60s and admitted even now, singing the song makes her happy because she knows how much it means to people.
She said: “I remember being inspired by songs from the 50s and 60s and how positive and uplifting they are.
“I wanted to write a song that captured the hopefulness of the holidays, so that when you heard it, you couldn’t help but be happy.
“It still makes me happy to sing it, as I know it makes so many people happy to hear it.
“It’s a song that has become part of so many people’s lives.”