Mariah Carey

For context, Walter Afanasieff collaborated with Carey on her first six studio albums and has won two Grammys: one in 1999 for Record Of The Year (for producing ...

“I am proud of this song that I wrote basically as a kid on my little Casio keyboard,” she said. The cowriter and coproducer on Mariah Carey’s much-loved Xmas song “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is refuting Carey’s claim that she wrote the song as a kid. “So the writing of ‘All I Want For Christmas’ is, I started playing a boogie-woogie, kind of a rock. He added: “So on and on, and it was like a game of ping-pong. [Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/pro/mariah-carey-christmas-hot-100-top-10-reaction/) that she came up with the song when she was a kid. For context, Walter Afanasieff collaborated with Carey on her first six studio albums and has won two Grammys: one in 1999 for Record Of The Year (for producing Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”), and in 2000 he won Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical.

Darlene Love, who sang "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," had her holiday shows sell out after Marah Carey called her the real "Queen of Christmas."

“The ‘Wall of Sound,’ that Phil Spector moment,” she continued. “We live for her, she can have that title forever, like we love that song.” Evans shared that although Love hasn’t spoken to Carey personally since the online chatter of who holds the “Queen of Christmas” title began, Love is thrilled by the praise.

It's an obvious choice in hindsight, but at the time it was a close race between Carey and Wilson Phillips.

See our [latest prediction champs](https://www.goldderby.com/best-prediction-scores/awards/league-data/). Can you top our [esteemed leaderboards](https://www.goldderby.com/article/2022/grammy-awards-2022-winners-best-prediction-scores/) next? Download our free and easy app for [Apple/iPhone devices](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1460576753) or [Android (Google Play)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pmc.goldDerby) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for [best prediction accuracy scores](https://www.goldderby.com/article/2022/grammys-2023-nominations-best-prediction-scores/). Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our [famous forums](https://www.goldderby.com/forums/) where thousands of showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. [Make your predictions](https://www.goldderby.com/leagues/) at Gold Derby now. [Hot 100](https://www.goldderby.com/feature/billboard-number-one-songs-2022-1204932145/) chart-toppers, earned a few more Grammys, and is now the Queen of Christmas and one of the most influential artists ever. [Wilson Phillips](https://www.goldderby.com/t/wilson-phillips/), a vocal trio formed by Carnie Wilson, Wendy Wilson, and Chynna Phillips (the respective daughters of Brian Wilson and John and Michelle Phillips, themselves very successful musicians from popular groups). To compare, Carey at the time of the Grammy nominations also had three number-one hits (eventually she’d get a fourth from that same album). Carey’s Best New Artist win is, to this day, one of the most amazing in that category. Wilson Phillips actually had the biggest hit of 1990 on their hands (“Hold On”); their album produced three number-one hits and two additional top-20 hits. While her music has never really been out-of-the-box, her vocals were, to the point where many credit “Vision of Love” for bringing back big vocals and melisma to the music scene in a big way; it has been called “ Her iconic hit has kept her name alive to younger generations, who might not know as much about the rest of her impressive career and the accolades and acclaim she’s gotten throughout.

Darlene Love is really feeling the love this holiday season ... her shows have sold out after getting blessings from Mariah Carey, who deemed her the ...

It didn't sit right with Darlene, who felt anyone should be free to use the term, [including herself](https://www.tmz.com/2022/11/15/darlene-love-queen-of-christmas-trademark-mariah-carey-denied/). Some of those fans have divided loyalty between her and Mariah ... Darlene's team says the acknowledgment helped sell out all 11 of her holiday shows! How's this for awesome ... One fan messaged her saying ... Darlene Love Shows Sell Out After Mariah Carey Calls Her Queen Of Christmas

Months after Love questioned Carey's attempt to trademark the "Queen of Christmas" title, a rep for the singer tells PEOPLE she'd like to record a new ...

Love would like to join forces with Carey for a new version of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) — aka the ultimate Christmas collaboration. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board blocked Carey's attempt](https://people.com/music/elizabeth-chan-blocks-mariah-carey-from-being-sole-queen-of-christmas/) of owning the exclusive rights to the title, along with her attempts to trademark "Princess Christmas" and "QOC." "I listened to that song every year — like, every year — and it was an homage to Darlene Love, the Queen of Christmas, Darlene Love, that we love!" "The last couple of shows that she was doing, they sold out right away, and a couple of the Mariah fans actually stood outside and wanted to get pictures with her," he says. "They said, 'Hey, we didn't like you, but we love you now,' and she was just happy to hear that this was all ended on a very positive note ... Patent and Trademark Office to legally market herself as the "Queen of Christmas" broke in August, Love took to Facebook to express her thoughts.

The 'All I Want For Christmas' co-writer Walter Afanasieff claims that Mariah Carey has been telling a “tall tale” about the origins of her Christmas hit.

[playing the piano](https://www.vulture.com/2018/03/mariah-carey-doesnt-give-a-damn-about-the-grammys.html). Carey’s been co-producing her own music since before she was [signed to Columbia records](https://www.vulture.com/article/mariah-carey-rarities-profile.html), before she had the help of the music industry. Most recently, in [her memoir](https://www.vulture.com/2020/10/mariah-carey-memoir-song-stories.html), she said the song came from her “little girl’s spirit and those early fantasies of family, and friendship.” [Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/pro/mariah-carey-christmas-hot-100-top-10-reaction/) in 2017 that she wrote the song “basically as a kid on [her] little Casio keyboard.” In another interview with [Cosmopolitan](https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a29574761/mariah-carey-december-interview/) and [Amazon Music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_Vhz5BiypU), she claims she turned on It’s A Wonderful Life to get into the Christmas spirit before heading to her keyboard to write the song. Lastly, Afanasieff forgets the most important piece of the puzzle: Mariah Carey is and [has always been twelve years old](https://www.vulture.com/article/mariah-carey-rarities-profile.html); therefore, she was a little girl when she wrote the song. She doesn’t play keyboard or piano.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty for Tony Awards Productions; Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage. Darlene Love is anything but "All Alone on Christmas" this year.

Longtime collaborator Walter Afanasieff played Grinch to the pop diva's claim that she basically wrote the song as a little girl.

Longtime collaborator Walter Afanasieff played Grinch to the pop diva's claim that she basically wrote the song as a little girl.

She doesn’t know a diminished chord from a minor seventh chord to a major seventh chord.” “I am proud of this song that I wrote basically as a kid on my little Casio keyboard,” she [told Billboard in 2017](https://www.billboard.com/pro/mariah-carey-christmas-hot-100-top-10-reaction/). She doesn’t play keyboard or piano. “But she doesn’t play anything. She doesn’t understand music, she doesn’t know chord changes and music theory or anything like that. He said there was “never any alternate story ...

Afanasieff also claimed that Mariah Carey doesn't know how to play instruments and said, "She doesn't play anything, she doesn't play keyboard or piano.

As per Walter's claims, they came up with the song together while working on three songs for her Christmas album, Merry Christmas. Walter Afanasieff recently appeared on the Hot Takes & Deep Dives with Jess Rothschild podcast, in which he revealed how he and Carey co-created the song after collaborating on her 1993 album Music Box. However, recently the song has been in the news for other reasons, as her former co-producer and co-writer has called out the singer for taking all credit for writing the popular track.

You haven't worked in days, there's a serious dent in your case of Christmas ales and the only non-football on the TV is Die Hard, a Christmas movie.

The clean, cool chill of the holiday air. Now grab the Q-tips, clean ’em out and fire up Napster! Everyone knows the most important December list is one that ranks Christmas movies one through ten. Secondly and probably most importantly, there’s plenty of Mila Kunis. We did the heavy lifting so you didn’t have to. This is Mila freakin Kunis.

Mariah Carey and the guy she wrote 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' with have some disagreements.

99.9 percent of all musicals struggle their entire lives and never create a song as listened to and widely beloved as “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Everyone involved should be enormously proud of themselves for creating something that lasts and [brings happiness to so many people](https://www.cinemablend.com/pop/1603450/mariah-carey-jams-out-to-all-i-want-for-christmas-at-home-because-of-course), no matter if one wrote 51% and the other 49%. Both she and Afanasieff agree she wrote basically all the lyrics and contributed to the melody, which, any way you look at it, is a significant contribution to the song. The marriage went south by the late '90s amidst a stream of accusations, and Afanasieff continued working with Mottola, while Carey moved on to new producers. Carey and Afanasieff worked together extensively during the early part of Carey's career, co-writing dozens of songs together. The popular singer’s eternal [pop culture phenomenon](https://www.cinemablend.com/news/1638169/one-of-mariah-careys-songs-is-getting-its-own-movie) “All I Want For Christmas Is You” races up the charts everytime December rolls around. [time for Mariah Carey to shine](https://www.cinemablend.com/television/its-early-days-but-mariah-carey-is-already-hyping-us-for-christmas-from-her-bathtub).

This holiday season, Mariah Carey is receiving criticism, and it's all due of her wildly popular song, "All I Want for Christmas.

Walter went on to say, "She doesn't know chord changes and music theory or anything like that. It was revealed by Walter, who co-wrote the Christmas song, that Mariah nearly certainly couldn't have come up with it on her alone. She stated in the documentary that "It's A Wonderful Life" was playing in a home in New York while she was there. She acknowledged that she is not a great pianist, even claiming that some of the tunes she writes are "happy accidents." [the 2019 documentary](https://variety.com/2019/music/news/mariah-carey-all-i-want-for-christmas-amazon-music-mini-documentary-watch-1203432538/)" Mariah Carey Is Christmas: The Story of "All I Want for Christmas Is You." The "We Belong Together" hitmaker revealed in 2017 that she first began writing the song on a piano as a young child.