Mariah Carey hit by $20m lawsuit over Christmas anthem

For decades, no festive period has been complete without the comforting opening jingle of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You”.

As the artist behind what is possibly the most popular Christmas song of all time, Carey has long been considered the “Queen of Christmas”, and she entertains fans each year by declaring the start of the season as soon as Halloween ends.

Yet, there now seems to be a new tradition that accompanies discussion of her 1994 Yuletide hit – other artists requesting a piece of the (Christmas) pudding.

Country musician Andy Stone has filed a civil lawsuit against the multi-award-winning star, alleging that she copied his 1989 song, also titled “All I Want for Christmas is You”.

Stone submitted court documents on Tuesday (31 October), defrosting his $20m (£16.4m) copyright infringement claim from last year. He initially filed a lawsuit against Carey and her co-songwriter Walter Afansieff in Louisiana in June 2022, before dropping it five months later.

According to Stone, Carey would have been aware of his song prior to releasing her homonymous hit.

Legal documents obtained by People magazine detail Stone’s claim that his song, released with the band Vince Vance & The Valiants, received radio play in 1993 before becoming a hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart the following year, around the same time Carey’s chart-topping anthem was released.

The filing also claims that Carey copied the “compositional structure” of Stone’s song. However, it acknowledges that the phrase “all I want for Christmas is you” was not originated by Stone.

Mariah Carey (Getty Images for Global Citizen)

In a statement, Stone’s manager Jay Ceravolo said: “Now we are moving forward to a financial conclusion either through settlement or a trial… It is simply a case of copyright infringement.”

The 2022 lawsuit stated that Carey and her collaborators “knowingly, willfully, and intentionally engaged in a campaign” to infringe Stone’s copyright for the song.

When Stone dropped the case in November 2022, it was noted that he’d legally be allowed to refile at a later date.

The Independent has reached out to a representative of Mariah Carey for comment.

Elsewhere, Carey marked the start of the Christmas period with her annual announcement on 1 November, immediately after Halloween.

In the cheerful clip, posted to social media on Wednesday, Carey “defrosted herself” from a closed vault, ready to reign for the final two months of the year.

As of 2021, Carey’s 1994 album Merry Christmas had sold 15 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling holiday albums of all time.