"I Came to Collect My Pension"... Female Singer Who Rakes in Huge Income Every Year-End

Mariah Carey Earns 2.1 Billion KRW Annually from Carol Royalties
Fans Joke "Carey Is Collecting Her Pension"

The season of the "Queen of Christmas" has returned. This is the story of pop star Mariah Carey, who hits famous carols and rakes in huge earnings every year at the end of the year.

Mariah Carey's carol "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is drawing attention as it ranked 40th on the official UK singles chart as of the 14th (local time).

This song is a track from Carey's album "Merry Christmas," released on October 29, 1994. It was a big hit at the time of release, but every November it re-enters the top ranks of the Billboard charts without fail, and it is still loved even after 30 years.

In 2018, the song set a daily streaming record on Spotify with 10,819,009 plays in one day, and in 2019, it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for the first time in 25 years. It was the first time in 60 years that a Christmas carol topped that chart. Since then, it has held the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three consecutive years during the Christmas season until last year.

Photo by Mariah Carey, Instagram capture

Moreover, since Carey wrote and composed the song herself and holds the copyright, the income he earns from this one song every year is enormous. Fans jokingly say, "The Christmas season is Mariah Carey's pension period."

According to a Billboard report last December, Mariah Carey earns about $1.55 million (approximately 2.1 billion KRW) annually from the royalties of "All I Want for Christmas Is You." The cumulative royalties are expected to reach 78.1 billion KRW by the end of this year.

Because of this, Carey has been posting videos on her social network service (SNS) announcing the start of the carol season for several years, bringing smiles to her fans. In 2020, a video was posted where a stranger opens a door with the words "Not yet," and Carey, who was inside the room, looks at a clock and shouts, "It’s time!"

On the 1st of this month, she also posted a video on her Instagram showing herself breaking free from ice, saying, "The time has come." The post has recorded over 2.76 million likes as of the 16th.

Mariah Carey debuted like a comet in 1990 with her self-titled album, sweeping the Billboard charts and Grammy Awards with her explosive vocal power and rising to stardom. Although she went through a brief slump, she has maintained her position as one of the world's top female musicians by releasing numerous hits over 30 years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.