Though Carey’s 1994 song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and Lee’s 1958 recording of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” have long been inescapable mainstays of holiday airplay, they only began topping the Billboard Hot 100 four years ago, decades after either was released. That’s thanks to a series of rule changes Billboard made to better reflect the streaming era. Those changes have kicked off something of a new holiday tradition, with the legendary artists and their festive jingles at the center, vying for the top spot each year.

So far, Carey has been the undisputed queen of the season, with her Christmas single hitting No. 1 on the Billboard chart for the first time in 2019 and reclaiming the top spot every year since. It is currently sitting at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and will likely once again reach the summit before Christmas.

Carey has made the song’s enduring seasonal appeal into a yearly event, teasing its ascension to the tops of the charts and holiday playlists around the world. It’s the gift that keeps on giving for the star: In 2021, the song earned close to $7 million in royalties globally, with Carey getting around $1.55 million of that, according to Billboard. (Other estimates put the royalties higher.) That’s a pretty good holiday bonus.

Lee hasn’t bested Carey on the Billboard chart, which counts radio airplay, streams, and physical sales; her song hit No. 2 for the first time in 2019 and has reached that spot in each subsequent year. But it’s just as important to the hall of famer’s career. For years, she played it as the last song of every live show, no matter the season.

This year, there is something of a social media push to finally get the 78-year-old another No. 1, and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” is currently sitting atop Spotify’s Top 50 in the U.S. Lee released a new holiday EP and the first ever music video for the song, which she recorded when she was just 13, earlier this month to aid the campaign. (She’s also been active on TikTok, if you want to hear about her career and some fun stories about Patsy Cline and the Beatles.)

“This song has been so special to me,” Lee said in a press release for the video. “I never thought it would be my signature song, but I love that it is because it brings so much joy.”

There are, of course, a few men who also enjoy the seasonal bump each year, including Bobby Helms with “Jingle Bell Rock,” Andy Williams with “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and the George Michael-led Wham! with “Last Christmas.” Still, Carey and Lee reign supreme.

Could it be Lee’s year to notch a holiday No. 1? She got close in 2022, according to data from Luminate. It’d be a fitting present for the song’s 65th year on the airwaves. 

Alicia Adamczyk
alicia.adamczyk@fortune.com
@AliciaAdamczyk

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PARTING WORDS

"The truth is that so many of us underrepresented communities are still just fighting to be visible."

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