‘All I Want for Christmas’ entered into Library of Congress National Recording Registry

Christmas may be months away but Mariah Carey got an early gift.

Her iconic holiday song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is among the 25 songs selected to enter the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.

“The National Recording Registry preserves our history through recorded sound and reflects our nation’s diverse culture,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a news release. “The national library is proud to help ensure these recordings are preserved for generations to come, and we welcome the public’s input on what songs, speeches, podcasts or recorded sounds we should preserve next. We received more than 1,100 public nominations this year for recordings to add to the registry.”

Carey took to Twitter after the announcement, thanking the Library of Congress for the honor.

I’m honored beyond belief!
I definitely did not even imagine this would happen when writing and recording this song! Thank you so much Ms. Hayden and the @librarycongress 💝🦋 https://t.co/18AxcsjIIT
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) April 12, 2023

Carey said that she took inspiration from her own Christmas wishes to write the holiday staple almost 30 years ago.

“I tried to tap into my childhood self, my little girl self, and say, ‘What are all the things I wanted when I was a kid?’” she said, according to a press release from the Library of Congress. “I wanted it to be a love song because that’s kind of what people relate to, but also a Christmas song that made you feel happy.”

Carey is not alone in the honor this year. Twenty-four other recordings were also added to the registry, bringing the total to 625 including:

“The Very First Mariachi Recordings” — Cuarteto Coculense (1908-1909), rereleased in 1998
“St. Louis Blues” — Handy’s Memphis Blues Band (1922)
“Sugar Foot Stomp” — Fletcher Henderson (1926)
Dorothy Thompson: Commentary and Analysis of the European Situation for NBC Radio (Aug. 23-Sept. 6, 1939)
“Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around” — The Fairfield Four (1947)
“Sherry” — The Four Seasons (1962)
“What the World Needs Now is Love” — Jackie DeShannon (1965)
“Wang Dang Doodle” — Koko Taylor (1966)
“Ode to Billie Joe” — Bobbie Gentry (1967)
“Déjà Vu” — Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (1970)
“Imagine” — John Lennon (1971)
“Stairway to Heaven” — Led Zeppelin (1971)
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” — John Denver (1971)
“Margaritaville” — Jimmy Buffett (1977)
“Flashdance…What a Feeling” — Irene Cara (1983)
“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” — Eurythmics (1983)
“Synchronicity” — The Police (1983)
“Like a Virgin” — Madonna (1984)
“Black Codes (From the Underground)” — Wynton Marsalis (1985)
Super Mario Bros. theme — Koji Kondo, composer (1985) - the first video game soundtrack
“All Hail the Queen” — Queen Latifah (1989) - first female rapper inducted
“All I Want for Christmas is You” — Mariah Carey (1994)
“Pale Blue Dot” — Carl Sagan (1994)
“Gasolina” — Daddy Yankee (2004)
“Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra” — Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, composer (2012)