Mariah Carey’s Christmas Rules: Lots of Music, No Smartphones

Having sold more than 14 million copies of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” since 1994, Mariah Carey has often been described as the Queen of Christmas.

And it appears she won’t be stepping down from the throne anytime soon, as the 19-year-old single continues to dominate Billboard music charts: It’s currently No. 1 on the Holiday 100, Holiday Airplay, Holiday Digital Songs and Holiday Streaming Songs charts.

But what does the queen herself listen to to get herself into the holiday spirit?

“Oh my goodness, I have a Christmas playlist that is endless,” she told Mashable. “If you go to my Christmas playlist on Spotify [embedded below] — it can play in the background. Before Spotify, I did my Christmas playlist every year, and I still do. I haven’t given away my entire playlist on Spotify because it’s huge, but you’ll get a taste of what I usually pick.”

Her playlist includes such holiday favorites as Bing Crosby, Wham, Faith Hill, Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross, among a few others. Music, unsurprisingly, plays a major role for Carey and her family during this time of year.

“We must interact as human beings during the holiday and listen to music fervently,” she added. “When people come to stay with me at Christmas time, Christmas music is the only music that’s allowed to be played. And there are no devices that are allowed to be used. So if they want to stay on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or anything, they have to go and hide in their room.”

– Bryan Hernandez