Mariah Carey 'never imagined' All I Want for Christmas Is You would be a hit

Mariah Carey "never imagined" All I Want for Christmas Is You would be such a major hit.

The superstar recorded the song for her first holiday album, Merry Christmas, in 1994. Since then, All I Want for Christmas Is You has become a festive classic and surges in popularity during each holiday season.

Speaking about the track during an interview for W magazine, Mariah recalled how she come up with the basic idea while playing around on a keyboard.

"I had a keyboard, and, no, I am by no means a piano player, but I can pluck out chords when I need to," she said. "I didn't want it to feel specific to any era, so we didn't use sounds that were happening at that time. That way, it would feel classic and timeless. But I could never have imagined that it would become such a major part of my life."

Mariah went on to share how she was concerned it was a little too early for her to release a holiday album in the mid-1990s.

"Okay, so the idea of me doing a Christmas album at all came from the record company. It was very early in my career, and I thought it was a little early for me to be doing that, but I was like, 'Well, I love Christmas.' I had some very sad Christmases as a child, but I always try to find the bright light there," the Believe hitmaker added.