Entertainment
Christmas hits mint millions each December — from Mariah Carey to Wham!, this is why
The holiday season is best known for Christmas music ,a soundtrack that returns each December to dominate playlists and charts globally.
This year, however, the competition has taken a dramatic turn—one that left music fans and critics buzzing.
For a long time, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You’ dominated the Christmas music scene, its opening lyrics instantly evoking the festive season.
But, this December, Wham!’s cherished classic “Last Christmas” managed to dethrone Carey’s all-time favorite from the Billboard Global 200, marking a milestone shift in the holiday dynasty.
As the festive season approaches, so does an annual takeover of playlists globally.
Because—Christmas music isn’t just nostalgic—it’s one of the most reliable minting machines in the music industry.
Streaming platforms have transformed these songs into annual revenue cycles, with plays skyrocketing every November and December.
Here are the standout performers who’ve turned Christmas season into a perennial payday, minting millions year after year.
Michael Bublé rules the Christmas charts
Michael Bublé dominates the holiday streaming charts, consolidating his status as a modern-day Christmas music legend.
His festive collection—spearheaded by the perennial favorite ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,‘ is estimated to bring in around $16 million in recent festive periods, backed by huge streaming figures and a strong presence on global playlists.
Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’
Since its release in 1994, Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ has become an annual revenue engine.
The iconic hit generates a reported $1.8 to $2.2 for Carey each Christmas season.
With lifetime royalties having surged past £44 million and continuing to grow.
Wham!’s billion-stream bonanza
With over 1.66 billion Spotify streams, Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ has earned approximately $6.6 million from the platform, making it as one of the highest-grossing festive songs in music history.
Ariana Grande’s ‘Santa Tell Me’
Ariana Grande has broken into the Christmas music elite with ‘Santa Tell Me,’ a modern holiday anthem that now earns more than £1.7 million each year, standing tall among all other Christmas hits ruled by classic artists.
Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmastime’
Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime generates has amassed nearly £12 million over its lifetime, proving that how even low-key Christmas tracks can become enduring revenue assets.
How did Christmas songs become such consistent revenue giants?
The answer is pretty straightforward, holiday classics don’t disappear—they simply hibernate.
Thanks to streaming platforms, these tracks now live in a yearly cycle: plays soar each November and December, then drop until the next season arrives.
Gone are the days of relying only on radio or CDs. Today. Billions of streams keep the royalties flowing year after year, ensuring artists and their estates earn effortlessly, season after season.
Entertainment
Ryan Gosling signs up with recent Oscar winning directors for new movie
Ryan Gosling is wasting no time lining up his next major project.
Days after Project Hail Mary shattered box office records, the actor has signed on to star in the next film from Everything Everywhere All at Once directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the filmmaking duo known as the Daniels.
The untitled Universal Pictures project is currently set for release on 19 November 2027, with the news confirmed by multiple outlets on Thursday, 26 March.
The timing is striking.
Project Hail Mary, Gosling’s new science fiction adventure, opened to $80.6 million at the domestic box office in its first weekend, with a further $60.4 million collected internationally.
That makes it the biggest opening ever for an Amazon MGM Studios release, surpassing 2023’s Creed III, and the largest domestic debut of the year so far, ahead of February’s Scream 7.
Kwan and Scheinert, both 38, became one of Hollywood’s most sought-after creative forces after Everything Everywhere All at Once swept the 2023 Academy Awards, winning seven Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh and Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan.
Gosling has been vocal about his belief in the theatrical experience.
At a surprise appearance at a New York City screening of Project Hail Mary earlier this week, he told the audience it was the film industry’s “job to make things that make it worth you coming out” to cinemas.
His schedule for the next few years is formidable.
Alongside the Daniels project, he is set to star in the next Star Wars film, Starfighter, due in May 2027, and an action comedy with Will Ferrell titled Tough Guys.
Entertainment
Tom Felton exhibits shock over fans reaction to ‘Potter’ pronunciation
Tom Felton has revealed he had absolutely no idea that his sneering pronunciation of the word Potter would become one of the most celebrated moments in Harry Potter history, and credits his older brothers for unknowingly teaching him how to do it.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast on Thursday, 26 March, the 38-year-old actor said of the now-famous delivery.
“I don’t know how that’s become an iconic thing. I certainly had no idea.” He traced the pronunciation back to his childhood dynamic as the youngest of four brothers.
“I have three older brothers, so they all would always call me something like maggot or runt. Runt of the pack. Because I was the youngest and the shortest considerably. So I don’t remember ever thinking about it for a second. But ‘Potter,’ it just got more and more venomous.”
He marvelled at the reaction it still prompts.
“All you have to do is say that in the company of a Potter fan and… goosebumps and, like, applause, something happens,” he said.
“I never knew any of these things were gonna be iconic lines.”
Felton is currently back in the Slytherin robes on Broadway, playing Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which picks up 19 years after the events of Deathly Hallows and follows the next generation of Hogwarts students.
He told podcast host Josh Horowitz that he has smuggled at least one of his most famous film lines into the stage production, not through planning, but instinct.
“I said it once spontaneously in rehearsals and John Tiffany, our fabulous director, who’s been doing it out for ten years, I could see his eyes twinkle and go, ‘Yes. Put that back in.'”
The response from audiences has been predictable.
“It’s, needless to say, quite a hit every night,” he added.
Entertainment
Diddy’s family faces another major setback after terrifying security scare
Sean Diddy Combs’ son, Christian King Combs and his girlfriend Raven Tracy were targeted in an attempted break-in at their Los Angeles home early Thursday morning.
The LAPD rushed to their Porter Ranch mansion after an employee called police around 12:45 a.m.
The horrifying incident was a “burglary hot prowl,” which means someone tried to break in while people could have been home.
Luckily, neither King nor Raven were inside at the time as police said that no shots were fired and no suspects have been caught.
Reports, however, revealed that the people, who did that, tried to force open the back door but failed.
Tracy owns the mansion and last year she shared on her Instagram that it was their first home together. King is very close to his father Diddy and often works with him on projects.
This is not the first time celebrities in Los Angeles have faced such issue and been targeted as recently, homes belonging to Rachel Zoe, Kathy Hilton, Sutton Stracke, Lionel Richie, Brad Pitt, Teddi Mellencamp and Nicole Kidman were also faced attempted burglaries.
Many of these incidents, however, happened while the stars were away, showing how careful celebrities need to be about home security.
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