WHEN it comes to Christmas, few things fail to capture the holiday spirit – twinkling lights, festive movies and, of course, the nation’s favorite carols.
But while these songs fill our homes with joy, they also fill the bank accounts of their authors with incredible amounts year after year.
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Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You is not the top earner in the world of Christmas musicCredit: Getty
Some of these seasonal hits have become financial goldmines, generating millions in royalties.
And not just for Mariah Carey.
In fact, while All I Want for Christmas Is You remains a perennial favorite, it’s not the biggest grosser in the world of Christmas music.
Another artist has quietly claimed the title, earning an estimated £1 million a year from one festive hit that continues to dominate the charts and playlists every December.
READ MORE about Mariah Carey
Below, The Sun’s rich list reveals the music industry’s biggest Christmas earners, with some surprising entries.
Slade, Merry Christmas everyone.
Annual royalties: £1 million. Total since publication: £50m.
Noddy Holder and Slade musician Jim Lea wrote the song which reached number one in 1973.
It has stood the test of time ever since, re-entering the charts every year and earning a pretty penny for the couple who wrote and composed it.
Today, Noddy, 77, started performing again, six years after being told he had just six months to live after being diagnosed with esophageal cancer.
Noddy, worth an estimated £25m, signed up for life-saving chemotherapy.
The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, Fairytale of New York
Annual royalties: £400,000. Total since release: £14.4m.
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The fairy tale of New York was created after a bet
A duet by Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl was performed at his funeral by Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Niell as his family danced in the aisles.
The Fairytale Of New York singer died last November aged 65 after a battle with ill health.
His 1987 song is about a couple arguing on Christmas Eve in New York.
It was written by Shane and Jem, who said the song started as a bet when the Irish band’s then-producer, Elvis Costello, joked that he would never be able to write a Christmas single.
Jem Finer is an artist and musician interested in reconfiguring old technologies.
“It’s not an empty, empty celebration of fun and overconsumption, but a human story that a lot of people can probably relate to,” he said of the song.
Mariah Carey, All I want for Christmas is you
Annual royalties: £400,000. Total since publication: £11.6m.
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Mariah Carey’s hit single earns £400,000 a year
Mariah may not want much for Christmas, but why would she when this song is making her millions?
The song, which has appeared in hit films such as Love Actually, has become a festive earworm since its release in 1994.
“When I wrote [it]I had no idea the impact the song would end up having around the world,” Carey said in 2021.
“I’m so grateful that so many people enjoy it with me every year.”
She’s probably just as grateful for the £11m it added to her £270m fortune.
Wizzard, I wish Christmas could be every day
Annual royalties: £180,000. Total since publication: £9m.
Wizzard was a rock band founded by Roy Wood, ex-Move member and co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra.
Their biggest song, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day, was released in 1973 and performed on Top of the Pops.
He famously reached second place in the charts after losing to Slade in a battle of true Christmas classics.
Roy, 77, still brings the holiday magic with his ‘Rockmas’ event, which this year stars Paul Young.
Chris Rea, Driving Home for Christmas
Annual royalties: £200,000. Total since publication: £7m.
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Driving Home for Christmas didn’t become number one until two years later
Although this song was released in 1986 as a non-album single, it didn’t capture the public’s attention for another two years, before climbing to number one on Christmas Day 1988.
But all these years later, it still gives families a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.
It also boosted Chris’s bank balance enough to charter a private jet instead of driving.
Jona Lewie – Stop the Cavalry
Annual royalties: £120,000. Total since release: £5.4m
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Jonah Lewie’s 1978 hit was an anti-war song
Jona, whose real name is John, says that thanks to the success of the 1978 film Stop the Cavalry, he is now just “tinkering” in his studio.
The song is an anti-war protest that begins “Hey, Mr. Churchill is coming here…”
He admits that he had no intention of making it a holiday song “I absolutely did not sit down with the idea of writing a big Christmas hit. I don’t think I would have succeeded.”
Jona added that this provides him with half of the income from the last catalog.
Shakin Stevens Merry Christmas everyone
Annual royalties: £140,000. Total since release: £5.32m.
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Songwriter Bob Heatlie got most of the money for the Shakin Stevens hit
Welsh singer-songwriter Michael Barratt had a number one hit with Merry Christmas Everyone (not to be confused with the almost identical Slade song) in 1985.
Poor old Shakey himself only gets a small fraction of the £140,000 in royalties though, as a key in the writing.
He picks up around £10,000, but the man behind the lyrics, Bob Heatlie, pockets a staggering £130,000 a year.
East 17, Stay another day
Annual royalties: £97,000. Total since publication: £2.81m
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East 17’s iconic outfit in the music video
Boy band members Brian Harvey, Tony Mortimer, John Hendy and Terry Coldwell’s iconic video for this chart-topping song saw them walking through the snow in white fur coats.
After the song was released in 1994, Tony said he wrote it after losing his brother Ollie to suicide, but changed it to a love song about losing a partner.
He said: “I’m really embarrassed to hear that.
“When I go to the supermarket, I pray it doesn’t turn on. My family never listens to that.”
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Source: HIS Education