Oh Santa!

Album: Merry Christmas II You (2010)
Charted: 50 76
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Songfacts®:

  • This is the lead single from American R&B singer-songwriter Mariah Carey's second Christmas album Merry Christmas II You. The song premiered on AOL Music on October 1, 2010.
    Carey is one of the few modern artists to write and record an original Christmas song that has become a mainstay of the holiday season, as "All I Want For Christmas Is You," taken from her first Christmas album in 1994, is revived every year.
  • The song was written by Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox and is one of four brand new tracks on the album. The festive tune has Carey wishing that Santa bring her back her "baby" for Christmas.
  • Carey and Jermaine Dupri have created many hits together, including "Always Be My Baby" and "We Belong Together." She told MTV News: "I always love working with Jermaine. Every time it's just ... it reminds me of the first time we worked together, which was 'Always Be My Baby.' Once you do a song like that and you have it forever, you wanna just continue to try and re-create that magic, so that's what we do."
  • Mariah Carey re-recorded and re-released the song in 2020 as a remix featuring Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson. The new version was recorded for the soundtrack of Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special, a holiday spectacular on Apple TV+.
  • The 2020 version of "Oh Santa!" finds the three singers trading verses and harmonies.

    "When we had the chance [to work] with Ari and with Jennifer Hudson, I was like, 'Let's do a girls group, like a Supremes vibe,'" Carey told Apple Music. "I feel like the featured moments here were really fun, because you hear J Hud, you know it's her. You hear Ariana, you're like, 'Oh, wow, that sounds so great,' a new interpretation of that moment. Then I'm there as the one that wrote the song and put the whole thing together. It's fun."

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