Mariah Carey Is Being Sued Over Her Most Popular Song
Every holiday season we are bombarded with a certain Mariah Carey song, which is now the subject of a lawsuit against the singer.
Every holiday season, we are all bombarded with the hammering of Mariah Carey cutting her way through radio stations and shopping malls. Arguably one of the most popular Christmas songs ever, Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” has appeared on the Billboard top 100 charts every year since 2019. That, and it has been popular for more than twenty-five years, as the song was initially recorded in 1994. However, not all is great with the song, as it has now been stated that Carey is being sued by a musician named Andy Stone, who says the song was lifted from his creation.
Andy Stone performs as Vince Vance and his band is called Vince Vance & the Valiants. Apparently, Stone had previously recorded a variation of the hit Mariah Carey song, which he claims has also been played on the radio in 1993. He claims that the track had been played “extensively” during the Christmas season of that year. His claim also states that Carey and her representation copied his “popularity and unique style.” Based on the claims of this lawsuit, Stone is seeking $20 million in damages from Carey, the co-writer of the song, and Sony Music Entertainment for copyright infringement, misappropriation, and many other claims.
The confusing thing about this lawsuit is why it took Stone this long to attempt to sue Mariah Carey for her usage of his song. Even stranger is that Stone’s song has a different melody and lyrics. It doesn’t necessarily sound as if Stone is going to win this case. However, an interesting development in the case was that Stone and his lawyers contacted Carey and her representation back in April of 2021 about this alleged unauthorized use, but an agreement had not been reached. Does this mean that the popular singer was attempting to admit that she had been given a stolen song? Or rather, maybe they just wanted to pay this guy off to make him go away. This is all just speculation, but it could be true.
No one from the camp of Mariah Carey or Sony Music Entertainment has commented on this lawsuit, so it stands to reason they are attempting to figure out their next move, and if Stone has any basis in which they would lose this case. This is certainly an odd lawsuit considering it has been nearly 30 years that Stone has waited until bringing up the fact that his song had been stolen. Then again, he could have waited this long to be able to afford a lawyer that could potentially win this case. Affording a competent lawyer is no easy task.
Not that anyone would miss having to hear Mariah Carey belt out “All I Want for Christmas is You” every holiday season, but we may be entering a strange world should she decide to just pull the song altogether. The headache of a lawsuit might now be worth the song being played on the radio. However, she could still be making millions from the song, even after all these years, so maybe paying $20 million won’t be that bad.
