Co-writer behind Mariah Carey hit slams singer
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The co-writer and co-producer behind Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You says the diva has concocted a “false tale” about the origin of the Christmas hit.
Mariah has claimed for years that she wrote the song as a child on her Casio keyboard one lonely Christmas night, but longtime collaborator Walter Afanasieff says this is not true.
Talking with him hot shots and deep dives podcast, Afanasieff claims that he and Carey created the song together shortly after collaborating on their hit 1993 album Music Box.
The co-writer and co-producer behind Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You claims the diva lied about how the song came to be. Mariah is photographed in 2010
“We were both on the same page about how we wrote All I Want For Christmas Is You, there was never an alternate history until probably 10 years ago,” he said.
‘When she started hinting at the fact that “Oh, I wrote that song when I was a kid!” But why didn’t you say that for 12, 13 or 15 years before that? So it just played out in her mind,” she continued.
‘She doesn’t play anything, she doesn’t play the keyboard or the piano. She doesn’t understand music, she doesn’t know about chord changes or music theory or anything like that. She doesn’t recognize a diminished chord from a minor 7th chord to a major 7th chord.
“So to say that she wrote a very complicated song with chord structure with her finger on a Casio keyboard when she was a child, that’s kind of a tall tale.”
Mariah’s former collaborator, Walter Afanasieff (pictured), says he created the song with the Vision of Love singer during a songwriting session, while she claims she wrote the song as a child on her Casio keyboard.
When asked to explain how the song actually came about, Afanasieff said he and the diva came up with it together while working on three original songs for her upcoming holiday album, Merry Christmas.
The pair had previously worked on several of their studio albums, including Emotions and Music Box.
Both Afanasieff and Carey are equally credited for All I Want For Christmas Is You with no other writers or producers.
Afanasieff said that the diva was largely responsible for the melodies and lyrics, while he did all the music and chords.
All I Want For Christmas Is You was released in 1994 as part of Mariah’s Merry Christmas album and became one of the most successful Christmas songs of all time.
‘I studied music, I have degrees in music. I am an accomplished orchestrator and arranger. I teach music. I’m not an idiot. I don’t play by ear,’ he added.
He won the 1999 Grammy Award in the Record of the Year category for producing Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.”
Mariah has stated in the past that she came up with All I Want For Christmas Is You as a child, telling Billboard in 2017, “I’m proud of this song that I basically wrote as a kid on my little Casio keyboard.”
Two years later, he told a more elaborate version of the story to Cosmopolitan magazine.
“I just sat down and decorated a little tree and put on It’s A Wonderful Life and tried to get into that frame of mind,” she reflected.
“I’m proud of this song that I basically wrote as a kid on my little Casio keyboard!” Mariah has often claimed that she wrote the song when she was a child.
Then I sat in this little room with a keyboard and started making little melodies and stuff. I was going through all the things I think about at Christmas that make me happy and how to turn it around and turn it into a love song.
According to Varietyhe repeated this story in the Amazon Music documentary ‘Mariah Carey is Christmas: The Story of ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’.
Afanasieff has publicly objected to Carey’s version of events several times over the years, and as a result, claims that the diva’s fans have teased him and his wife on social media.
‘Mariah has been wonderful, positive and a force of nature. She’s the one who made the song a hit and she’s amazing,” she told Variety in 2019.
The hitmaker appears in the music video for All I Want For Christmas Is You.
‘But she definitely doesn’t share the credit where it’s due. As a result, she has damaged my reputation a lot, and as a result, she has left a bittersweet taste in my mouth. he continued.
“Because here it is, such a wonderful and huge event for me, but my life is being threatened on the internet, because Mariah’s fans are accusing me of stealing from her.”
All I Want For Christmas Is You was released in 1994 and became one of the most successful Christmas songs of all time.
It returns to the top of the charts every year around December and is now a huge hit on streaming services with younger listeners.
Afanasieff has publicly objected to Carey’s version of events multiple times over the years, and as a result, claims he has been picked on by fans of the diva on social media.