Country Singer Andy Stone Is Suing Mariah Carey Over Her Holiday Hit (Again)
'Tis the season for presents, Christmas cookies and lawsuits. Country singer Andy Stone is once again suing Mariah Carey over her mega holiday hit "All I Want for Christmas Is You," and he is seeking $20 million in damages.
In the civil lawsuit filed in the Central District of California, Stone — whose stage name is Vince Vance — is claiming "copyright infringement and unjust enrichment," claiming Carey's song borrows from his 1989 song of the same name. He is suing Carey, co-writer Walter Afanasieff and Sony Music Entertainment.
He filed a similar suit in Louisiana last June, but it was dropped five months later.
Vince Vance's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (1989)
Vince Vance & the Valiants released "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in 1989, from an album of the same name. The song charted on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart a few times in 1993 and 1994.
His mid-tempo version — with vocals from Lisa Burgess-Stewart — tells the story of not wanting any fancy gifts or holiday traditions. Instead, the narrator only wants their sweetheart by their side for Christmas. It's a love story told through the lens of the holiday season.
"I don't need expensive things / They don't matter to me / All that I want, it can't be found / Underneath the Christmas tree," Burgess-Stewart pines in the chorus.
The song does not track word-for-word lyrics with Carey's version, but the theme surrounding the song is similar.
Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (1994)
Carey debuted the holiday anthem "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on Oct. 29, 1994, from her Merry Christmas album. The track charted on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart at the time and became a No. 1 hit again 25 years later. It's the longest gap between a release date and topping a chart for a song.
Her upbeat version also tells a love story through the lens of Christmas. The narrator does not care about the presents under the tree or the decorations hung around her. She proclaims that she will forego all of the fun the holiday has to offer if she doesn't have her baby by her side.
"Oh I just want you for my own (Ooh) / More than you could ever know (Ooh) / Make my wish come true / Oh baby, all I want for Christmas is you," Carey belts out in the chorus.
The song has become the juggernaut of holiday tunes and usually starts resurfacing on the charts weeks before the season begins. Carey has also become the unofficial Queen of Christmas, who holds the right to declare the beginning of the holiday season once Halloween is over.
This year, she created a video of herself being defrosted from a block of ice as the clock ticks down the final seconds of Halloween. At last, she breaks free from the ice with her iconic high-pitched vocals, signaling the start of Christmas.
Stone Is Suing Carey for Copyright Infringement
Stone claims that Carey's song duplicated the "compositional structure" of his song. He also states that the peak success of his song came in 1993 and 1994, around the same time her track was released. Stone's team argues she had access to his version and did not seek a license or songwriting credit.
"Defendants knew or should have known that 'All I Want or Christmas is You' could not be used in a musical work by Defendants without a license and/or songwriting credit, as is customary practice in the music industry," documents People acquired state.
As for the similar titles, the lawsuit notes that the phrase "all I want for Christmas is you" was not coined by and did not originate from Stone.
Stone is asking for a jury trial and $20 million in damages.
