Andy Stone and Troy Powers, of Vince Vance & The Valiants, launched a lawsuit against Mariah Care in 2023 over her track All I Want for Christmas Is You – but they’ve now been ordered to compensate her
Mariah Carey has been rewarded following a lawsuit against her(Image: Penske Media via Getty Images)
Mariah Carey scored an early gift this year – as she made a gain in a lawsuit over her hit song All I Want for Christmas Is You. The chart topping star has been locked in legal issues over the smash festive hit since 2023 after she was first sued by two songwriters over the 1994 track.
Songwriters Andy Stone and Troy Powers, of Vince Vance & The Valiants, claimed she had ripped off their 1989 song, which had the same name. The duo launched a lawsuit against Mariah, 56, demanding compensation to the tune of $20 million (£14.8 million).
A judge ultimately dismissed the case – but the legal drama has continued, and Mariah seems set to benefit from the next stage. The judge of the case has ordered that the Vince Vance & The Valiants musicians pay compensation to the Grammy-winning superstar.
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The star was sued over her 1994 hit single All I Want For Christmas Is You(Image: Getty Images for Live Nation Las)
According to TMZ, Mariah has been awarded $92,303.20 (£68,394.36) in sanctions. While Complex reports that the judge argued Stone and Powers’s lawsuit lacked merit and “determined there was good reason to stop people from filing baseless lawsuits.”
Within the court documents shared online, Stone argued that the Vince Vance & The Valiants song titled All I Want for Christmas Is You had “extensive airplay” during the 1993 festive season, which was argued as significant as this was the year before Carey released her version.
Carey’s latest legal win comes just as her festive track broke another record. Billboard declared that the singer has hit a milestone of spending her 100th week at No. 1 on the Hot 100 after her 1994 song returned to the top of the chart. The track, along with 18 other songs including Visions of Love, Emotions, Touch My Body and My All, was at Number 1 for 100 weeks combined.
Kylie Minogue scored the Christmas Number 1 in the UK
While All I Want for Christmas Is You is a record breaker in itself, as it has the longest leading No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with 21 weeks. As of December 2025, Billboard reported that it has peaked at No. 1 on the Hot 100 each holiday season since December 2019.
Over in the UK, another chart icon has been crowned the winner of the Christmas Number 1 spot. Eternal Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue crept to the top of the chart with her surprise hit, Xmas. The singer successfully outran Wham!’s Last Christmas to claim the festive prize.
She told Official Charts of her win: “It’s hard to put into words how special this feels. Being Christmas number one really is the most wonderful gift.”
Mariah also features on the UK Christmas Number 1 music list as she made it to third place for the 2025 season. While other Christmas tunes inside the top 10 include Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree, The Pogues’ and Kirsty MacColl’s Fairytale of New York, Kelly Clarkson’s Underneath The Tree, Elton John’s Step Into Christmas and Bobby Helms’s Jingle Bell Rock.
Further down the chart, at number 30, is Chris Rea with the hit Driving Home For Christmas. There is a chance the track will rise up the chart next week as the singer tragically died this week following a short illness.
The family of the star released a statement on Monday, revealing the sad news, which was shared just hours after the singer shared a festive message via social media. They announced: “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Chris. He passed away peacefully in hospital earlier today following a short illness, surrounded by his family.”
The late singer was praised by music fans who rushed to social media to pay tribute to him. One wrote on X: “Genuinely gutted to hear this. A proper Teesside legend. Safe drive home Chris… Damn… he lived for his cars, wonderful guitarist, and made so many great albums. RIP Chris Rea… Aah no! Bad news…”
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