A bar owner in Sydney, Australia, has banned Mariah Carey’s famous Christmas anthem ‘All I Want For Christmas.’
Jolene’s owner, Simon Rose-Hopkins declared his country and western watering hole a Mariah-free zone. He has assured patrons that there will be plenty of fun on occasion, and he will be playing all the great Christmas songs as he has compiled a playlist, but Carey’s 1994’s hit won’t be played.
“We are doing Christmas on steroids. We’ve got lights, reindeers, Christmas trees, and Christmas cocktails like a Gingerbread Manhattan and a Pavlova Christmas slushie. We’ve got a Country Christmas playlist, but we won’t be playing Mariah,” Simon told The Daily Telegraph.
“It’s more we are a country western bar, and we wanted to channel that country western Christmas,” he added. “We don’t hate Christmas or hate Mariah, it’s just we are a bit over it and it’s not our vibe.”
According to Daily Mail, “Simon has also banned Christmas crooner, Michael Bublé.”
Jolene’s bar will rather play classic country music, sung mainly by artists like Lee Kernaghan, Blake Shelton, and Dolly Parton.
Guess where did Simon’s bar name idea come from? Yes, Dolly Parton’s hit song, Jolene.
“It’s been met with giggles and admiration,” the Sydney native said about his decision to ban clichéd Christmas music for this year’s celebrations.
“We get a lot of retailer workers coming in after their stores close and say thank you because they are so overhearing the traditional retail Christmas music!”
The hit Christmas song was part of Carey’s 1994 album, Merry Christmas, and its popularity has only increased in the following years.
As per Billboard, “it hit the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time in December 2017 and the top five for the first time in the 2018 holiday season, before reigning over the holidays in 2019 (for three weeks), 2020 (two) and 2021 (three).”
Daily Mail wrote that the iconic song brings $4 million every year during the holiday season, and currently, it is the number 1 song on the UK charts.
“The singer, 52, has only been number one in the UK singles charts once before with the festive track, reaching the top in 2020 – 26 years after its release.”
“It is currently sitting at number three on the Australian ARIA charts.”
What are your thoughts on this story? Do you support this bar owner’s decision? Let us know your views in the comments.
Sources: Daily Mail – Billboard – The Daily Telegraph
