Halloween is so yesterday — literally. And Thanksgiving seems like it could be upended by turkey and cranberry shortages.
No wonder Mariah Carey has declared “IT’S TIME” to move on to Christmas.
The pop star tweeted out that very message early Tuesday morning with a video that showed her dressed in witchy garb before suddenly switching to a Christmas outfit. Naturally, her holiday hit, “All I Want for Christmas,” accompanied the conclusion of the video.
The tweet has already received close to a half-million “likes.” Fans are signaling they agree with Carey and can’t wait for some holiday cheer, Mariah-style.
Sending out the tweet was a logical move for Carey, who has aimed to position herself as the “Queen of Christmas” (and has even tried to trademark that label). And it’s all largely connected to “All I Want for Christmas,” a song that debuted in 1994 and appeared on a Carey holiday album, but that has become a bigger and bigger seasonal staple in recent years.
Consider that in the U.S., the song didn’t even crack Billboard’s Hot 100 chart until 2000. And it didn’t become a No. 1 hit until 2019 — some 25 years after its initial release.
It has also surged on streaming media in recent years, with one report estimating it has earned Carey at least $60 million in streaming royalties.
Already, the song is finding its way on streaming charts this year, landing in the 34th spot on today’s iTunes chart — almost two months before Christmas.
Carey is capitalizing on her Christmas fame with a live holiday show this season, with dates scheduled in New York and Toronto. Tickets go as high as $3,000 apiece.
The eventual success of the song has been a bit of a surprise —- or at least that’s what Walter Afanasieff, who co-wrote “All I Want” with Carey, once told Billboard. “To think of it as a single that’s going to No. 1, that’s going to drive an album…we didn’t have an inkling of that,” he said.
Carey has also seemingly been surprised by all the fuss. “I’m just a person who likes Christmas, OK? Who happened to write some songs,” she said in a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.