Mariah Carey, dubbed the “Queen of Christmas,” has declared the festive season open in her customary fashion by dropping her latest “It’s Time” video.
The clip has been published on Instagram, where it has already garnered 2,331,164 likes, and on YouTube, notching up 1.7 million views so far.
The video – intended to mark the transition from Halloween to Christmas – starts off with Carey dressed as Morticia Addams and dancing around an Addams Family-like haunted mansion. As the ballroom fills with snow, the songstress – now clad in a red dress – launches into her chart-topping seasonal hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
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The 55-year-old told USA Today that she feels especially passionate about spreading festive joy through her work this year, as she faces her first Christmas without her mother and sister, who tragically passed away on the same day in August.
“I think we all go through difficult times, and there’s a lot of people that, especially during the holidays, they really kind of have a rough time with it,” Carey said. “And that is the reason why I try to make people happy and to have a festive moment, you know, just to get through it. I try to be there as a friend to anyone who needs one.”
Carey released “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in 1994, on her first Christmas-themed album, titled simply Merry Christmas. According to Newsweek, the song – a festive staple in many homes – earns Carey around US$2.5 million in royalties each year.
