Mariah Carey’s video means it’s really the Christmas season

LOS ANGELES — Some people may be divided on whether the Christmas season begins on Nov. 1 or not until after Thanksgiving, but one person is firmly not: Mariah Carey.

Continuing her yearly tradition, the “All I Want For Christmas Is You” singer posted a video on social media at midnight Eastern Time on Nov. 1 to announce that she is officially flipping the switch over to the Christmas season.

This year’s #MariahSZN announcement video begins with a vault unlocking as the clock strikes midnight. Inside, a frosty Mariah Carey is frozen in a huge ice block. As she declares, “It’s time!” in her legendary screaming high vocals, the ice shatters — and suddenly, everyone’s decked out in red and green, merrily dancing to her iconic Christmas song.

Carey has celebrated the turn of the calendar with cheeky videos featuring her her chart-topping holiday song in 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019. 

Since the song’s release in 1994, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has reportedly earned Carey more than $60 million, The Economist estimated in 2017. Billboard estimates she pulls in about $1.55 million in royalties from the song every Christmas season.

Carey kicks off her 13-date “Merry Christmas One and All!” tour on Nov. 15, 2023.