Mariah Carey talks Christmas tour and American Music Awards special

Mariah Carey is all about anniversaries.

The Grammy-winning artist, 55, doesn't recognize her birthday and infamously insisted in 2014 that she celebrates anniversaries instead. These anniversaries, which happen to fall on the day of her birth, are often celebrated with a wink and a toast – but it can also mean that she celebrates multiple anniversaries each year.

Next April marks the 20th anniversary of her 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi, although Carey began the celebrations a year earlier with a Las Vegas stop, The Celebration of Mimi. She'll keep the party going on Sunday, performing a medley of songs from the album in the American Music Awards 50th Anniversary special (8 EDT/5 PDT, CBS/Paramount+).

“It's really incredible that it lasted this long,” Carey tells USA TODAY of the LP, which spawned the single “We Belong Together” and the hit “It's Like That,” featuring Jermaine Dupri and the late Fatman Scoop.

Carey, who has won ten American Music Awards over the course of a career spanning more than three decades, announces that she will be rearranging some of the songs for her AMAs performance.

What's next for Carey after Sunday's special?

“I’m getting ready for Christmas,” she says, not exactly announcing “it’s time,” which is what fans will probably hear on November 1st with her annual season kick-off video on social media.

And these holidays bring with them – you guessed it – another anniversary. October marks 30 years since Carey released her Christmas album “Merry Christmas.” Buoyed by the success of the modern classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” the album propelled the singer/songwriter, already the best-selling artist of all time, into a new stratosphere as the “Queen of Christmas.”

Carey remembers recording “All I Want For Christmas,” which she co-wrote and co-produced with Walter Afanasieff, in August 1994 at The Hit Factory, a legendary recording studio in New York's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood.

“It was a fantastic recording session like no other,” says the singer. “I loved it. It was obviously my first Christmas album and we had decorated the studio so it was like all the Christmas decorations and a Christmas tree.”

Now, three decades later, the song breaks Spotify's record for most streams in a single day every year and tops the Billboard Hot 100 every year.

Carey is also touring behind her Christmas album: The 2024 version of her Christmas tour includes 20 dates. It begins November 6th in Highland, California, and ends in December with three shows throughout the New York area, including her hometown of Long Island.

Mariah Carey's The last Christmas tour show shines with Christmas hits, family celebrations and Busta Rhymes

Carey brings in some of her big non-Christmas hits and a few surprises throughout the show. At last year's New York concert, the artist brought her twins Monroe and Moroccan, 13, whom she shares with her ex-husband Nick Cannon. Carey hopes her children, nicknamed “Dem Babies,” will be back on stage this year.

“I don't think everyone understands how… it just makes me so happy and it makes a lot of people happy,” Carey says of her holiday shows. “It’s different than just a normal tour.”

For Carey, there is no shortage of spreading joy this holiday season, her first Christmas since the deaths of her mother and sister.

“I think we're all going through difficult times, and there are a lot of people who are having a really hard time, especially around the holidays,” Carey said. “And that's why I try to make people happy and have a celebratory moment, you know, just to get through it. I try to be there as a friend to anyone who needs one.”

Mariah Carey talks Christmas tour and American Music Awards special

ByVanessa

By Vanessa

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