Mariah Carey: ‘I look forward to Christmas the whole year round’

It’s been 26 years since its release, but Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You only made it to Number 1 on the official UK chart last week.

Although it’s the biggest-selling Christmas song by a female artist – having sold 16 million copies, and rumoured to have made Mariah around £50m in royalties – in the US, the hit single originally reached number six when it was released in 1994. But with the nation kick-starting the festive season early due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the song re-entered the charts in November before knocking Little Mix off the top spot.

However, despite its popularity, Mariah has revealed there is heartbreak behind the song. In her new memoir, Mariah, 50, says she became obsessed with Christmas as her childhood festive holidays were unhappy. Her parents divorced when she was three and she has described the household as “dysfunctional” and claimed it was “traumatising”. So Mariah wanted to “write a song that would make me feel like a carefree young girl at Christmas”, which became the inspiration for her biggest hit.

She says, “It’s the first Christmas song I ever wrote. In the book, I talk about how certain people in my family ruined Christmas every year, but I always looked forward to it and always wanted to have the most festive, fun holiday. Christmas represented so much for me, but these people always screwed it up. As an adult, I was able to recreate what that represented, so to have a song that I get to hear every year is wonderful. I have three Christmas albums now and I push through sadness with being festive. Anybody who ever tries to ruin Christmas for me, will not be a happy person hanging out with me!”

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After growing up in a dysfunctional family, Mariah now tries to make every Christmas magical for her nine-year-old twins, Monroe and Moroccan, who she shares with her ex-husband, Nick Cannon.

Last year, the music legend enjoyed a blended festive holiday in Aspen, Colorado, joined by both Nick, 40, and her current boyfriend, Bryan Tanaka, 37.

Mariah says, “I have a lot of favourite Christmas traditions – I look forward to it the whole year round. I want to make it magical for my kids. You know, I think it’s this kind of childlike love of Christmas that saved me. I go through so much all year long just to have a great Christmas.”

The singer documents her extravagant celebrations in snowy Aspen, where she spends most Christmases – which include a 19-foot tree in her living room – with Polaroid pictures. She reveals, “When I get off the plane, our drivers have All I Want For Christmas... playing, we have hot cocoa and some butterscotch schnapps. Then we’ll go through the woods on a two-horse open sleigh.

“We do a tree in the bedroom, then I do a big tree in the living room with decorations I’ve had for years. Gold lights with off-white light, angels wearing white, and butterflies. We also do another tree in the family room area and call that the Charlie Brown tree. It’s a sad little tree that we decorate with Polaroid pictures of ourselves.”

Even though Christmas is on a grand scale, Mariah doesn’t expect big gifts. She says, “For me, just the kids’ love is all I really need. They make me things and I save everything. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want things bought from the shop. I love that, too.”

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My top traditions

Snow escape

“I have a lot of favourite Christmas traditions. We go to Aspen, which is my favourite place to celebrate Christmas because it’s always snowy and it’s one of the best places ever. It’s freezing cold, but it’s beautiful and you’re looking at the stars. It’s an incredible moment I love every year.”

Santa visit

“We do all sorts of things, we go on a sleigh ride with the kids and my extended family. I cook, Santa Claus comes over – I know it sounds like I’m making it up, but it’s true – I know him personally, he’s my dude. It’s an extravaganza!”

Family games

“We play Taboo every year. Now sometimes, just to get the kids involved in writing and stuff, we’ll do Heads Up, which is like Taboo. I’m pretty competitive.”

The Meaning Of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey (Macmillan, £20) out now.

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