Mariah Carey marks start of holiday season with new video

Mariah Carey has officially launched the 2026 holiday season by releasing her annual “It’s time!” video. Following her long-standing tradition of transitioning from Halloween to Christmas, the singer released the clip on November 1.

This year’s production features a creative shift in aesthetic, beginning in a New York City bar with a punk rock theme. Carey appears in dark makeup and alternative attire, performing “Hermit,” a track from the mid-1990s album “Someone’s Ugly Daughter,” which she recorded under the pseudonym Chick alongside Clarissa Dane.

At midnight, the scene transforms into a snowy winter landscape where Carey reappears in her iconic holiday attire, perched atop a massive Christmas tree. The video concludes with her signature high whistle-tone and the start of her 1994 hit, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

The release coincides with the perennial return of her classic single to global music charts. While the song previously held records for weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, it faces recent competition from other seasonal hits.