It’s time. Mariah Carey has officially defrosted in time for Christmas.
The Queen of Christmas has donned the skin-tight red Santa onesie and is ready to spread some festive cheer.
Her song All I Want for Christmas is You has charted every December since 1994. Reigning supreme for 28 years so far.
But how did Mariah steal our hearts and make us fall in love with the hit song?
About Mariah
Mariah was born in Huntington, New York in 1970 to a Black father and a white mother. Her father was an aeronautical engineer and her mother was an opera singer. In an interview with W Magazine, Mariah expressed “It was an extremely dysfunctional childhood, to the point where it’s shocking that I made it out of that at all.”
Mariah released a memoir titled The Meaning of Mariah Carey in 2020. In this memoir she admitted that growing up in a predominantly white neighbourhood made her feel “othered” and out of place. She also admitted to witnessing her siblings struggle with addiction and abuse.
Her journey to fame
Mariah is best known for her five-octave vocal range, song writing and of course her timeless Christmas album. She first rose to fame after releasing her debut single Vision of Love in 1990 and has since had 19 songs on the Billboard Hot 100.
Four years later, Carey released Merry Christmas, her fourth studio album and first Christmas album. The album has been re-released and edited many times since 1994 and still manages to be a festive favourite. All I Want for Christmas is You went on to become one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Attempt to trademark “Queen of Christmas”
In 2022, Mariah attempted to trademark “The Christmas Queen”, however, the US Patent and Trademark Office denied her request.
Singer Elizabeth Chan launched a legal challenge against Mariah’s trademark. She had been deemed “The Queen of Christmas” by The New Yorker in 2018 after spending the last decade solely producing Christmas music. Sky reported that Chan ‘accused Carey of “trying to trademark this in every imaginable way” – from music to clothing to alcohol.’
“Diva”
Mariah Carey is well known for her “Mariahisms” and her taste for the diva life.
Some “examples” of this “divaness” includes playing her own song while giving birth to her twins, not allowing people to talk to her the day before a performance or sleeping with around 20 humidifiers in her room. In 2005, Mariah apparently refused to get out of a limousine until a red carpet was provided for her.
In the interview with W Magazine, Mariah also stated “There are things people are not aware of, because this whole quote-unquote ‘diva’ thing is always what people see first.
“Yes, I play into it. And yes, part of that is real. I can’t help it. Like, what do you do if you grew up with an opera singer for a mother, who went to Juilliard and made her debut at Lincoln Center? There’s just a certain amount that is going to emerge”
Feature image credit: @pandoramusic on Twitter
BA (Hons) Film, Media and Journalism graduate. Freelance Journalist for Brig Newspaper and Entertainment Daily. Head of Social Media for Brig Newspaper.
Passionate about diversity, inclusion and representation.
You must log in to post a comment.