Mariah Carey has officially declared the holiday season open, returning on November 1 with her annual “It’s time” video and the first appearance of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” of the year. This time, the pop icon adds an unexpected twist by opening the clip with “Hermit,” a deep cut from her previously undisclosed alternative rock project, before transforming into a Christmas tree topper.
The video begins with Mariah Carey performing “Hermit,” a track connected to Chick, the mid-1990s rock project she created with her friend Clarissa Dane. Carey co-wrote and produced the material, recording her own vocals under a pseudonym, with Dane singing on the commercially released version. Her involvement remained largely under wraps for years before she discussed the project publicly.
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Once the performance ends, the scene shifts into a festive winter setting. Mariah Carey appears as a Christmas tree topper, delivers her signature whistle-tone declaration of “It’s time,” and launches into “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The familiar transition immediately sent fans into celebration, with social media filling up with jokes about the singer finally being “defrosted” after spending the rest of the year in hibernation.
The annual tradition has become one of the internet’s most recognizable signals that Christmas music season has begun. Carey first introduced the November 1 announcement in 2019, turning years of jokes about her reluctance to hear holiday music before Halloween into a recurring social media event. Her original video showed her going to bed in a Halloween costume before waking up in festive pajamas as the clock struck midnight.
Each edition has since become more elaborate. Mariah Carey previously transformed from Morticia Addams into Mrs. Claus, appeared as a witch on a Peloton bike and, in 2023, famously emerged from a block of ice as Halloween-costumed helpers attempted to thaw her out. That clip cemented the “defrosted” joke as an essential part of the annual celebration.
At the center of the phenomenon is “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” released in 1994 and co-written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff. What began as a seasonal single has grown into one of the defining Christmas songs in history, repeatedly returning to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 during the holiday period.
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