Mariah Carey is starting Christmas in November with the release of a new festive single featuring Khalid and Kirk Franklin.
The Queen of Christmas teased fans that she was ready to kick off “Mariah season” with a teaser clip of her bashing up pumpkins with “It’s Not Time” carved into them with a candy cane baseball bat the day after Halloween (01.11.21).
In the Yuletide-themed video soundtracked by Mariah’s festive hit, ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’, the 52-year-old megastar could be seen in a glittery Santa suit as she teased the release date of the track, which is now known to be called ‘Fall in Love at Christmas’, with “11/5” stuck on a present.
At the end of the clip, a note read: “It’s time!!! To smash that pumpkin and treat it as pie … cause we still gotta get through Thanksgiving!!!”
The post was captioned on Twitter: “Ready? Let’s go! #MariahSZN.”
And hours later, the ‘Hero’ hitmaker announced that the collaboration with the 23-year-old ‘Young Dumb & Broke’ singer and the 51-year-old gospel star will drop on Friday (05.12.21).
Alongside the artwork featuring the three as children at Christmas and a 30-second clip of the power ballad, Mariah tweeted: “Fall in Love at Christmas @thegr8khalid
@kirkfranklin.
“Out 11/5 Pre order the CD @ http://smarturl.it/FILAC (sic)”
In 2020, Mariah reportedly spent £4 million on her Apple TV+ Christmas special.
The chart-topping star spent an eye-watering amount of money on the star-studded special, which featured appearances from the likes of Ariana Grande and Snoop Dogg.
An insider explained: “Mariah wanted her Apple TV special to blow everything else out of the water.
“And it did just that – not only in the reviews and ratings but in the budget. Overall it cost £4 million to make, with cash being spent on securing the big names.”
Mariah was determined not to cut any corners with her special and was therefore willing to commit a huge amount of money to ensure it was as she’d hoped it would be.
The source added: “Mariah does nothing by half and the special was created with huge production values. Her styling alone, including hair and make-up, cost more than £125,000, let alone the other £20,000 that she racked up in expenses and costs.
“But everyone who knows Mariah knows she’s worth every penny.”