Mariah Carey, the queen of Christmas, lives up to her name at holiday concert in Raleigh

For many, it’s not the Christmas season until they hear Mariah Carey singing “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

In recent years, Carey has fully embraced her role as the “Queen of Christmas” and created a holiday-themed concert spectacle.

“Mariah Carey’s Christmas Time” came to Raleigh’s Lenovo Center Monday night. She performed two sets of Christmas classics as well as her hits, including “Emotions,” “Always Be My Baby” and “Hero.”

The show opened with a reading of “The Christmas Princess” along with parts of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and then moved into classics including “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Joy to the World” and newer classics like “Christmas Wrapping” by the Waitresses and “Charlie Brown Christmas” by Vince Guaraldi.

There was even an audience singalong to “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

“All I Want for Christmas” had a seasonal surge to the top of the Billboard charts last week, hitting the peak of No. 1. It was the 15th week Carey had reach the top of the chart, Billboard reported.

Not too shabby for a song that was released in November 1994 on Carey’s album, “Merry Christmas.” The song has reached the Billboard Top 10 since 2017.

Here are photos from Monday’s concert.

This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Mariah Carey, the queen of Christmas, lives up to her name at holiday concert in Raleigh."