Mariah Carey wrote “All I Want for Christmas Is You” nearly 30 years ago — and she’s still spreading holiday joy with it.
The five-time Grammy winner sat down with ABC News’ Juju Chang to reflect on the song’s legacy and to discuss her upcoming holiday tour, the Merry Christmas One and All Tour, which kicks off next week.
“I was working on it by myself … on this little Casio keyboard and writing down words and thinking about, ‘What do I think of at Christmas? What do I love? What do I want? What do I dream of?'” Mariah said. “And that’s what started it.”
“My goal was to do something timeless, so it didn’t feel like the ’90s, which is when I wrote it,” she said.
Of the song’s enduring appeal, Mariah chalked that up to the fact that she “really, truly” loves the holidays. “It’s not fake,” she said.
The singer is kicking off her new holiday tour on November 15; it will take her across the U.S., with a brief stop in Canada. Last year’s tour only stopped in Toronto and New York City.
“Last year we didn’t go, like, across the country,” she said. “So this year we’re doing that.”
Carey said her tour is a way to help give her fans “the merriest of Christmases” and for them to have an experience where they’re “enjoying being together.”
In terms of what fans can look forward to in the future, Carey said that new music is on the horizon.
“I’ve been working … on just writing new songs,” she teased. “Yesterday we were in the studio working on something with a choir, working on a new song. So it’s exciting.”
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