Mariah Carey has officially opened the 2026 Christmas season with her annual “It’s Time!” video, but this year’s version begins with a punk twist. Released on November 1, the clip shows Carey performing “Hermit” by Chick in a dark bar before the scene transforms into a giant Christmas tree and the familiar opening notes of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” take over.
Mariah Carey has once again marked the start of the Christmas season with her annual November 1 video, but the 2026 edition begins somewhere completely unexpected. Before the familiar “It’s Time!” arrives, she appears in a dark New York bar performing a punk song connected to one of the least-known chapters of her career.
The video is set on Halloween night, just before midnight. Instead of snow, lights and holiday decorations, the opening scene is built around electric guitars, a small stage and a deliberately rougher visual style.
Carey appears in heavy makeup and a punk-inspired look while performing “Hermit,” a track from “Someone’s Ugly Daughter,” the 1995 album released under the name Chick.
That choice adds a specific piece of history to the video. Mariah Carey helped write and produce the Chick project while also recording backing vocals behind lead singer Clarissa Dane. The album was made during the same general period in which Carey was working on “Daydream.”
She revealed her involvement more publicly in 2020 while discussing her memoir “The Meaning of Mariah Carey.” At the time, she explained that the alternative sessions gave her an outlet for a very different kind of sound from the polished pop and R&B material that defined her main career.
“Hermit” was also the song she used when revisiting that story publicly, making its appearance in the 2026 Christmas video feel deliberate rather than random.
The timing is especially striking because “Daydream” produced songs such as “Fantasy,” “Always Be My Baby” and “One Sweet Day,” while the Chick material explored a much rougher rock and alternative direction.
In the new video, that lesser-known side of Mariah Carey is finally pushed to the front for a few seconds before the entire scene changes.
As the clock reaches midnight, she delivers the familiar “It’s Time!” in a high register and the bar disappears. The dark setting gives way to a winter scene, marking the transition from October 31 to November 1.
The second half places Carey at the top of an enormous Christmas tree as “All I Want for Christmas Is You” begins. The image returns immediately to the holiday style that has become inseparable from her annual seasonal launch.
Her caption keeps the message simple: “IT’S TIME!!!!” accompanied by symbols referencing the guitar, midnight and the Christmas tree. The post is also marked as a collaboration with Sol de Janeiro, making the 2026 version part of a commercial partnership.
Fans quickly noticed the Chick reference. Some comments focused on “Hermit” and asked to hear more material connected to “Someone’s Ugly Daughter,” while others simply repeated the annual Christmas catchphrase.
Those reactions mirror the two halves of the clip: an unexpected return to her alternative past followed by the familiar holiday moment.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” originally appeared on Mariah Carey’s 1994 album “Merry Christmas.” She co-wrote the song with Walter Afanasieff, and it has since become the centerpiece of her seasonal identity.
The album mixed original songs with holiday standards including “Silent Night,” “Joy to the World” and “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” but “All I Want for Christmas Is You” eventually became the song most closely associated with the project.
The November 1 “It’s Time!” tradition has developed into its own yearly event. Each edition changes the setup while keeping the same basic payoff: Halloween ends, Carey appears, and Christmas officially begins in her world.
Previous versions have used different visual jokes and partnerships. In 2023, she appeared frozen inside a block of ice before breaking free to start the season.
In 2025, Mariah Carey worked with Sephora on another version directed by Joseph Kahn, with the campaign also appearing in Times Square.
The 2026 edition stands apart because it uses her own musical history as the joke. Rather than beginning with a generic Halloween scene, it reaches back to a project that remained relatively obscure for years.
The new holiday season will also include the announced “Christmastime” tour. Dates include Birmingham on November 27, London on November 30, Manchester on December 2 and Malta on December 8.
For now, the video does not come with any announcement of a new release connected to “Someone’s Ugly Daughter.” “Hermit” functions as the soundtrack to the opening scene, and fan requests for more Chick material remain just that.
What the clip does offer is one of the most unusual versions of Mariah Carey’s annual ritual so far: a short detour through punk before the giant tree, the midnight transformation and the first notes of the song that has defined her Christmas season for more than three decades.
