Mariah Carey’s Christmas Special Premiere Date, Soundtrack, Guest Lineup Announced by Apple TV Plus
The holiday season just got a lot more festive, dahlings! Mariah Carey’s upcoming Christmas special on Apple TV Plus has been given a Dec. 4 premiere date, along with a companion soundtrack album and new music video for her holiday single “Oh Santa!”
The special, entitled “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special,” centers on a crisis at the North Pole that requires help from Santa’s great friend, Carey. Of course the elusive chanteuse and “undisputed Queen of Christmas” jumps into action to “Save the Day,” combining musical performances with animation and a whole slew of special guests, including Tiffany Haddish, Billy Eichner, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri, Misty Copeland, Mykal-Michelle Harris and Carey’s twins, Moroccan and Monroe.
“Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special” is executive produced by Carey, as well as Ian Stewart, Raj Kapoor and Ashley Edens for Done + Dusted. It is directed by Hamish Hamilton and Roman Coppola, who also serve as executive producers, and it is written by Caroline Fox.
The soundtrack will launch exclusively on Apple Music on the same day as the special and then available on other music platforms the following week, on Dec. 11. It features “brand new interpretations” of hit holiday songs, including a new version of “Sleigh Ride,” and will feature Snoop Dogg and Dupri on select tracks. The new single and music video for “Oh Santa!” will feature Carey performing with Grande and Hudson and be distributed by Sony Music, released on Apple Music, as well as other streaming platforms on Dec. 4. Carey previously teased the collaboration with Grande and Hudson with an October Instagram post from their set.
Additionally, Apple Music is celebrating the release of “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special” with an exclusive interview in which Carey goes through her personally curated playlist of holiday favorite songs and discusses her music and memoir with Zane Lowe on Dec. 7. After the launch, Carey will appear on Apple Music Hits for a six-hour Holiday Hits special on Christmas Day, of course playing “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” among others, and sharing some of her favorite holiday memories. Other artists and hosts will share Christmas messages during this block, as well.
Carey is no stranger to holiday specials, having performed during “Christmas at Rockefeller Center” multiple times, and released “Mariah Carey’s Merriest Christmas” on Netflix in 2015 and the “Mariah Carey is Christmas” documentary project at Amazon in 2019. This one closes out a big fourth quarter of 2020 for the singer-songwriter, who released a two-disc album entitled “The Rarities” in October, just days after the publication of her memoir “The Meaning of Mariah Carey.”
View the full key art for “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special” below:
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