Mariah Carey is known as the unofficial queen of Christmas, but it's not just because of her hit single, "All I Want for Christmas Is You." In a new interview, the 52-year-old singer opened up about how her rocky childhood has led her to go all in with the holiday spirit.
Mariah said that her difficult childhood inspires her to find joy in the season
The iconic pop star is synonymous with Christmas, thanks to her massive holiday hit, but the reason she stays so in love with Christmas year after year has more to do with what happened in the early years of her life. Chatting with W magazine, Mariah explained that her violent childhood has made her more obsessed with the magic of the holiday season.
Things weren't easy for Mariah growing up
"When you grow up with a messed-up life and then you're able to have this transformation where you can make your life what you want it to be? That is joy for me," she explained to W. "That's why I want my kids to have everything they can have. I want them to be able to understand that they can be anything they want to be."
There wasn't a lot of happiness when Mariah was younger
The mom of two confessed that people often think she's had a "princess-style life," but the reality wasn't anything like a fairy tale. According to her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, Mariah grew up alongside her "broken" older brother, Morgan, who was so "abusive" that she had to call the police on him, reported Page Six.
She also alleged that her older sister drugged her
Mariah's brother wasn't the only one who Mariah called out in her book. She also wrote about her older sister, Alison, giving her Valium when she was just 12 years old, before sending her off on a car ride with Alison's boyfriend.
It sounds like Mariah's life was far from its current idyllic state, which is likely why she focuses so much energy on the things that make her happy these days.
We love that Mariah is the Christmas queen
It doesn't really feel like the holiday season until we've heard Mariah belt out the opening verses of her Christmas classic — which she performed last week during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade — so we don't know what we'd do without her holly, jolly vibes. We're glad to hear that she's been able to turn a difficult past into such a positive thing for both herself and her two kids, Moroccan and Monroe.
