Mariah Carey Shares Her Holiday Playlist—”I Just Have a Special Connection With Christmas”

The Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey, has certainly delivered this holiday season—the singer already released a collaborative new single titled “Fall In Love At Christmas”—and she’s just getting started. “I go all out every year, darling,” Carey recently told USA TODAY. “I love the holidays. It’s just my thing. I just have a special connection with Christmas.”

Carey then reminded us of her knack for all things jolly by revealing a few of her holiday go-to’s. “I listen to a playlist of thousands of Christmas songs from so many different albums that not everyone may know,” Carey told the outlet.

“I love the Jackson 5 Christmas Album, always Nat King Cole and one of my favorites, Donny Hathaway,” she continued. “Even ‘The Chipmunk Song’ is on the playlist! People who come stay with me, family and friends, it gets to be, like, December 28 and they’re going, can we put (any other music) back on?”

The “All I Want for Christmas Is You” singer was also joined by soul singer Kirk Franklin for the Christmas tell-all interview. Franklin, along with R&B singer Khalid, are featured on Carey’s latest single, “Fall In Love At Christmas.”

“We were working in the Butterfly Lounge in Atlanta on a lot of different things, like a seven-minute version of ‘We Belong Together,’” Carey began explaining about her latest collaboration, “and it wasn’t about what type of song, it was about a musical place and a safe haven and we ended up with this. It’s not just a ballad. Once the choir comes in, it takes (the song) to a new place, a spiritually enhanced place. I can’t compete with ‘All I Want For Christmas,’ but I love it.”

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Check out the behind-the-scenes making of “Fall In Love At Christmas” here, and listen to the classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” below.