Mariah Carey talks 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' legacy, new holiday tour
Carey said her goal in writing the song was "to do something timeless."
Mariah Carey wrote "All I Want for Christmas Is You" nearly 30 years ago -- and she's still spreading holiday joy with it to this day.
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 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?'" Carey 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, Carey chalked that up to the fact that she "really, truly" loves the holidays. "It's not fake," she insisted.
The "Fantasy" singer is kicking off her new holiday tour on Nov. 15 that 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."
Joining her on the road are her children, 12-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe. Last year, Monroe even joined her mom for a duet during the tour.
"I think my daughter is rehearsing more than me, so I think she might have it together a little bit more than I do," Carey joked, adding that she thinks Monroe "kind of has" her iconic whistle octave and "just has to play with it" to master it.
As for whether her kids will follow in her footsteps, she said she doesn't know but hopes so as "they're both really talented across the board."
"I don't want to say they're my friends, 'cause then they're like, 'Oh, my mom's corny,'" she gushed. "I'm not a regular mom. I'm a cool mom."
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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