The International Olympic Committee confirmed on Monday, December 15, that Carey will perform during the Opening Ceremony on February 6 at the Milano Cortina Games. Teasing the highly anticipated appearance, the official Olympics Instagram account called it “a performance set to define an unforgettable Opening Ceremony performance,” signaling that organizers expect Carey’s involvement to be a defining moment of the global event, according to the Daily Metro News.
The announcement arrived just hours before Carey reached another extraordinary milestone. Her holiday classic All I Want for Christmas Is You returned to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, extending its total reign at No. 1 to a record-setting 20 weeks on the chart dated December 20. The achievement makes the song the longest-running No. 1 hit in Hot 100 history.
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Carey acknowledged the news with a celebratory Instagram post that subtly tied both milestones together. “Humbly taking back the torch!! 20 weeks at #1. I’m so grateful,” she wrote, punctuating the message with a red heart emoji.
In the accompanying image, Carey posed in a sparkling red bodysuit trimmed with white fur, holding a golden flaming torch in front of a decorated Christmas tree. The visual was widely seen as a playful nod to her newly announced Olympic role, blending holiday imagery with Olympic symbolism.
Released in 1994, All I Want for Christmas Is You has grown into a cultural and commercial phenomenon, returning to the charts each holiday season with remarkable consistency. With this latest run, the song now stands alone atop the record books, surpassing Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ Old Town Road, which previously held the record with 19 weeks at No. 1. That mark was later matched by Shaboozey’s Tipsy (A Bar Song) in 2024.
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The achievement also reinforces Carey’s long-standing dominance on the Hot 100. She first set a longevity record in 1996 when One Sweet Day, her collaboration with Boyz II Men, spent 16 weeks at No. 1, a record that stood for more than two decades.
With an Olympic performance on the horizon and her holiday anthem continuing to rewrite chart history, Carey enters 2026 with momentum few artists can match. Her appearance at the Winter Games now promises to blend global spectacle with pop legacy, cementing yet another chapter in her enduring influence on music and culture.