Mariah Carey looks unrecognisable as she reveals her annual Christmas comeback in new way

Mariah Carey debuted a brand new gothic look and looked unrecognisable before defrosting again for this year's festive season.

The diva supreme shares annual videos and posts with her signature 'It's time' whistle when it hits 1 November, this year also heading on a Christmas tour, which is coming to the UK.

Mimi unwraps in a cinematic declaration that the holidays are finally here in something that has over the years become a staple festive tradition.

But for 2026 she debuted a brand new punk-chick look with a scene filmed during a Halloween night out at a concert.

It features rock song 'Hermit', which was originally released by her 90s side-project band Chick at the beginning of the Instagram video, a track many fans won't have heard before.

The surprise twist showed Mariah looking far less pristine and glamorous than her usual appearance, and she looked unrecognisable sporting a short red wig, fishnet tights, a dark lip and striking colourful makeup.

The video kicked off with the title words: “New York City… October 31st,” followed by a countdown at 11:58pm, seeing the camera then venture into a dive bar for the live punk performance.

The video, with more than 700,000 likes kicked off the Christmas season with a surprise punk-rock twist before she does a a stage dive and the screen cuts to black.

As the countdown reaches midnight, Mariah re-appears and sings: “It’s time,” as she transforms into her signature Christmas look.

She moves into her classic hit 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' atop a Christmas tree.

The festive hit, first released in 1994, only reached number one in the US for the first time in 2019, and in the festive charts in the UK the following year.

Mariah herself previously admitted she's still surprised by the success of the song, which she began writing on a little Casio keyboard in the early nineties.

"My goal was to do something timeless, so it didn’t feel like the nineties," she said previously, adding: "I really, truly love the holidays. It’s not fake."

It remains officially the most streamed Christmas song of all time and earns Mariah royalties of around £2 to £3 million each year.

This autumn and winter, Mariah will perform at three UK cities, at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on 27 November, The O2 in London on 30 November and Manchester’s Co-op Live on 2 December for her Christmastime Tour.