Music News

02 Nov 2025

Sony Music Confirms Departure of ANZ Chair & CEO Vanessa Picken

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Sony Music announced Saturday (Nov. 2) that Vanessa Picken is stepping down as chair and CEO of Sony Music Australia and New Zealand, ending a three-year tenure marked by structural modernization, artist-first initiatives and industry-first milestones.

“It has been a privilege to lead such a dedicated and talented company, collaborating with so many inspiring artists and their teams,” Picken said in a statement. “Supporting their growth, creativity, and bold visions has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my role. With my term now complete, I feel this is the perfect time to embrace my next opportunity.”

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Picken was appointed in June 2022, becoming the first woman to lead the major label’s operations across both countries. She officially began in September 2022, succeeding former CEO Denis Handlin, who exited in 2021 following an external investigation into workplace culture. Her appointment was widely seen as a reset moment for the company.

Over the past three years, Picken spearheaded efforts to modernize the company’s internal operations and improve artist relations. Under her leadership, Sony Music ANZ invested in digital innovation, experiential brand opportunities and new licensing models, while placing increased emphasis on artist well-being and transparency.

“I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved together over the past three years, particularly during this transformative period for our Australia and New Zealand operations,” Picken continued. “We’ve modernized our organizational structure, enhanced our digital and marketing capabilities, and fueled new growth through experiential and licensing ventures. Throughout it all, we’ve placed a renewed focus on artist wellbeing and deepened their connection to the team.”

“As I move on from being the first woman to hold this role, I do so with great excitement for the future,” she added. “I’m confident I won’t be the last, and I hope that in the process, I’ve inspired others to follow their own paths.”

Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music Group, thanked Picken for her contributions in a statement to Billboard: “We extend our thanks to Vanessa for her time at Sony Music and for her commitment to guiding our artists’ careers and championing local creative talent. We wish her every success in the next chapter of her journey.”

No successor has been named, and Sony Music has not announced who will lead the company in the interim.

02 Nov 2025

Cardi B Cheers On Boyfriend Stefon Diggs at Patriots-Falcons Game

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Cardi B made an appearance at Gillette Stadium on Sunday (Nov. 2), a month-and-a-half after revealing she’s expecting a baby with football player Stefon Diggs, wide receiver for the New England Patriots. The rapper was spotted seated next to Robert Kraft as the Patriots played the Atlanta Falcons in Foxborough, Mass.

In videos from the NFL game, Cardi’s seen standing at her seat and cheering, with a wide grin on her face — and looking chic in burgundy leather from Bottega.

Cardi and Diggs made their relationship Instagram official in June, and the Am I the Drama? artist announced her pregnancy in September while promoting her new album. The baby on the way is their first together, and joins Cardi’s children Kulture, Blossom and Wave (with her ex, Offset) and Diggs’ daughter Nova.

“I’m excited,” Cardi said on CBS Mornings. “I’m happy. I feel like I’m in a good space. I feel very strong. I feel very powerful that I’m doing all this work. But I’m doing all this work while I’m creating a baby, and me and my man, we’re very supportive of each other.”

On Friday (Oct. 31), she took a moment to address “hate coming from different angles” in her life, including from “partners that I dealt with.” Although she didn’t name Offset in her comment, he appeared to take a dig at Cardi and Diggs on his Haunted by Fame project, which was released on Halloween.

“One thing I notice, I swear to God, and it’s so real … anybody that messes with me while I’m at my most vulnerable — and my most vulnerable is always when I’m pregnant — God always punishes them,” she said Halloween morning. “Two, three years might pass … and God goes and punish them the worst way.”

See clips of Cardi at Sunday’s game shared by the official Patriots and NFL accounts on X below.


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02 Nov 2025

Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Spends First Month at No. 1 on Billboard 200

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Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl spends its first month atop the Billboard 200 chart, as it racks up its fourth straight week at No. 1 (on the chart dated Nov. 8). It earned 146,000 equivalent album units (down 25%) in the United States in the week ending Oct. 30, according to Luminate.

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The Life of a Showgirl is only the second album in 2025 to spend its first month at No. 1, following Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem (which spent its first eight weeks atop the list, of its total 12 at No. 1). Swift’s own The Tortured Poets Department spent its first 12 weeks at No. 1 in 2024, of its total 17 weeks atop the list.

With The Life of a Showgirl spending a fourth week at No. 1, Swift adds her 90th career week at No. 1 on the chart, extending her record among soloists. Elvis Presley has the second-most among soloists, with 67. The total encompasses her 15 No. 1 albums, the most among soloists. Only The Beatles have more weeks at No. 1 (132) and more No. 1 albums (19) among all artists.

Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200, new releases from Daniel Caesar, Brandi Carlile and Demi Lovato all debut.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new, Nov. 8, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Nov. 4. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Of The Life of a Showgirl’s 146,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, SEA units comprise 121,000 (down 22%, equaling 157.82 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks — it’s No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums for a fourth week), album sales comprise 22,000 (down 41%; it falls 1-3 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 3,000 (up 411%).

The chart-topping KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack is a non-mover at No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200 (84,000 equivalent album units earned, down 12%), while I’m the Problem is also stationary at No. 3 (76,000, down 8%).

Daniel Caesar collects his first top 10 album as Son of Spergy debuts at No. 4 with 43,000 equivalent album units earned — his best week by units ever. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 26,000 (equaling 34.11 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks, marking his best streaming week ever; it debuts at No. 10 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 17,000 (his best sales week ever; it debuts at No. 4 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.

Son of Spergy is Caesar’s fourth charted effort on the Billboard 200 in total, and all of them have reached the top 40. Previously, he charted with Never Enough (No. 14 peak in 2023), Case Study 01 (No. 17 in 2019) and Freudian (No. 25 in 2017).

The new album’s first-week sales were aided by its availability across five vinyl variants (including one signed), two CD iterations (one of them signed), alongside a standard digital download album.

Son of Spergy was preceded by three charting entries on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart: “Have a Baby (With Me)” (No. 17 peak in August), “Call On Me” (No. 17 in September) and “Moon” (featuring Bon Iver) (No. 16 in October).

Sabrina Carpenter’s former leader Man’s Best Friend holds at No. 5 on the latest Billboard 200 (42,000 equivalent album units earned, down 3%), while Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving rises 7-6 (39,000 units, up 5%).

Brandi Carlile captures her fifth top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as Returning to Myself debuts at No. 7 with 35,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 32,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 3,000 (equaling 4.31 million on-demand official streams of the album’s tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.

In total, Returning to Myself is Carlile’s 10th charted effort on the Billboard 200. Of those, five have reached the top 10: Returning to Myself, Who Believes in Angels? (her collaborative album with Elton John; No. 9 in April); By the Way, I Forgive You (No. 5 in 2018), The Firewatcher’s Daughter (No. 9 in 2015) and Bear Creek (No. 10 in 2012).

The new album was preceded by its first radio-promoted single, its title track, which reached No. 12 on the Adult Alternative Airplay chart in October.

Returning to Myself’s first-week sales were bolstered by the set’s availability across five vinyl variants (including one signed edition), two CD iterations (including one signed), a commentary edition of the album at digital retail, and a standard digital download album.

Cardi B’s former No. 1 AM I THE DRAMA? falls 6-8 with 32,000 equivalent album units earned (down 20%).

Demi Lovato scores her 10th top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as It’s Not That Deep debuts at No. 9 with 31,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 24,000 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 7,000 (equaling 9.78 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.

The album was preceded by two of its tracks that reached Billboard’s Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart: “Fast” (No. 8 in August) and “Here All Night” (No. 13 in September).

It’s Not That Deep’s first-week sales were enhanced by its availability across six vinyl variants (including one signed), two CDs (one signed), a cassette, an artist webstore-exclusive download album with three bonus tracks, an iTunes Store-exclusive edition with one bonus track, and a standard digital download album.

Closing out the new top 10 on the latest Billboard 200 is SZA’s former No. 1 SOS, which falls 8-10 with nearly 31,000 equivalent album units earned (down 2%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.


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02 Nov 2025

Fans Choose Florence + The Machine’s ‘Everybody Scream’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music

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Everybody Scream, the new album from Florence + The Machine, tops this week’s fan-voted music poll.

Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (Oct. 31) on Billboard, choosing Florence Welch’s latest work as their favorite new release.

Everybody Scream was let loose on Halloween, in a week that also saw new releases from Tyler, The Creator, Reneé Rapp, Brent Faiyaz and more. Florence + The Machine’s sixth full-length studio album brought in 53% of the vote.

The timing of the set’s release is fitting: “For this album, I didn’t realize how close death was,” Welch recently said in a cover-story interview with L’Officiel. “It was sort of like, Oh, death is just a doorway. Also, if the last album [Dance Fever] was a fairy tale, this one is a horror film, so it all made sense.”

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The frontwoman was referring to her experience suffering an ectopic pregnancy onstage — which caused her fallopian tube to rupture and required emergency surgery — in 2023. “As you can see, I have this well of grief that I’m trying to find ways to navigate,” she said. “I was in this fog, and I had to find meaning and my own belief system.”

“This is the most personal album I’ve ever made, but it’s also my most mythological in a sense. I wanted to create my own folk horror songs within it,” she explained in the interview.

The 12-song tracklist of Everybody Scream is led by its title track followed by “One of the Greats,” both of which were previewed ahead of the full collection’s release.

Looking ahead to performing the music from Everybody Scream live on tour, Welch told NPR that the stage is her place “to let how big the feelings are out, you know? Like, if I feel deranged, which sometimes I often do, and if I feel like I want to scream but I can’t, or I want to weep but I can’t, or just to move my body, like, violently almost, to get something out of me. That is my favorite thing about songs is they hold so many different things at once, and that’s my favorite thing about performance. You know, it is endless.”

Among the new releases trailing behind Everybody Scream are Tyler, The Creator’s “Mother,” with 15% of the vote; Reneé Rapp’s “Lucky,” with 6% of the vote, and Brent Faiyaz’s “Have To,” with 2% of the vote. Twenty percent of voters chose “other,” meaning their personal pick was not on the list.

See the final results of this week’s poll below.


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02 Nov 2025

Brandi Carlile Returns to ‘SNL’ to Perform Songs From ‘Returning to Myself’

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Brandi Carlile returned to Saturday Night Live on Nov. 2 with a commanding performance of “Church & State” and “Human,” both from her newly released solo album Returning to Myself.

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This marks Carlile’s fourth time as musical guest on SNL and her second appearance this year, following an April duet with Elton John promoting their joint project Who Believes in Angels?. On Saturday’s show, she took center stage solo, delivering two emotionally charged performances.

Opening with “Church & State,” Carlile sang of a “failing empire” and sociopolitical unrest in a haunting arrangement co-written with producer Andrew Watt and longtime collaborators Phil and Tim Hanseroth.

She followed with “Human,” a soaring ballad that reflects on vulnerability and resilience — also the name of her upcoming Human Tour, which kicks off in February 2026.

The two songs are from Carlile’s eighth studio album, Returning to Myself, released Oct. 25. It marks her first solo LP since 2021’s In These Silent Days, which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, topped the Rock and Americana/Folk charts, and won multiple Grammy awards, including Best Americana Album and awards for “Broken Horses.” It also received seven Grammy nominations overall.

Since her last solo project, Carlile has remained a central figure in American roots and rock music — curating music festivals (Girls Just Wanna Weekend, Echoes Through the Canyon), forming the country supergroup The Highwomen, and collaborating with legends like Elton John, Joni Mitchell and Tanya Tucker.

Her SNL appearance follows a busy October that included performing at Mitchell’s Joni Jam at the Hollywood Bowl and announcing her return to Europe in fall 2026 after the North American leg of her tour.

Carlile also appeared in the episode’s promos, stealing the scene with a joke about noticing co-star Ashley Padilla’s haircut before Top Gun: Maverick actor Miles Teller, who hosted this week’s episode. “The second I saw you, I knew you had that new-haircut glow,” Carlile deadpanned — leading Padilla to declare her the new host.

02 Nov 2025

Jessica Simpson Marks 8 Years of Sobriety: ‘Alcohol Silenced My Intuition’

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Jessica Simpson is celebrating eight years of sobriety.

The singer, fashion entrepreneur and reality TV personality marked the milestone on Friday (Nov. 1) with a reflective Instagram post, sharing how giving up alcohol transformed her life and creativity.

“8 years ago today I made the choice to confront, to confess and to let go of the self-sabotaging parts of my life that I was choosing,” Simpson wrote. “Making that decision allowed me to fully live in the pursuit of God’s purpose for my life. Alcohol silenced my intuition, blocked my dreams and chased my circulating fears of complacency.”

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She continued, “Today I am clear. Today I am driven by faith. Both fear and faith are something that we feel and may not see, I’m so happy I chose faith over fear. It was not in the fight that I found my strength, it was in the surrender.”

The “With You” singer has been open about her journey to sobriety since revealing in her 2020 memoir Open Book that she quit drinking in 2017.

Earlier this year, Simpson told The Cut that getting sober also reshaped her songwriting process. “Every time I would write, I was a little afraid of myself. It was almost too much, especially because I was drinking at the time,” she said in a February 2025 cover story alongside sister Ashlee Simpson. “But once I gave up the alcohol, the fears just diminished. They went away.”

She added, “And it was so much easier for me to access myself artistically. I’d thought the more I drank, the more cool I could be and find cool words that would rhyme, that wouldn’t be so expected. I overthought it when I drank.”

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02 Nov 2025

Tame Impala Resurrects ‘Sundown Syndrome’ at Halloween Barclays Show

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Tame Impala pulled a few tricks—and fan-favorite treats—out of the vault on Halloween night in Brooklyn.

Kevin Parker brought his Deadbeat Tour to Barclays Center on Thursday (Oct. 31), performing the live rarity “Sundown Syndrome” for the first time in seven years. The psych-pop gem, originally released as Tame Impala’s debut single in 2009, hadn’t appeared on a tour setlist since 2018.

The moment came midway through night three of a four-night sold-out run at the arena, with Parker and his touring band all dressed in costumes nodding to Parker’s “scarf-era” aesthetic from the early 2010s.

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The Halloween chaos didn’t stop there. Comedian and longtime Tame Impala fan Eric Andre made an unexpected cameo—inside the show’s bathroom cam. Parker has famously included a backstage toilet feed on tour to give fans a surreal behind-the-scenes moment mid-set.

This time, Andre took over the screen, sharing a quick on-camera kiss with Parker, eliciting laughter and cheers from the crowd.

“Sundown Syndrome” joins a string of surprises from the Deadbeat tour, which kicked off earlier this week in Brooklyn with the debut of several new tracks and a cover of Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.”

The run supports Parker’s latest album, Deadbeat, which launched at No. 1 on six different rankings (dated Nov. 1). It bowed at No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums, Top Dance Albums (the act’s first entry on the list), Vinyl Albums and Indie Store Album Sales.

Deadbeat also landed in the top 10 on the all-genre Billboard 200 (No. 4, the act’s third top five-charting project), Top Album Sales (No. 2), Top Current Album Sales (No. 2) and Top Streaming Albums (No. 7).

Deadbeat is Tame Impala’s (Kevin Parker) first release for Columbia Records after signing with the label in July. According to a press statement announcing the album in September, the project was inspired by the Western Australia rave scene.

The Deadbeat Tour continues with its final Brooklyn date on Friday (Nov. 1) before heading to Toronto and beyond.

02 Nov 2025

Travis Barker Celebrates Son Rocky’s 2nd Birthday

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Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian are feeling the love this Halloween weekend as their youngest son, Rocky Thirteen, turned two.

The Blink-182 drummer marked his son’s birthday on Saturday (Nov. 1) with a heartfelt Instagram tribute, posting a photo of Rocky wearing a backwards cap and a black jersey with the number “13” on it. “Happy Birthday my Rocky 13 🖤. You’re such a special soul, and you make every day brighter. I love you,” Barker wrote.

“No one’s cooler. Guitars, drums, pirates, boom boom pow and Angus Young forever 🎸🥁🏴‍☠️🥊,” he added in the post, which received thousands of likes and birthday messages — including a comment from Khloé Kardashian: “Happy birthday to the cutest!!!!! Rocky!!!!!!! 🩵🩵🩵.”

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Rocky was born in November 2023, marking the first child together for Kardashian and Barker, who tied the knot in 2022. The couple introduced their son publicly in December of that year with a joint Instagram post simply captioned, “ROCKY 🖤.”

Last year, Rocky also received an unforgettable gift: a handwritten birthday letter from Rocky star Sylvester Stallone himself.

“One of the most special Birthday gifts,” Travis wrote on Instagram Stories on Nov. 4, 2024, alongside a photo of the message on Stallone’s personal stationery. The note, arranged by Kris Jenner, read, “Dear Rocky, My name is Rocky too. Your name is very special and is identified with wonderful things.” Stallone continued with words of encouragement for the then-one-year-old:

“Life has many challenges you will face. Show dedication and determination! You must never give up on your dreams, never! Now most importantly, you must always value family, friendship and loyalty over fame and fortune!”

While Barker has often referenced Rocky in interviews and social media — including designing toddler-sized sneakers for him — the couple has remained relatively private about their youngest child’s presence online.

Kardashian has previously faced criticism for choosing not to show Rocky’s face on social media, even using Halloween-themed emojis to cover his face in photos. Although she didn’t respond directly to commenters questioning the move, she liked a reply that read, “This is a sign you care btw.”

Together, Kardashian and Barker have a blended family of seven children. The Kardashians star shares Mason (15), Penelope (13), and Reign (10) with ex Scott Disick. Barker is also dad to Landon (22) and Alabama (19), and stepfather to Atiana De La Hoya (26) from his previous marriage to Shanna Moakler.

01 Nov 2025

Drake Supports Hometown Blue Jays at Game 6 of the World Series

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Drake stepped out in full hometown hero mode on Halloween night (Oct. 31), attending Game 6 of the 2025 World Series at Rogers Centre in Toronto as the Blue Jays attempted to clinch their first championship since 1993.

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The rapper, who has been trolling Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani on social media throughout the series, was among a stacked lineup of celebrities cheering on the Jays in their showdown against L.A.

“October’s Very Own is back at the #WorldSeries,” MLB captioned a post on X, sharing footage of Drake arriving in the stadium. His appearance was part of a Halloween-night spectacle that included a who’s who of Canadian royalty and celebrity fans.

Also attending the game were Rush frontman Geddy Lee, Schitt’s Creek stars Eugene Levy and Annie Murphy, former tennis pro Eugenie Bouchard, and Sliders actor Jerry O’Connell. Baseball legends Paul Molitor and Jack Morris — both World Series MVPs with the Blue Jays and Twins respectively — were also spotted in the stands.

Drake’s recent Instagram Story posts have only amplified his sports-fan persona. After Game 5, he shared a photo of Ohtani wearing a sweater vest, cheekily captioned “ONE MORE!!!!!!!” before following up with an image of Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage striking out the Dodgers star, writing: “Savage already [on the way] to the dugout boss lol.”

With the Blue Jays entering Game 6 up 3–2 in the best-of-seven series, Drake’s appearance — and his courtside trolling — had fans hopeful that Toronto could seal the deal with their first title in over 30 years.

Drake’s sports fandom is nothing new. He’s been a fixture in Toronto’s pro sports scene for over a decade, having served as the NBA’s Toronto Raptors Global Ambassador since 2013. His presence during the team’s 2019 NBA Championship run made headlines, though his commentary privileges were suspended earlier this year after controversial comments about former Raptor DeMar DeRozan.

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01 Nov 2025

Mariah Carey Announces ‘It’s Time’ for Christmas 2025 in Ad With Sephora

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Mariah Carey‘s welcome to the Christmas season is here. The “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hitmaker made an official announcement to kick off the holidays in partnership with Sephora.

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“Halloween slayed,” Carey says in the Joseph Kahn-directed ad that dropped as Halloween (Oct. 31) came to a close. “But now … it’s time!”

There’s one problem: Someone’s rummaged through the pop diva’s Sephora bag and pilfered the new beauty goodies she snagged for the 2025 holidays.

In the lighthearted spot, Carey demands someone spill the tea on who stole her makeup so she can ring in the season of her modern Christmas carol, and — spoiler alert — it’s not the Grinch.

It’s Billy Eichner as an overworked elf advocating for better treatment at Christmastime.

“Bad news, Mariah Carey,” the comedian taunts. “The elves are striking this year. Elf revenge for putting us through holiday hell! Santa’s helper quit. I’m pawning this so I can afford elf therapy!”

“That’s my blush, elf boy,” Carey says.

“Your lipstick? I’m taking it. No bells. No cheer. No glam. Bye, sweetie,” Eichner throws back.

The Christmas commercial comes right after Carey dropped a collection of holiday merch, like a snow globe that plays “All I Want for Christmas Is You”; a Christmas sweater, earmuffs, socks, pajamas, robe and slippers; ornaments and stockings; holiday baking supplies and a large inflatable lawn decoration. Mariah might not “want a lot for Christmas,” but she’s given fans plenty to add to their Amazon wish lists.

Watch Carey’s “It’s Time!!!!!” announcement below to find out how she saves Christmas from being canceled. Oh, and go ahead and press play on her classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the song that Christmas music lovers have listened to enough to make it Carey’s longest Hot 100 reign (with 18 total weeks at No. 1, four of which were just last year).


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