Where did Mariah Carey Defrosting come from?

The earliest known posts are October 2 and 3, 2017 tweets from @erod47 and @aphextw1nk_, though the joke didn't go viral until @Bailey_Hunter24's October 31, 2018 version.

What does Mariah Carey Defrosting mean?

It's a tongue-in-cheek way to mark the start of the Christmas music season, treating Carey (and sometimes Michael Bublé) as seasonal beings who only wake up for the holidays.

How do you use Mariah Carey Defrosting?

Post a short line, image macro, or video around October 31 or November 1 framing Carey as thawing out, defrosting, or climbing from the sea, often paired with a Michael Bublé reference.

Is Mariah Carey Defrosting still popular?

The joke has recurred every October-November on Twitter since 2018, and Carey herself leaned into it with a November 2023 YouTube video that pulled 4.3 million views in a week.

Mariah Carey Defrosting

Q: What is Mariah Carey Defrosting?

It's a recurring Twitter joke that imagines Mariah Carey as a dormant holiday creature who thaws out every year as Halloween ends and "All I Want for Christmas Is You" starts playing everywhere.

2017catchphraseclassic

Published October 9, 2026

Mariah Carey Defrosting is a recurring Twitter joke that treats the singer like a cryogenically frozen holiday creature who thaws out every year as Halloween ends and Christmas music begins to play. The gag kicked off in October 2017 and went properly viral in 2018, growing into an annual October-November tradition that Carey herself eventually leaned into with a 2023 video.

annual tradition memes seasonal memes unwilling celebrity memes earworm memes delayed virality memes

Overview

The joke frames Mariah Carey as a dormant holiday being who awakens, defrosts, or climbs out of the sea once October ends, timed to the sudden commercial return of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in stores, radio, and public spaces1. Posts typically land on October 31 or November 1 and treat Carey like a seasonal cryptid rather than a working pop star, often pulling in Canadian crooner Michael Bublé as a companion creature who emerges alongside her2.

Formats range from one-line text tweets to full image macros, Photoshops of Carey trapped in ice, and short video edits of her bursting free3. A matching post-Christmas sub-joke pictures Carey being refrozen, sealed in crystal, or sinking back into the ocean on December 26, closing the loop until the next Halloween2.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Twitter

Date

2017

The authorship of the gag is unconfirmed. The two earliest documented posts came from Twitter users @erod47 on October 2, 20174 and @aphextw1nk_ on October 3, 20175, though neither picked up meaningful traction. Scattered reposts followed through the rest of fall 2017, including a November 1 tweet by @_jonathanpicard that drew modest engagement6.

The joke broke out a year later. On October 11, 2018, @lixmrobert posted a version that pulled around 180 likes7, and on October 31, 2018, @Bailey_Hunter24 landed the viral hit, racking up more than 58,000 likes and 13,200 retweets8.

How It Spread

After the 2018 breakout, the gag settled into a yearly ritual on Twitter. On November 3, 2019, @Sophia_Bah posted a version that drew over 7,700 retweets and 24,500 likes9. A November 1, 2020 tweet from @legendarihhhh picked up roughly 14,800 retweets and 70,200 likes10, and an October 26, 2021 post from @_niazzzz_ pushed past 88,000 retweets and 439,000 likes inside a week11.

The 2021 cycle also brought video edits. On October 30, 2021, Twitter user @HoshizoraOW posted a short clip of Carey "defrosting" that pulled 310,000-plus views in three days3, and a repost the next day cleared 1.9 million views1. Carey herself finally acknowledged the running joke on November 1, 2023, uploading a YouTube video in which costumed trick-or-treaters hair-dry her out of a block of ice before she launches into "All I Want for Christmas Is You." The clip pulled over 4.3 million views in its first week12.

Timeline

2017-10-02

@erod47 posts the earliest documented version of the Mariah Carey Defrosting joke on Twitter.

2017-10-03

@aphextw1nk_ posts a second early version of the joke.

2018-10-31

@Bailey_Hunter24's Halloween tweet goes viral with over 58,000 likes, kicking off the annual trend.

2019-11-03

@Sophia_Bah's version pulls over 24,500 likes, confirming the joke as a yearly fixture.

2020-11-01

@legendarihhhh's November 1 tweet exceeds 70,000 likes.

2021-10-26

@_niazzzz_'s post clears 439,000 likes in roughly a week.

2021-10-30

@HoshizoraOW posts a defrosting video edit that spreads across Twitter.

2023-11-01

Mariah Carey posts her own defrosting video on YouTube, pulling 4.3 million views in a week.

How to Use This Meme

The template is a short text post framing Carey as a seasonal creature stirring from hibernation. Posters typically time it to October 31 or November 1, write a line about her "defrosting," "thawing," or "emerging," and often pair her with Michael Bublé2. After Christmas, the common convention flips to a refreezing joke dated December 261.