Mariah Carey To Headline 2026 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
The February 6 event kicks off two weeks of competition and festivities in Milan and Cortina.
The Winter Olympics are coming soon to Milan and Cortina, and Mariah Carey will be on hand to ring in the festivities. The music icon has been revealed as the headliner for the Opening Ceremony at Milan’s San Siro Olympic Stadium.
Carey tops the bill at the Feb. 6 event, which is titled Armonia — Italian for “Harmony.” As explained by Marco Balich, Creative Lead of the Opening Ceremony, “It means ‘bringing together’ in musical terms, different elements. Because there are two cities, Milan and Cortina, city and mountain, the harmony between man and nature, between cultures, people and different ways of thinking… it is very meaningful and beautiful.”
The Opening Ceremony will be the latest in a long line of Carey performances at major sporting events. Previously she sang the U.S. national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl in 2002 and the NBA All-Star game in 2003. More recently, ahead of the U.S. Open women’s final in 2020, she debuted her song “Save The Day.”
Carey’s Olympics performance is sure to showcase her vast catalog of world-renowned favorites. Throughout her multi-decade career, she has accumulated 19 American No. 1 hits—second only to the Beatles—including timeless favorites like “Fantasy,” “We Belong Together,” “Emotions,” “Hero,” “Always Be My Baby,” and many more.
News of Carey’s big gig in Italy arrives as she achieves one of the most significant milestones of her career. Her yuletide classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is back on top of the Billboard Hot 100 this holiday season, and this week it spent a record 20th week at No. 1, surpassing the 19-week reigns of Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road” and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” The chart triumph is actually a reclamation, as Carey previously held the record at 16 weeks with her Boyz II Men duet “One Sweet Day” before “Old Town Road” came along. As part of the Christmas festivities, Carey also reissued Merry Christmas II You exclusively on vinyl. Last month, meanwhile, Carey’s “Don’t Forget About Us” remix with Kaytranada received a 2026 Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording. It’s her 34th nomination.
