A childhood dream come true: Mariah Carey to open Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Mariah Carey's "childhood dream" will come true when she opens Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The 52-year-old pop star - who is known for her ground-breaking festive hit All I Want for Christmas is You - took to social media to alert fans that she will be performing at the department store's annual parade in New York City on Thursday (Nov 24).

She wrote on Instagram: "My childhood dream is coming to life! I'm going to be opening for the one and only, SANTA CLAUS, at this year's @macys Thanksgiving day parade! Tune in on Thanksgiving Day @NBC."(sic)

Meanwhile, the Always Be My Baby hitmaker - who is mother to 11-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe with ex-husband Nick Cannon - is set to headline the Madison Square Garden concert Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All over the festive period as well as four other shows and explained that she always sets "rules" around Christmas.

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She said: "When I'm not onstage and I'm in holiday mode, there are rules that I set. I don't care who it is - the kids, if I have guests, whatever - nobody is allowed to play or watch anything other than a Christmas-related thing. If I wake up in the middle of the night and walk into the living room, and the music isn't playing and the lights aren't on, I just can't handle it.

"I'm trying to make [these shows] as magical as possible. Oftentimes as a child, or even throughout earlier parts of my career, I did not feel loved. I certainly never felt unconditional love, and that's what I have with my fans: that connection. So I'm extremely excited."